If you’re anything like me, staying organised is hard. Ever since I went self employed, taking full responsibility for every aspect of my working life, organisation has to be somewhere near the top of the list, if not at the very top. With no organisation of what to do when, how far projects are along and even just contact details of clients, the world falls apart. How do you do it though? Read on for some top tips on how to be organised at work.
Sort Your Desktop
Is there anything worse than a badly laid out desktop on your home screen? Files everywhere. So many that they just lay on top of each other. No folders to talk about. This is chaos. When you need to find something you won’t be able to. Create a system that works for you. Separate folders, properly named. Files named correctly too. Do this now and you’ll thank yourself quickly. Wait for the problem to get worse and you’ll end up having to put more time in further down the line. Let’s get on top of things.
Back Up Your Stuff
One massive tip is to make sure you have back ups of things. Get yourself an external hard drive and back up your important files every month. You can also store things on a cloud service so you can access them from whenever you need to. Should anything go wrong with your computer, you don’t want to have lost all that work.
Label, Label, Label
I mentioned labeling above but it is worthy of it’s own sub heading. Figure out a way to label everything you work with on a daily basis and then files you may keep in the office or in storage. Easily being able to find stuff will lower your stress level should you need to discover something in an emergency. Clearly labeling things will help you to stay organised at work.
Write Stuff Down
With that in mind, write stuff down. Writing is often overlooked in favour of typing but creating paper copies of information is important. It often sinks into your head better if you write it down too. I love a good notebook. I usually have one alongside the laptop if I’m sat working from a cafe and definitely take one along to meetings. I recently got one from an awesome company called TOAD Diaries who create customised diaries. This is perfect as you can get a notebook or planner which works exactly how you need it to. In a range of colours, sizes, starting on certain months they’ll keep you organised at work. They’re awesome. They also have personalised notebooks which are great as gifts!
Implement A Work Life Balance
Sometimes things can feel unorganised because you are in the work zone all the time. I don’t blame you for this. When you work for yourself it’s easy to be in work mode 24/7 but you need a break. Your mind needs time away to reset and refocus. Making a better work life balance is good for your wellbeing and when you do, you’ll actually go back to work with a fresh head. Things will look better and you’ll be able to spend concentrated time on your organising of your work space and paperwork.
Make Organisation Part Of Your Workflow
Put importance on organising things in your work life. Whether that’s doing a little bit every day or dedicating an hour to it each week, you’ll feel the benefit. Keep on top of it to make life easier. Your filing system will work, your desk will be clutter free and you’ll know exactly where everything is. The perfect solution to a combating chaos.
