Efficiency is a must in any small business office. Limited space, time and resources demand that you operate at full capacity. And when you let things slide, it can be a nightmare to get back in order. So how do you keep on top of everything you need to do? Get in the zone by creating specific work areas in your office.

Think about the tasks you need to do regularly. What could benefit from having a designated zone? Start by making a list of all the tasks you need to do in your office. Divide them up into groups. There may be some overlap, which is okay. Those zones may need to overlap, too. The main point is to get rid of everything that doesn’t belong in your office work areas. Get rid of the things that don’t help you accomplish your goals.

Do you have a lot of paperwork to file? Do you keep all of your filing items (file folders, papers to be filed, file tags, etc.) in one area? And what about your bills – are they together with everything you need to pay them?

Create work zones in your office. Even if you just have a desk, filing cabinet and chair, you can create small areas for groups of tasks. Anything that doesn’t belong to that task moves out to another section of the office.

For your bill paying area, put stamps, envelopes, address labels, and invoices together. Everything you need to pay bills goes in that zone. And that’s it. Once the bill is paid, move it to the filing area. Nothing else goes in the billing zone. By doing this, you’ll always know where your unpaid bills are. If a vendor calls asking for payment, you can put your hands on related paperwork. And if it’s not in the bill paying zone, you know you’ve paid it. And you can then move on to the filing zone to look for it.

In your filing zone, gather everything you normally need for files. Manila files, hanging folders, the to-be-filed pile all go here. Ideally, it should be close to your filing system.

Billing can be another important area. Do you bill by the hour? The project? When you work on your invoicing, it’s ideal to have what you need together. Don’t waste time figuring how much you need to invoice, when you could spend that time doing things that are billable. Keep track as you go along, putting things in the same place every time. Nothing’s worse than losing the info you need in order to get paid!

Once you find yourself in the efficiency zone, you won’t want to leave it! So get started on creating those work areas, and let us know how it’s going for you. Does it work for you? It may take a few weeks to get used to it, so give it some time. Then re-evaluate. Does it need any tweaks? Come back and share your experiences with us.

Image: Rob! (creative commons)

It’s still early enough in the year to be thinking of ways you can be organized for the next 11-12 months. And one great way to do that is getting your computer files in order. As we get busy, it’s easy to just save a file, a receipt, an invoice in whatever folder pops up when you hit save. But is it really convenient when you have to dig for that file later?

Take some time to think about how you use your computer. What items do you save on it? How often do you need to refer back to it? How easy is it to find things?

A little time spent forming an electronic file system will help you feel on top of things. There’s nothing like being on a phone call with a client and realizing you can’t find a file without a long, drawn out search. It’s embarrassing to ask them to let you call back once you find it, since it can make you appear unprofessional. You don’t want your client wondering what else you have lost, do you?

You can file items by project, by client, or whatever reference point makes sense to you. Make sure, though, that it will still make sense to you several months down the road. And keep things fairly simple. If you have too many subfolders, you’ll still have trouble putting your finger on your file quickly and easily. The idea is to get your mouse pointing to your files as quickly as possible.

Spend time getting more clients, making more money, and improving your business. Not searching endlessly on your computer for a text file with someone’s phone number in it.

Find what works for you, what makes sense to how you organize information. Then stick to it. When tax time comes, you’ll be glad you did.

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We’re a week into the new year already. Did you take some time to plan the next year?

Of course, I’m not talking about planning out your daily schedule for the next year, or even your weekly schedule. Think bigger picture. Where do you want to be a year from now? What do you want to accomplish?

I don’t really plan out “resolutions” starting in January. Resolutions are usually sound bites that just set you up to fail. But they don’t have to be, if you use them as a starting point.

Now is a perfect time to dream a little. Or a lot. What’s your ideal year look like? What would you do if you had no limitations? Once you’re done dreaming a bit, capture your ideas on paper. Right now it doesn’t matter if they’re feasible. Just write them down.

Okay. Take a good look at those dreams. In it, you can probably find something you can base a goal on. Was your dream to make six figures? Seven? Great – now how are you going to do it? Does it seem too big right now? Whittle it down a tiny bit, make it a manageable goal, then plan it out. Go for it.

What’s the worst that can happen? You planned to increase your income by 30%, but you only hit 25%. Is that a failure? No. You’ll still see an increase over the previous year, right? That’s great, even if it’s not as high as you wanted.

Don’t set yourself up for failure by making vague resolutions about what you’ll do this year. I’m still working on mine, since we just got back from traveling during the holidays. I need to figure out what I want from this year, too.

So tell me, are you struggling to figure out what you want? Having trouble setting realistic goals? Do you use this time of year to assess where you are, or is there a time that works better for you?

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