My Organized Biz

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)

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