Are you making things harder on yourself?  Do you subscribe to the “more is more” when it comes to organizing your home office?  Is it possible there are things you are doing that are just fine they way they are?

There are so many filing systems, products and methodologies out there.  I’ve used many of them myself, and I’ve seen my clients do the same thing.  One thing most of us have in common?  Sometimes, we make things too darned complicated.  Here’s a quick story:

I went to see a client’s home office, for a “fine tuning”.   Her office was one of the neatest home offices I have been in to date.  So much so, I thought to myself, “Uh, what am I doing here?”  After talking with the client for about an hour we got to the inner workings of her file drawers.  She pointed out a large box bottom file labeled “Medical”.  Our conversation went like this:

Client: “I know, I know, I should separate them out into Dental, Eye, etc….”

Me: “Why?”

Client: “Well, because I should separate them into categories, cause that’s how you’re supposed to do it.  Right?”

Me: “When you need some medical paperwork, can you find what you need in this folder in 5 minutes or less?”

Client: “Well, yes.”

Me: “Then this file is just fine.”

Shocked?  She was.  Her filing system wasn’t “good enough” for her.  The fact was, it was working for her just fine.  She had an idea of what “organized” meant, and that was more and more categories.  What she had was a system that was simple, useful and working for her.  So, I gave her permission to use it.

Are you making something in your home office more complicated than it needs to be?

I like to try out new systems to get stuff done.  It’s what I do, and probably why I love to help clients with their organization challenges.  I love trying out new things, “trying them on” as it were.  Call me a student and experimenter of organization systems.

Lately I’ve been somewhere in the middle of loving my PDA and hating it at the same time.  This year, after using one for about a decade, I switched from a Palm to a Blackberry.  My difference is that I don’t have a data package, and I don’t have my email “tethered” to my Crack… ahem… Blackberry.  I want to be reachable, but not that reachable if you get what I mean. 

Managing tasks.

One thing I don’t really care for is managing tasks with an electronic device.  It’s not really very well suited to me, as I’m a kinesthetic kinda gal (that means I prefer to touch, feel, smell things instead of watching or listening).  Soooo…. what’s my point?  I’m trying something new: tasks on paper.  I love a good stationery or specialty paper store…. something about that paper and pens scattered around the room in a stylish fashion makes me giddy.  I love paper, writing notes and buying pens.  I could spend hours in the office supply store’s pen section.  Seriously.

Back to the subject at hand: I’m trying out writing my tasks and daily tasks on paper, actual paper.  I’ll still keep my calendar and addresses in my PDA cause I just like it that way.  But, I need to write things down.

Trying out this new system.

In case you’re wondering, I’m trying out this “GSD” system, which is short, sweet and super simple.  Love that!  (FYI, I learned about it from this fabulous blog post.)

A “Tasks On Paper” Contest!

Now, here’s where the fun part comes in for you!  I’m giving away some stuff!  Remember the product review I did on Staples new “M” products?  Well, I have the above items to give away (see pic at the top of this post)!  Here’s what you need to do to enter to win:

1. Share your tips on managing tasks with paper: I’m talking tasks here, like changing a lightbulb, doing an errand or calling the phone company.  How do you do it? (Pictures and a link to your blog post are perfectly acceptable too!)

2. Deadline:  Friday, July 25 at noon PST

3. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you when you win.

Ok, now guys, if this isn’t your type of notebook, I get it, so you can give it away if you wish.  Leave a tip and show us what you’ve got!

Some tips on your tips:

They need to be simple, don’t need to reinvent the wheel or purchase a dictionary to implement them.  We’re talking productivity not rocket science here.

So tell us, how do you manage your tasks on paper?

Do you struggle with getting things done, and yet don’t want a big fat complicated system?  Checklists might be your answer!

I was reading Shannon’s post today about managing time like money.  I love the idea of treating time as a commodity, as I think it requires a certain amount of respect.  Time is kinda like real estate: they ain’t makin’ any more, so use it wisely.

Some people use two separate calendars, one for personal and one for work (my husband is a fan of this method).  I prefer to use one calendar that is coded with colors for a small list of categories for appointments.  Coloring the appointments in this way helps me see (yep, I’m visual) what the landscape of my weeks look like.

Managing Tasks

Last month, I launched my BlogTalkRadio show with my lovely co-host, Krista Colvin.  We got to talking one day, and decided to create a truckload of checklists for just about everything including our show.  Now, I’ll confess I’m not a newbie to checklists, so it was a welcome little tune-up and reminder. (Astronauts use them too!)

Here’s a few things I use checklists for, along with a sample of what’s on mine:

• Marketing: tasks like my eNewsletter and speaking gigs
• Radio Show: A list of things that must be done shortly before we hit the air/Net waves (like get a cup of coffee and use the little girl’s room!)
• Weekly To Do: errands, bookkeeping, writing blog posts
• Daily To Do: phone calls, email, taking allergy meds and Morning Pages

Get it out of your head and onto paper.

Get your routines out of your head and onto paper.  Being organized doesn’t mean you have an extensive database in your head with a killer search feature.  Paper and simpler tools may be a lot more helpful.  It’s also easier to ask for help or hand off tasks to someone else (like to my imaginary housekeeper and virtual assistant *grin*).

Checklists are a great productivity tool, as a brain dump for the repetitive things of life and business. Not having to remember those tasks in the heat of the moment or under stress can be extremely helpful.  They give you a blueprint, written by you.  It’s a way to live your life on purpose and get out of it what you really want!  Isn’t that what it’s really all about?

So, what’s on your checklist?

(photo by akaalias on flickr)

Are you ready to organize?  I get calls from potential clients, and they want to know more about what I do and how I can help.  The first thing we do is walk thru a series of questions to figure out if they are ready to get started.  Sometimes, that answer is “no”.  So, how do you know if you’re ready to organize?  Let’s first talk about what “organized” means:

ORGANIZED =The ability to find most anything you need in five minutes or less.

That’s all it means: can you put your hands on most anything you need in five minutes or less?  If the answer is “yes”, you might be organized.  If the answer is “no”, you might have some room for improvement. Here’s some questions to think over if you’re the latter:

* Why do you want to get organized?  What’s your motivation? Do you want to get organized out of your own?  Or is a family member or significant other politely (or not so politely) encouraging you to do so?  If you’re doing it out of your own wish, you’re on the right track.

* What are your expectations? Do you expect your home office to look like a magazine layout?  What do you want your space to look, feel, smell or sound like?

* What’s your budget and when can you start? If you’re going to do an overhaul of your home office, you’re going to need some cash and time to do it.  The bigger your plans, the more cash you need.  (You can get very creative, so don’t let this put you off if you only have half your monthly coffee budget to spare.)

* Have you tried things in the past that haven’t worked?  Why do you think that is? Lots of us have a shelf full of organizing books, and that’s perfectly OK.  There is a pretty common theme among them, and it can take reading one or two of them before it begins to sink in.  (I understand, really I do!)  If you’ve tried to get organized in the past and been less successful than you’d hoped, don’t get too down on yourself.  There’s lots of reasons why, and if you can pin down your reason you’ll be ahead of the game.

My advice: Start when you’re ready, and before it’s too late.

Don’t wait until you lose your job or forget to pay a bill, but also be sure you’re ready.  Take small little steps toward organization.  I love quick tips, because they are a great way to get started.  So, use the quick tips on the cover of almost every lifestyle and shelter magazine on the shelf.  Little bits of information can help you get and stay moving a little at a time.

Above all, take it easy on yourself.  If you’re not ready, own up to that and be OK with it.  Make sure you’re getting the important stuff done, and if you’re not,  ask for help.  I’m willing to bet you’ve got a friend or someone you know that can and will help you out!  You can do it!

(photo by mandj98 on flickr)

Did you ever feel like you have no motivation?  You may be sitting down to write a blog post, work on a client project, clean the house or organize your home office.  But…. *nothing*….  You’d rather be doing, well, whatever.  Know that feeling?  So, what do you do if you have something that you really must do, but just don’t wanna?  Where do you find the motivation?

Do it anyway.

Dave Taylor had a great post about getting thru writer’s block.  One of the things he recommends is to just do “insert your task or chore here“ anyway, no matter how you may feel.  I use Morning Pages to get my creative and business juices flowing in the morning, and I always feel better when I do them.  Even when I feel like I have nothing worthwhile to write about (and then I write about how I don’t feel like doing Morning Pages). 

Get advice and a plan.

So maybe you want to organize your file drawer or your email inbox and you aren’t sure where to start.  Besides hiring a professional organizer to help you (I happen to know one *grin*), there are lots of resources out there.  Read a book by Julie Morgenstern, take a class or Google “organize my home office”.  Get advice from someone you know or admire who has a great spin on organizing email or productivity.  You don’t have to duplicate their systems, but you just might be inspired and find a better way to work with your own tasks.

Distract yourself for a while.

Sometimes lack of motivation is an indicator that you need a break.  Take the off for a day, week or an hour.  Do something you like - Julia Cameron calls these “artist dates”.  A friend of mine asked me how I have so much time to read (I’m a voracious bookworm).  I told her that I don’t, I make time.  It gets me out of my head and lets someone else “drive” for a while.  It’s like a mini-vacation or self-improvement retreat.

If you’re an entreprenuer or career-minded, it’s easy to be a workaholic - especially when you work from home (I get it, I really do!).  It’s also important to take a break so you can pour yourself into whatever it is you are doing.  “Doing more” doesn’t always mean quality or productivity.  Sometimes it means you’ve just got to much going on, so take a break now and then.  Remember to take care of you, or you won’t have much to give!

(photo by Mostafa Saeednejad on Flickr)

Do you work in a mobile office in your home?  Have kids underfoot?  Lots of distractions?   A home office that “travels”?  You’re not alone.

Reader Profile:

Mona, blogger, works from home, homeschools three children ages 3-15

What’s your biggest challenge?

“One of my biggest challenges is that I don’t have a desk space. Right now I am working on the portable island in my kitchen. I keep all of my files and such on my hutch. There is no where in my house that I can put a desk without getting interrupted because my house is open to the other rooms. I don’t really mind the mobile office life but I do wish there were less distractions.”

What have you tried before?

“I have tried setting up a office-type space in my bedroom but it wasn’t much better than what I am doing now. My desktop computer was set up on my nightstand because there was not enough room to put a desk in there. Now that I have a laptop I can move around the house more easily but during the hours that my family is up and about I have to move my laptop so it won’t get things spilled on it“

What organization tool or tip would be most helpful to you?

“I have set a schedule for myself that allows me to get work done before they get up in the morning ( I just started this) and after school is done and all/most of the house chores are done. My main hours of work are 6am-8am and 7pm-10pm.
I would love it if you could help me come up with a routine that will help me to flow and transition better. I think that if I could get a routine down then my mobile office would have less distractions. How can I start work, stop work, big break in between and then start work, stop work again?”

Here’s what I suggest: Mona, you are one busy lady!  A few tips that may help:

• Set clear boundaries: Keep your office out of the bedroom if you can help it at all.  Working (permanently) in the bedroom doesn’t allow your mind a place to unwind and rest.  This can lead to all kinds of sleep problems, not to mention a general frazzled-ness (yes, I did just make that up).  You’ve done well to move your office into the common area.
• Keep it all together. It sounds like part of the office is in one place, and the rest is in another (island and the hutch).  Consider moving everything to the same location, on the portable island if possible.  Use a portable file that can slide on the bottom shelf or in a shelf nearby.  A home office, no matter where its located, is more productive if you have most everything at your fingertips.
• Use checklists to combat the distractions. You’ve set up a time schedule to work around the family.  You also mentioned that distractions are an issue, so consider using checklists of tasks that need to be done on a regular basis.  You can use them for each day of the week, daily tasks, weekly and monthly.  Use your imagination.  It’s a way to make sure that you get things done, while allowing for flexibility.  Using checklists helps you navigate distractions, establish routines, prioritize and live and work more consciously.  At the end of your day, make sure everything was accomplished.

Thanks for sharing your challenges, Mona!

Readers, if you have a suggestion please leave a comment below.

To learn more about Mona, visit her at one of her blogs:  iwebis and Time To Budget

Last month, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a virtual organization seminar given by organization expert & author, Donna Smallin.  She was profiling some great new products from Staples called “M”.  I must say, these are some mighty sassy and downright good lookin’ organization products at a very affordable price!  All of the products range in price from $1.49-39.99.  Gotta love that!  Especially when they look like this!

Some nuggets of wisdom (and reminders) I picked up from the seminar:

• Feeling more organized: 81% of participants in a Staples survey felt more organized with matching accessories
• What’s the next step: When you take something out of your inbox, ask yourself, “What is the next step?”
• Just out of reach: Office supplies and other things that are used only once a week should go in a place just out of reach (as opposed to on the desktop or other reachable space from the desk chair)
• Google Desktop: can be used for searching (including deleted items) and lots of other tasks and tidbits of information with all the gadgets available. (Ok, this wasn’t really new information.  Check out the features of Google Desktop here.)
• Group tasks together: Tasks can be a less daunting and done more quickly if they are grouped together.  For example: tasks to be done at the computer, at home, errands, calls to make, etc.

I’ll leave you with one final quote:

“Sometimes the best time to get organized is when you don’t have time.” - Donna Smallin

Do you ever find yourself saying “I’ll put this here just for now“? Is there a better way to handle those little things?

There’s the paper: sorting the mail, the kids daycamp schedules and the random pieces of paper that come home in the handbag or briefcase: there’s so much paper around! Then there’s the tasks and projects that can be done well enough for the short term (it seems). It’s easy when I’m in a hurry to just set things down “just for now”. Of course, “now” is open for interpretation and many times “just for now” turns into more than a day. Paper accumulates, tasks go undone and things aren’t where they should be. Can you relate?

When I asked my son to clean up his legos the other day, he was putting some of his creations on a living room table. (I’ve asked him to take them and put them on the shelving we purchased to display his masterpieces.) As I watched him do this, I asked him about it. Can you guess what he said? “I’m putting it here just for now, Mom.” A few days later, the brick creations were still on the table. *sigh*

So, why do we not take the time to make a small decision or accomplish a task like putting away the mail? Here’s a few tips to curb the accumulation of the “just for nows” in your life and home office:

• Wait until you can properly take the time to do the task at hand. For example, if you take the time to get the mail, also take 1-2 minutes to sort it and give it a home. Better to leave it in the mailbox until there is time to properly deal with it later in the day.
• What decision am I delaying? Sometimes a “just for now” is putting off a decision you are dreading. Have some courage and make that small decision instead of procrastinating. It will free up some “head space” to do other things.
• How much time will it really take? Does it really take long to put something away? Try this: next time you feel the urge to do a “just for now”, time yourself and discover how long it actually takes to accomplish that task. If it’s 2 minutes or less it’s probably not worth putting off “just for now”.

Are you putting something off “just for now”?

(photo by Mike9Alive on flickr.com)

I’ve been using Outlook, but is it time to manage my email and calendar separately? This is my quandry today…

I fired up Old Besty The Laptop this morning. She’s a little sluggish, but hey would wouldn’t be on this summer day of clouds and 60 degrees? Outlook was especially slow to launch. *sigh*

It makes me think (again) about switching to Google managing my email. Here’s some pros and cons:

Outlook:

Pros: grouping all correspondence with each contact in the “Activities” tab; all-in-one application; folders for email archival; email templates (loving that more everyday); my “from” field says my actual email/URL address

Cons: slow to launch; can’t access remotely; likes to crash at THE most inopportune times

Google:

Pros: online and accessible anywhere (like at my Tuscany villa, after my book makes millions *grin*); syncs with my Outlook calendar; deliverability seems really great; Google Docs (ok, it’s not really related to email, but it’s cool!)

Cons: No folders (or I can’t figure it out); all email, except archived, is in one folder; don’t know if there is an email template feature

So, this is my dilemna. Anyone faced this before? I’m thinking of taking my email online, but will I be losing or gaining productivity?

What do you use?

(photo by Tim Morgan, flickr

Have you ever seen or worked at a standing desk? Did you know they can help you move more and contribute to your overall health? Some formerly high ranking government officials do…

I met my dream desk.

Last summer I went to a meeting at a local office furniture vendor, specializing in ergonomics. Colleen Harris and her team at Harris WorkSystems have a great array of ergonomically correct chairs, desks and desktop tools. One of my favorites was an executive desk on hyraulics, so it raises to standing height of the user. Oh, that is se.xy.

Here’s a pic of the desk before it’s raised:

Here’s a pic when it’s raised to my height:

Oooooh yeah.

So, why the standing desk? There are a lot of health benefits to a standing desk. It increases your level of activity throughout the day, which helps with overall heart and body health and wellness.

As an example: I occasionally wear a pedometer, and one time clocked a 3 hour stretch of standing while working. I had almost 50% more steps clocked in that three hours than I did in an entire day of regular activity (morning till bedtime). Get my drift?

So, why don’t I have this desk in my home office? Um, because it costs in the 5 figures USD. *sigh* So, until Oprah calls, I’ll be using my current setup:

So what if you want some of the benefits of a standing desk for less than a new car?

Raise your desk. I used some risers I found at my local Storables. They would have worked for some, but I’m 5′8″ so it wasn’t lifted quite enough to be the height I needed to be beneficial ergo-wise.

Work at an island. If you work from home, consider using your kitchen island and a monitor stand. Again, depending on your height, this could be an option.

Move more. I wrote a while back about using home office distractions to your advantage. Getting up to do some small chores can do wonders for your health and your sanity. (And I’m thinking of taking advantage of the sunshine outside right now…) ChiefHomeOfficer likes to move around the home in spurts, and has some great tips on how to do that.

Do a little research. I found this great discussion about the standing desk topic here at 37 Signals. There are some lower priced options (Harris WorkSystems has them too) that would be great for the home office!

There’s lots you can do to improve your health in the home office, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Standing desks appeal to me, what do you think?

Do you have (or had) a standing desk?