There are two types of people in the world. First you have those who were born with the organization gene; second are those who were not. Are you part of the second group of people? It’s okay! There is still hope for you to keep your small business organized.
There are a lot of great reasons to stay organized. An organized business person is able to get more work done in less amount of time. The remember key meetings and events more often. They are more relaxed and feel in control of their day. This article will give you some realistic techniques to stay organized even if you feel you are a hopeless cause:
Don’t Turn Your Back on a Mess at Night
Never leave your workspace at night until you have taken a few minutes to clean up your desk. Gather your office supplies up and place them together on your desktop so they are ready to go when you return. Throw out the trash and get rid of any used cups or other things that don’t belong.
The most critical part of this step is to gather your paperwork into a rough order of how you want to handle it the next day. While you’re at it, start a to-do list for the next day, and label each item “A” “B” or “C” depending on how important it is to complete.
You will find that this simple 10 minute process each evening will fire you up to jump in feet first the next day to complete what needs to be done.
Organize Work Product Using the Rule of 3
There are those who have a file folder for everything and know immediately where anything is. Then, there are the rest of us. The rule of 3 is a helpful technique that has worked for me in finding work betters when I need them.
The idea is not tricky. Maintain only three stacks of paperwork at any one time. The first stack contains the most pressing items you hope to accomplish within the day. The second stack should hold those that need to be handled within the week, and finally those within the month. You may need to dedicate some time up front to get these three stacks organized, but the time will be ultimately saved as you are able to find needed paperwork much more quickly without digging through everything on your desk.
Don’t Wait
Ultimately, the longer you wait to find an organization system that works for you and your small business, the more opportunities you miss for your small business. When you are organized, a bigger part of your day can be spent on the success of your business. But remember, one size does not fit all and what works for one would drive someone else crazy. So find the system that works for you and make sure you can commit to using it every day.
Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year” to learn about an online accounting program that makes it simple to organize your accounting and finance.