I recently helped a friend clean her house just before a move. It motivated me to tackle my office area. Previously, a few stacks of books and papers weren’t that bothersome. They were close at hand, which was important at the time. But now I really want to reduce the visual clutter, so I’ve moved all the books off of my desktop and back into the book shelf. Books I don’t need are in the donate pile, which are going out this week.

I’m not sure what caused the shift, but I’m grateful for it. I’ve had a hard time getting up the energy and motivation to clear the junk. And I think leaving it there actually drains me more. It’s a vicious cycle.

Taking things a little at a time is the key. Small chunks. It started by just taking all the books and getting them off of my desk. Then, it was the magazines. Recycle the old copies, see which ones still need to be read, and which ones I might keep.

Next comes the paper. I do have a small pile of receipts that need to be scanned and logged. Some will just get filed rather than scanned. Then it’s the bits of paper with notes from calls or ideas or just general scribbles. Figure out what needs to be kept (and in what format) and what can be tossed.

I got some wall files which help keep things off of my desktop, but they can easily collect clutter, too. So next I will file away the paid bills from there.

It’s just a step by step process. It’s so easy to look at the entire job and get overwhelmed. But I’m not going to do that this time. I’ll look at one type of thing, like books or magazines or receipts, or one section. Once that’s done, I can move on to the next one.

Will it get done in one day? No. Maybe not even a week. But it will get completed without making me crazy. Slow and steady, folks. Do you feel the urge to spring clean? What are you trying to tackle right now?

image: lumaxart under CC: attribution/share-alike

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For instance, I still need to do my taxes. Normally I have them done by February, but I still have some sorting and data entry to do. It’s been harder to fit it in than I thought it would be. So it’s on my to-do list: do taxes. But that’s a lot to think about isn’t it?

That’s because it’s more of a project than a to-do item. What’s the anatomy of a to-do item? According to Merlin at 43folders, it’s this:

• It’s a physical action
• It can be accomplished at a sitting
• It supports valuable progress toward a recognized goal
• It’s something for which you are the most appropriate person for the job

If your list contains items bigger or more complicated than that, then those items may not actually belong on your to-do list, but on a project list. As David Allen notes in Getting Things Done, a small project requires more than one activity in order to be completed.

Filing taxes is definitely a small project – or maybe even a large one! Here are the steps I still need to take:

• Go through the last of my receipts for business expenses
• Log the expenses
• Review the entries to make sure items have categories and are categorized properly
• Add up expense categories (my accounting software will do this, but I still need to prompt it to add up everything for just 2008)
• Enter the totals into my tax software
• Pay my tax bill or get a refund (I think we’ll be pretty close to even, so at this point it could go either way)
• Monitor my filing to make sure it is accepted by the IRS

You see, doing my taxes is more than just a single item. And when I stop to do just one pieces, like going through my receipts, it suddenly doesn’t seem to intimidating.

Take a close look at your to-do list. Think about what your next action should be. Is that really reflected on your list?

Image: Newscom

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When my desktop hard drive died, I had to reinstall from my backup. I did not, however, transfer my inbox. I left it on my laptop, instead deciding to start from scratch and see how I could do. That doesn’t mean I gave up on my other email. I just wanted to see if I could keep my inbox as small as possible.

It worked for a while. But work, life, family and oh, I don’t know, sleep, got in the way. And sadly, I’m back up to around 300 emails in there. Many of them are just email alerts that I need to read through and discard. They just keep adding up, though. I unsubscribed to alerts and newsletters that I didn’t use or need. I try to archive things immediately after I read them if they don’t need any action.

I’ve basically been glancing at them as they come in. I reply if it’s something I can deal with in less than a minute. I haven’t left anything important unanswered. So the question is, what’s in there?

Well, that’s what I should find out. I need to schedule some time to clear out my inbox a little. At minimum, I need to delete the email alerts that I’m not going to read. File away those newsletters for some down time, or re-evaluate whether they are useful to me.

Maybe keeping my inbox completely empty isn’t realistic. I do tend to use it like a to-do repository. And that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as I don’t lose track of important messages.

How do you handle your inbox? Is it realistic for you to keep it close to zero? Obviously 300 emails are a bit too many to keep track of easily. But what about 100? 50? 10? What’s reasonable for you? And is it actually working for you?

[Image: sxc.hu]

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Recession-proofing your organized biz
With the economy still struggling, you may wonder how to keep your business afloat. Read this article for some tips on facing your money issues.

Help! Can I get my taxes done on time?
We still have a little over a month before the April 15th tax deadline. Are you ready? This article gives tips on beating the clock to get your taxes filed.

Are you safe when wireless?
Considering that I’m writing this at a coffeehouse, this article caught my eye. I use a secure wireless card for my connection. What do you use? Be wary of using whatever network pops up on your connection list. Some are there just to steal data.

Check this list before you leave the house/office
I think we’ve all managed to forget important items at one time or another. Planning ahead and creating a checklist will help minimize your stress. You’ll have everything you need and you’ll look more professional and together in front of your clients.

Top 10 things to do every day
Want to ease your stress? Here’s a list of the 10 things you should do every day to make your work less chaotic — and more enjoyable.

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While you “lose” an hour of sleep unless you go to bed early, you gain precious daylight hours to enjoy your evenings a bit more. And more daylight means Spring and Summer are coming!

So remember to set your clocks so you won’t miss any Sunday morning appointments. Or for those of you that work Sundays, don’t be late!

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If your system works for you, keep doing it. Is organization all about neat files, a clean desk, a fancy day planner? No. To me, being organized is all about being able to work well.

Finding things when you need them. Are you able to put your hands or eyes on something you need within a minute or two (assuming it’s in your work space and not in archival storage)? Do you need to backtrack to remember where you put things, or is your system logical (for you) enough that you know where things are? To me, it’s knowing relatively quickly where I put something and that item actually being where I thought it was.

Scheduling time for efficient work. A project doesn’t get done by just throwing time at it. You need a plan. A working list of what needs to be accomplished. Randomly doing tasks in hopes something will get completed by the end of the day gets you nothing except a few checks on your to-do list.

Meeting your goals. Define what you’re working towards. What are your business goals? Personal goals? Is the work you’re doing each day truly getting you closer to your goals? If they aren’t, you need to stop and figure out why you’re spending precious time on them. Once you know what you want to accomplish, define how you’re going to get there.

These are just three things that define organization for me. What about you? What do you think being organized is all about? Are you working on it, or do you feel like you’ve got it under control? Does it feel like it’s something you can achieve?

[image: morgueFile]

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Unlike him, I haven’t filled 85 notebooks in 26 years. But it’s fascinating to see some of the scans of his books and hear about his process. I, too, just fill up one notebook and move to the next. I don’t separate projects, but I do use flags at times so I can flip back to important information. I’ve always used lined paper, though. Blank paper is just asking for me to slant my lines. Not a big deal when you’re sketching things, but annoying when you’re trying to write a lot of text.

Does something like this work for you? Do you write everything down, or do you tend to try to just remember it? Have you found another way to capture information and ideas?

[via 43f]

[Image: Paul Worthington under cc license]

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As I’m working, I tend to think of something else that I need to do. If I don’t do it right then, it’s easy to forget. But by doing that task right then I lose the momentum on the current task.

Enter the notes. I jot down the idea I had or the to-do item for later. It keeps me from veering off in another direction, suddenly realizing I’m ten minutes into a completely different task. Because then I’ve lost track of what I was originally doing. So the notes actually help keep me focused. That’s a good thing!

Unfortunately, I’m starting to get a stack of little papers in front of my monitor. And with a child who is almost tall enough to reach them and who has a penchant for ripping and shredding paper, I risk losing track of those ideas.

I need to bring back my notebook. I have plenty of blank notebooks, so it’s time to return to a better system. I can capture all of my ideas, notes and lists all in one place, refer back to it when needed, and even take it with me. As long as I don’t lose the notebook (or let the child get ahold of it) I’ll have my ideas with me. And it beats searching my desk for that ‘one’ piece of paper I just know I have there somewhere. Or leaving said piece of paper in the office when I really needed it on the road.

I’ll still keep the tear-off calendar. I like having the day’s date right in front of me. And the pieces of paper are great for quick calculations on something that I won’t need to save for later. But if it’s anything I think I’ll need later, it’s best to capture it somewhere else.

Do you need to grab an idea before it disappears? Do you find yourself getting distracted by those ideas, losing momentum on what you should be doing? What’s working for you?

[Image: Newscom]

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So many of us suffer from the clutter affliction. We have too much paper, too many gadgets, and basically just too much stuff crammed into our offices. What are we to do?

Some people live with the clutter, never quite able to find what they need. Others upgrade their space, thinking that just a little more room will help. And many of us buy more containers to better organize all that stuff.

It’s all too much! That’s precisely the point of Walsh’s book. We have too much stuff. We don’t need all of it. We’re too attached to things.

While the book is geared toward homeowners, there are good points for business owners as well.

Take a look at your office. Define the purpose of the space. Everything that does not fit that space needs to go. It does not belong there. Create zones in the office to help increase your efficiency. Try to keep your horizontal spaces as clear as possible. And notice how a clean desk does wonders for making your office feel calmer and more efficient.

File regularly and get rid of paper clutter. We keep way more paper than we’ll ever need. Be ruthless. If you haven’t looked at something in a year, you probably don’t need it. (Tax returns and other important documents excluded.)

All in all, I found Walsh’s book easy to read and packed with a lot of great information. I was immediately inspired to start purging things I know I don’t need, but had been putting off getting rid of. It’s still a work in progress, but it was just the push I needed.

I still tend to keep too many books and notebooks. But I’m learning what paper to throw away and will hopefully be able to start scanning more receipts for taxes and getting rid of even more paper.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Did it help you?

Image: Amazon.com

(For a link to this book, please see the Author Links page.)

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Tell me, what are you working on right now to get yourself organized? What are your trouble areas? And what do you think you are doing well?

I’m struggling with time management and trying to get everything done that I think needs doing. That can be tough when you have a small child around. So I’m working on prioritizing and learning what little things are okay to let go of – so I can work on bigger things.

Your turn – what seems to be your struggle right now? Maybe our collective wisdom can help you out a bit.

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