So you know how I asked for your vote of confidence that I will actually write one blog post every day in the month of November (in honor of NaBloPoMo)? Well, one reader did just that. Here’s what she said:

“Deb Lee, I need to know how to organize the work flow in my office. It has been such a challenge. I have decided to move my desk to the opposite wall to see if that will help. Daily Blog you can DO IT!!!Kathleen.” November 6, 2008 3:53 PM

Yay! She has faith in me and I, in return, have information for her and everyone else out there who’s in “spot of bother” (feeling a little British right now) with not being as productive as they would like to be in their office. Here’s my take on this issue…10 steps to a more efficient you…

1. Figure It Out. Think about all the various things you need to accomplish on a given day so that you can create a plan of attack. Examples:

• Client Calls
• E-mail & Voicemail
• Regular Mail
• Reports (expense, mileage, ROI, client data, etc.)
• Meetings
• Urgent Projects
• Long-term Projects

2. Have It All. Once you have an idea of all the tasks you need to accomplish on a daily basis, decide what items you need to help you get them done. Be sure to have everything you need (e.g., garbage can, shredder, file cabinet, industry specific tools, etc.). This is true whether your office is in a building in the city or in your home.

3. Get Closer. Keep the things that you use frequently very accessible. If you reach for documents in your file cabinet often, it should be as close to your desk as possible. If you’re a paper clip fanatic, be sure there’s a (neat) stash on your desk. When the items you use often are far away, you’ll have to keep getting up to, well, get them. You might increase the number of steps you take along with your heart rate, but you won’t make much of a dent in increasing your efficiency.

4. Get Comfy. Is your office chair comfortable? It should be since you’ll be spending some quality time with it on a daily basis. By the way, be sure your desk fits you, too. Check out the various shapes (L-shape, U-shape, etc.) to see which one suits you the best. The right chair and desk gets you ready for the day ahead.

5. Clear It Up. Keep your desk or work space clear and clutter free. Sounds obvious but when you start multitasking, things can go haywire and so can your brain cells, er, your productivity. If you have sufficient room to work, you’ll have a greater chance of successfully completing your projects (and remaining sane for another day).

6. Move to The Top. Prioritize and rank your duties in order of urgency. Urgency is usually dictated by time and/or money. If that big report is due in two days, that task should jump to the top of your list. If your boss expects that report in 1 hour, I’d say that’s pretty urgent and should take the #1 spot on your list. If you are the boss, well, maybe you have a little wiggle room.

6a. Don’t Get Sucked In. One more thing, choose specific times to read/respond to e-mail/voicemail. This one’s tough, but you can do it. Work on your priority projects when you’re feeling the most alert and handle the e-mails during brief, designated times.

7. Get FAT. No, it’s not lunch time, but if you use FAT, you’ll lose a lot of paper clutter.

• File … your “must haves” for future use
  
• Act … chop, chop, do something about it
  
• Toss … say goodbye, adios, seeyalata, babye
  

I learned about FAT from professional organizer Barbara Hemphill’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Home. Aren’t organizers wonderful?

8. Be Exclusive. Try to finish one thing before starting another and give your attention to one thing at a time. I have trouble with this one sometimes. Do you notice that you lose focus when you try to attend to more than one thing, or say 20 things, at one time? Yeah, it happens to the best of us. When in doubt, see step 6.

9. Time It. Decide how much time it should take to complete each task and stick to it. Set a timer or the alarm on your phone or have a friend call you so that you know when your time’s up. Your friend may get a bit tired of calling you, so that should probably be a last resort.

10. Know Thyself. Some of us keep things visible so we can remember them. Sometimes, we need to read and hear directions before we can master a task. Maybe you prefer talking on the phone instead of using e-mail. Personally, I love the color red. What’s this have to do with your office? If you can figure out your learning style (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and what appeals to you aesthetically, you can achieve greater success with maintaining order, increasing productivity, and have a great time while you’re at it.

P.S. Thanks, Kathleen, for giving me a topic to blog about. Do you have a burning organization question? Leave a comment!