Career Q & A
Taming Office Clutter
How to put some order in your workspace
Interview by Robbie Miller Kaplan
author of How to Say It in Your Job Search
Despite the “paperless” office, it’s tough to keep our workspace organized and clutter free. And the busier we get, the harder it is to maintain. So let’s make a resolution to start the New Year fresh. Janine Adams, a professional organizer from St. Louis, Mo, provides helpful tips to get us on track and keep us there.
Q;
Are there some simple things we can do to with our workspace to start
2008 better organized?
A: On January
2, try to schedule the time to create some order. If you have
chronological files, take last year's files out of your active file
space and archive it in a less convenient drawer or put it in a file
box. Clear anything off your desk that you don't use on a regular basis.
Your desktop is prime real estate and the only items on it should be
those that truly need to be within arm's reach. If you keep a desktop
file of active projects, clear it out and file any completed projects or
those that have become inactive. If you have papers or other items that
don't have a home, create a place for them, so that everything can
actually be put away.
Q;
Some of us have desktops that are so cluttered there is hardly any space
to work. What are some strategies to clear it up?
A: Take 15
minutes at the end of the day to put stuff away. It's amazing what a
boost to productivity it is to start work at a clean desk. If your
desktop tends to get overrun with stuff, it might be because you don't
have any place to put things. Everything needs to have an assigned home,
and you need to take the time to put things in their assigned home. If
necessary, cull files or weed out cabinets to create room for the stuff
that tends to stay on your desk. Then make a concerted effort at the end
of each work day to put everything away.
Q;
I personally have six in-baskets in my office and I can never locate a
thing. Do you have some suggestions to keep them organized and
functional?
A: Six sounds
like a lot of in-baskets. The problem with these is that paper tends to
languish there. Instead of in-baskets, perhaps you could set up files
for the six categories you have. A desktop file is great for active
papers. Papers are stored more efficiently vertically (as in a file
cabinet or stand) rather than horizontally (as in a pile). If you're a
real piler, though, you might check out
Pendaflex's Pilesmart products, which aid in keeping track of papers
stored horizontally.
Another option for your six categories of things would be a literature sorter. Affixing labels to each slot can help you keep track of the different categories. All that said I'd take a look at whether those six categories are the most efficient for you, since you say you can't find anything in those inboxes.
Q;
What’s the best way to organize file cabinets?
A: That depends
on what you're filing. In general, I like categories of files. Rather
than four drawers, for example, filed A to Z (the top drawer A-F, the
second drawer G-L, etc...), you might have a single category for each
drawer. For example, one drawer might be for audits in progress,
administrative papers, and another for reference material, etc. The
beautiful thing about a filing system is that it's customizable. It
should make sense to the main user and also be understandable to a
colleague who might need to access it. And it should be appropriate for
the kinds of papers that are filed in it.
Q;
I sometimes mix up my personal business with my work papers. How can I
separate it all and keep them straight?
A: If you're
using a filing cabinet, you could designate one drawer for personal
papers and another for work papers. You could use colored file folders
and assign one color for personal papers and another for work papers.
You could store personal business papers in a file drawer in your desk
and work-related papers in a filing cabinet. Physically separating the
two types of papers, rather than intermingling them, is the key. Using
some other kind of visual aid, like color-coded file folders, can
strengthen that separation.
Janine Adams is owner of Peace of Mind Organizing LLC in St. Louis,
Mo. She helps clients in St. Louis and nationwide create order in their
lives. Her website is
http://www.peaceofmindorganizing.com.