Get Organized

Following some simple rules will help you get your office in order and keep it that way.

By Maggie Leyes

This is the time to be honest. Is your office in a state of information chaos—papers strewn hither and yon, missing files, stacks of unread mail and a desk buried in documents? Or, is your office a paragon of organization—everything in its place and a place for everything? If you are like most, you probably identify more with the former.

Your problem: “People don’t have a place to put things, no home for them. And that happens a lot with papers,” says professional organizer Susan Kousek, of Balanced Spaces, LLC, in Reston, Va. Having spent the past two decades keeping other people’s offices in order, she knows exactly where to begin—your desktop. Kousek calls it your “prime real estate.” And as in any place where real estate is expensive (think New York City), the solution is to go up. “Think vertical,” she says. “All those layers of papers lying on your desk that are months old … that’s client information, business you’re losing and time you’re wasting.”

Here is Kousek’s advice on starting your vertical empire: Clear your desktop, leaving only the computer, monitor, keyboard and telephone. From there, you are going to be very selective about what goes back on your desk. First, place a vertical filing system on your desk that holds your most important, urgent information and papers. It’s critical this information is kept in “containers”—and a file folder does qualify as a container. (Kousek recommends the Oxford Decoflex vertical file—available at most office supply stores). Folders with information that is not as urgent can be placed in another “zone,” such as on your credenza or in a file drawer.

The key to keeping this system working, she says, is to store new file folders in a very accessible place—within reach of your desk (not across the room, or the system is going to break down). That way each time you have a new client or project to work on, you can immediately create a file folder and begin collecting all pertinent information in one place.

Tchotchke-free zone
Forget reinstalling the mug overflowing with pens, the family photos or tchotchkes that were occupying important desktop real estate. Supplies, such as pens, paperclips and sundry office products, with the exception of a stapler, should be kept in a drawer (which, of course, will now be clean). With knickknacks, you again need to think vertically. Kousek says calendars and photos can go on the wall, and you can install a shelf to display personal items.

And tomorrow …
That takes care of your desk, for today. But what about the never-ending flood of new paper—be it client contracts, industry magazines or mail—that arrives each day? Well, you’ve heard the organizing myth about never handling a piece of paper more than once, and Kousek confirms it is just that, a myth. In the real world it isn’t always practical to take immediate action on each piece of paper, so she recommends writing in the upper right-hand corner what file that paper should go in or the action you need to take on it. This allows you to take quick action on it when you have more time or easily delegate it to your assistant.

“Start the day with a clear desk and end the same way,” says Kousek as a final suggestion. That means taking 10 to 15 minutes at the end of the day to put papers and files back in their “home.” She also suggests you make a list of what you are going to do the next day—not what you have to do—and leave it on your keyboard. That will keep you on track and focused—and hopefully organized.