Do you consider yourself to be an organized person? Like it or not, organization is a necessary component of productivity. When your brain, time, workspace and projects are organized, you will naturally become more productive.
Read in this issue of Promotional Consultant Today the tips below to help get yourself in the right mindset so organization becomes second nature at the office.
1. Organize Your Brain.
Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation does a number on our grey matter. Aim to get around seven hours of sleep each night and consider working in power naps during the afternoon to reenergize at the end of the workday.
Make an effort not to multitask. Going back and forth between various tasks does nothing but slow our brains down and cloud our judgment. Trying to do two or more things at once can even release the stress hormone cortisol in the brain, which is counterproductive.
Take breaks. David Levitin, a neuroscientist and author of The Organized Mind, suggests that people should take breaks at work to allow the brain to daydream. It’s during these periods that our brains are most creative and it helps give us a productivity boost.
2. Organize Your Time.
Start with goals. When organizing your time, the first thing you should do is identify your goals. Goals help us focus our energy and serve as a starting point for identifying what we need to get done.
Outline your priority. Once goals are identified, your priority will become clear. Your priority is the most important task that you need to complete in order to accomplish your most important goal and move things forward.
Time block each day. Time blocking works and the concept is simple—create a schedule for each day that squares away time for every task you need to complete. This creates deadlines and puts time limits to tasks, making it an automatic time organizer.
3. Organize Your Workspace.
Have everything you need within reach. Take a careful inventory of everything you use on a regular basis to get things done at the office. Keeping these items at your desk or on your computer will maximize productivity and make organization easier.
Get rid of the non-essentials. Clutter is a distraction. We’re not saying that your desk needs to be completely cleaned off, but cutting out the non-essentials will make a workspace more functional and productive. If you haven’t used something in the past six months, get rid of it or store it away somewhere off your desk and out of eyesight.
Put paperwork in its place. Piles of paperwork are one of the biggest organization pitfalls. Instead of letting paperwork stack up, create a filing system that is based on the one-touch method. Make different files for each project or client, and when a document comes across your desk either act on it, trash it or file it away. Once the project is complete go back through the file and get rid of anything that isn’t essential.
Organize your virtual workspace. Your email is its own workstation. Organize it the same way you would organize your paperwork—files and a one-touch system. Apply the filing system to your electronic files as well. Another thing to consider is to develop a schedule for checking your email only two or three times a day so it doesn’t become a time sucking distraction.
Source: Authors Gary Keller and Jay Papasan are authors of The One Thing, a book for busy people, and they publish a blog of the same name. They demonstrate that the results you get are directly influenced by the way you work and the choices you make. You’ll learn how to identify the lies that block your success and the thieves that steal time from your day. By focusing on your one thing, you can accomplish more by doing less.
