Imagine my surprise when I opened my RSS feeds to find a post at Lifehack about tickler files. Dustin goes into much more detail than I did, and you can read about how tickler files are used. If you’ve never used on and are curious, go and check it out.
(myorganizedbiz.com) - I suppose that a low-tech way of reminding yourself to do things is a bit out of fashion. How many people actually use tickler files anymore?
When I worked in the sales department of a hotel, we still used WP 5.1 (oh, how I miss you, reveal codes). Outlook? Meeting reminders? We didn’t have them. So to remind me to follow up on things I used a tickler file. And just like I now check my online calendar every day, I would check my tickler file every day for things I needed to do, items due that day, clients who needed follow-up calls, or reminders for my sales people.
As long as I checked it each day, it worked fairly well. And if I could remember to check it every day, I might actually use one again. But since it doesn’t beep to remind me of things for that day, I probably won’t.
I still use a paper calendar that I can carry with me to keep track of the day’s schedule or check if I’m free for a meeting. But the tickler takes up too much space in my limited filing drawer, so it’s not feasible at this time. I wonder, do any of you use low-tech ways of reminding yourself of things, like a tickler file?
(myorganizedbiz.com) - So we talk a lot about the virtues of a clean or uncluttered desk. How a nice, clean desk will help you be more productive, help you find things more quickly, polish your car, and shine your shoes. Okay, maybe not the last two.
But do you really need a clean desk? Can a desk have a lot of ’stuff’ on it, neatly organized into categories?
I’m wondering what ways people work best. For some, it’s a minimalist desk: computer, phone, notepad. For others, it’s a desk with tons of pictures and knick knacks. Or maybe everything from a project close at hand.
I don’t mean a desk that’s piled high with papers, hopelessly jumbled together. I’m thinking of a desk that has lots of things, but they’re neatly arranged, categorized, and fairly easy to get to/ go through. If you can’t find anything on your desk, then it’s time to clear it off or organize it.
But what may be clutter to some is just comfortable or familiar to you. So what works for you? Do you forget about things in drawers? Does open storage space seem too cluttered to you?
I’m curious about how you keep your desk when you’re doing your best work. What type of desk tops work for you?
I’m having some internet connection issues tonight - some sites load for me, some don’t. Connections are intermittent, too. I’m not sure I’ll be able to post, but I’m trying. If not, I’ll get back with you tomorrow.
(myorganizedbiz.com) - Does your business create a lot of paper? When you feel buried in piles of paper, you start looking for storage solutions.
After a while, you just can’t physically store that paper any longer, can you? That’s when it’s time to consider scanning as much as you can. Since scanned documents are much more acceptable than they once were - including tax receipts and some legal documents - and storage devices are continually dropping in price, it’s a good time to start scanning.
But would you trust someone else to scan your documents? A company called Pixily proposes to do just that. For a fee, you drop a pre-paid envelope in the mail with the items you want scanned. They scan, post to your account, and then mail you back the paper.
Interesting. Would you do that if your office generated more paperwork than you could process by yourself? Or do you have just enough paper that buying a small scanner of your own is a better investment? (A review of one of those small scanners is coming soon.)
What do you think of a service like that?
(via: unclutterer)
Image: morgueFile
(myorganizedbiz.com) - One thing I’m trying to keep up on is finance. Specifically: expenses. I bought software to help me keep track of my business expenses and accounts receivable. It is intended to save me time when it comes to tax preparation. If I already have my expenses categorized, I won’t have to spend a few hours adding things up for my tax return.
But three-quarters of the way through the year and I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit. I have a few monthly recurring expenses that are easily added to my expense list. And I really don’t have a huge amount of expenses at this point, since I already took care of major purchases like my computer.
So while keeping up on the numbers shouldn’t be a big deal if done regularly, I now face going back through a few months’ of receipts and statements and entering them. Read More
(myorganizedbiz.com) - The last few days we’ve concentrated on setting SMART goals. Sitting down and thinking about what you want to accomplish is an important part of your business.
The acronym SMART stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely
Each day we went over ways that you can improve your goals by really thinking about what you want and then setting yourself up for successful completion. Your goals should fall in line with your business vision. They should be dynamic and motivating, not unmeasurable and frustrating.
Have you been taking a harder look at your goals? Are you happy with your professional goals? What can you do to make them better? What piece(s) of SMART goal setting will help you the most? How?
Image: Newscom
Most of us are trying to find ways to be more responsible in our lives and businesses. Working towards being greener and more sustainable. It’s not easy, especially when we depend on stuff and paperwork. Did we ever imagine our businesses would involve so much paper?
But besides paper clutter, there are other ways to go green in your office, and Dumb Little Man gives us nine. So go take a look and then tell us, what are you doing to make your office more sustainable?
(myorganizedbiz.com) - Our final piece of goal-setting is making sure your goals are timely. Yes, goals must incorporate an element of time in order to be tangible.
When you set a goal, you must have a starting time. When do you plan to start working on your goal? If you never give it a starting point, it will be easy to keep putting it off until you “have the time.” But if you don’t schedule it and make the time, you’ll never magically find the time.
Your goal must also have an end time. A neverending goal frustrates people. We need a sense of accomplishment from being able to say something is done. Make your goal small enough that you can assign an end point.
Deadlines are a big part of helping people get motivated to finish something.Without a time for completion, long-term projects get pushed aside for day-to-day and urgent tasks. And assigning a deadline to employees can help them plan their workload. An open-ended project sounds nice, but it’s really a project that will probably never happen.
Don’t just assign an arbitrary due date. Take into consideration the steps to accomplish the goal and plan accordingly. Don’t rush yourself, but don’t allow too much time to get distracted with other things.
Do you assign deadlines to your goals? Does it help motivate you to make progress on them? How?
Image: Newscom
(myorganizedbiz.com) - We’re getting close to the end of our series about setting goals. And today the topic is making your goals relevant.What comes to mind when you think of a relevant goal? First, it must be relevant to you. It must fit you. And it has to be something that you have control over, that you can complete.
If you set a goal that it’ll be a nice day for the company picnic and that everyone will have fun, it’s a nice goal but it’s not relevant to you. You can’t control the weather. And you certainly can’t control others’ reactions to things. What you can do is plan to have sufficient food and entertainment for everyone without going over a specific budget. Those are things you can work on.
The same thing applies to your employees. Give them goals that they can work towards, but bring your company closer to what you envision it will be. Make sure it’s relevant to them, that it’s an activity that they can have a direct impact on.
Have you been thinking more about your goals with this series? Do you even think setting goals is relevant to you? Your business? Why or why not?
Image: Newscom
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