Feliz Natal (Brazil), Sretan Bozic (Croatia), Joyeux Noel (France) or Merry Christmas

I love Christmas!
I am a sucker for Bing Crosby carols and fairy lights. I love giving presents, deciding on what to make for Christmas lunch and decking the halls with tinsel and holly. But most of all I love sharing it all with family, with friends and with the people that have meant something to me in the year before. I love the traditions and the joy only Christmas seems to bring.

However in this highly commercialised world it often feels like the Grinch has stolen our Christmas. Decorations in the shops in September, pressures to provide the kids with the latest and most expensive gadgets and expectations to have our homes looking like a page from the December edition of “Home Beautiful” can all lead to our hearts being “two sizes too small”.

But we can learn a lot from Dr Seuss and the people of Whoville. Despite the Commercial Grinches trying to take away all that is special about Christmas, it is the Spirit of People that shines through and makes the few weeks of December and January so great.

What parent has not adored the ‘present’ their child has made at school? Of course it is probably the ugliest necklace or paper weight you have ever received but you can only see the love with which it has been created. Christmas trees everywhere are adorned with cotton ball and pop stick ornaments which have become a testament to each family’s journey through life. If we embrace only the parts of the commercial Christmas we want and rejoice in the elements of peace, generosity, love and unselfishness that prevail over the festive season, Christmas will always remain a magical time of every year. Reject the pressures placed on our hearts, minds and budgets and make Christmas our own. Do what makes you and yours happy. Create traditions of your own and generations to come will look forward to reliving them.

I thought I would share some traditions from around the world

Christian homes in Bethlehem are marked by a cross painted over the door and each home displays a homemade manger scene. A star is set up on a pole in the village square.

The Danish tradition is the Christmas plate. This was a tradition in the early days where rich Danes gave plates biscuits and fruit as presents to their servants. These plates were the nicest and best kind and were not used for everyday use, this is the reason why they became so collectable.

It is a custom to attend at one of nine carol services is observed by most Venezuelans. Firecrackers explode and bells ring to call worshippers from bed in the predawn hours. The last of the masses takes place on Nochebuena de Navidad Christmas Eve. Families attend a mass on this night and then return home to a huge and fancy dinner.

The warm weather allows Australians to enjoy a tradition which commenced in 1937. Carols by Candlelight is held every year on Christmas Eve, where tens of thousands of people gather in the city of Melbourne to sing their favourite Christmas songs. The evening is lit by as many candles singing under a clean cut night sky. The sky with its Southern Cross stars is like a mirror. Most towns and cities now also enjoy Carols in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

We have a small tradition in our family created when I was a child and milk men still delivered to your door. Finances were tight but each Christmas  Mum made sure the milkman delivered two cartons of Chocolate flavoured milk on Christmas Eve. As a special treat we had a glass with breakfast on Christmas morning. My brother and I have continued this with our own kids and even now as adults or  in a foreign country we manage to to have a glass of chocolate milk on Christmas morning. Without it it wouldn’t quite seem like Christmas.
So take back Christmas, enjoy how special it can be and give it your own family feel.
“Welcome Christmas. Bring your Cheer.Cheer to all Whos, far and near.
Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand.”

Of course the joy of Christmas can be made even better by reducing the stress of having to have many things organised and in place by a certain deadline (Christmas morning for most). The team at Entirely Organised has put together some tips from 3 weeks out up to Christmas day to  help you create your perfect Christmas Holiday. Just click here and follow the link to our great Christmas tips.

I hope you enjoy organising your own special Christmas.

Cheers

Robyn

How many times have we or other chronologically challenged people uttered this phrase.

But seriously, I don’t believe I really would like to be a teenager again.

Although challenges have confronted every generation today’s teens seem to have more than their fair share to contend with.

I think we need to hand it to the “youth of today” as they have enormous pressures on them to succeed. They are expected to continue at school even if they would rather not, choose between an array of tertiary study or careers (many of which have only been invented in the last few years), they must be competent at sports, serve their community, maintain contact with a huge number of friends from all over the world, and on and on the expectations go. Social and media pressures are robbing them of what it means to be a kid and it is the adults that complain about them that are the source of this pressure.

In an age where every imaginable type of information is available via the internet our children are aware of the great, the good, the bad and the downright terrifying right in their own bedrooms. Once a safe and protective shell our homes are the avenue for bombardment from the outside world.

I am a huge believer in free speech and education being the way forward for all people but I also believe this education has to be guided, age appropriate, informative, discussed and not detrimental to those receiving it. It is just too easy for our teens to think only negative things happen in the outside world.

“But they have so many choices these days” I hear you cry. While choice is a fabulous thing it can also leave teens confused and unsure. Messages like, ‘they must get an entrance score above x or their future is lost” or “it doesn’t matter what they achieve at high school there are backdoors into Uni” or ‘they need to try lots of things, be multi skilled as they will change careers five times in their lifetime’ or “you won’t get a job without experience” can leave some in a spin. Teens do not know if they need to focus on grades or join every club or sport or service group available. Will a gap year enhance their chances or put them a year behind their peers? Is it more important to network than to work hard? Should they take opportunities presented or wait for something better to come along?

Still you say; “what about the great opportunities they have to experience things we didn’t even dream of”.  It is true, by the time most reach their twenties teens have had great holidays, played various sports, learned at least one instrument, can navigate a huge range of technology, been to fun parks, fetes, shows, movies, theatre or concerts, tried another language, tasted many different foods, consumed many different alcohols, engaged with sexual partners and lived in many places.

Unfortunately many have also experienced family breakdown, loss of extended community networks, bullying, physical, emotional or drug abuse, and perhaps the loss of friends through accident or suicide. So many have been there, done that and have the T-shirt that they continually push the envelope looking for a greater thrill.

So how can we help our teens navigate this tricky journey to adulthood and beyond?

Firstly we need to acknowledge the stresses and strains they are under are real. While some may seem trivial to us, the issues are very important to the child and this is probably the first time they have had to deal with it. Guide them, encourage them and help them to find the solution.

Secondly we need to celebrate their achievements is an appropriate way. Very few actually need a jumping castle for their 3^rd birthday or a car for graduating high school. They do need recognition that they have done something well or given it their best shot. They do need love and support along the way. Of course the occasional present is fun too.

And finally, provide them with the opportunity to learn the skills they will need in life. Whether it’s how to make change for the bus fare or how to schedule their exam preparation basic academic, sporting, social and organising skills will aid the child which ever path they travel down. Knowing how to do the small things builds confidence for the tough challenges.

I am quite in awe of what our children and teenagers have to deal with and how they manage to do it so well. I don’t want to be a kid again but I am very glad they can program the DVD player.

Cheers

Robyn

It’s November, you have done the big spring clean, sorted what you are keeping and what you are happy to let go of.

Now what? What will you do with those items that you use, that you love, that you need and that fill you with only positive emotion?

Naturally you will want to preserve your precious items in the best conditions possible.

There are a few things to be considered when making your decisions.

1. The Environment in which you store or display items is important. Will they be subject to contaminants such as dust, mould or moisture. Will they be at risk of damage from children, pets or nature’s fury?Chemical are also hazardous to your keepsakes. Lignin an organic substance present in wood pulp becomes acidic as it deteriorates. PVC combines with moisture to emit hydrochloric acid. These and other acids weaken paper and cloth turning it brown and brittle.

2. Identify your items so that their importance will never be lost. Who, what, where, when and why should be kept with the item.

3. Have realistic Limits. Assess your space and the size of your items. Are you able to display your keepsakes meaningfully and safely. To appreciate your collectables you don’t want the area to become cluttered, cramped or overwhelmed by the items.Consider time limits and how many generations forward the item will remain relevant to. Remember age alone is no reason to store it away.

4. Know your organising style and how that influences what you keep and how you display things. Do you like things on display or stored away. Do I like it enough to want it on display? Not everything of value and meaning will be pleasant enough to look at every day.

5. The life stage you and your co habitants are in will influence the importance placed on objects. For example, most adults do not want their favourite stuffed toy displayed on the mantle but pre teens still may like to have it on sight in their room.

6. Respect for your keepsakes comes in many forms. The physical state of the item; its age, composition, monetary value and fragility all need to be respected when deciding how best to keep it. How will you display this in the best way or how to store it for best preservation?

The memory that the item reminds us of, whether it is a person, event or achievement will need a level of importance placed on it to decide how you want to keep it. Old school records may be important for you to keep but not as important as your University degree which you will frame and put on your office wall.

The origin of an item may reflect the way you wish to keep it. A first edition comic book would be kept in a different way from a World War medal of your grandfather’s. Where and from whom it came from should influence what you do with it.If you have kept something in honour of someone, consider displaying it in a way that reflects that person. One poignant item is better than ten meaningless things. If you love the giver but not the gift, think laterally, there are many alternatives to actually holding on to gifts you don’t like.

7. Work out Alternative ways to display or keep objects. For example:

• Follow the Seasons – display parts of your collections that fit with the seasons. Autumn quilts, Christmas dressed toys, porcelain bunnies at Easter.
• Display only part of the collection at any time so it’s not overwhelming.
• Use wall shelving, tall bookcases or hooks to maximise vertical display space. You can actually attach items securely to the wall to create an interesting feature.
• Find a use for it. Laminate holiday/travel maps to create placemats; a souvenir cup makes a great pen holder.
• Dual purpose. Display postcards inside a vintage frame, or buttons in a decorative jar.
• Look for underutilised spaces. Corner or perimeter shelving in a high room may be the perfect place to display things.
• There are endless ways to create crafty ways to display or use your keepsakes. Make a pillow from a souvenir t-shirt, quilts from baby clothes, or glue movie tickets onto a trunk that doubles as a table.

Enjoy organising your precious keepsakes!

Cheers

Robyn

We are all guilty of it. Boxes of old university notes stuck in cupboards, childhood toys stashed away, slides from long ago holidays that have never been viewed or ceramic vases passed down by distant relatives.

We all have memorabilia in our lives. But do we have too much? When do keepsakes become “for Pete’s sakes”?

When the treasures we have been squirreling away start to weigh heavy on our mind or encroach on our living space then it is time to reassess their value.

There are many reasons we keep things. What we need to discern is if the items we have around us are memorabilia or keepsakes or whether they are simply clutter.

Memorabilia reminds us of the people, places and times in our lives we love the best. Each item we keep should be special and unique to a memory. If it is not it will just become clutter in your life.

So in deciding what you will keep consider the following:

• Positive Emotion – does the object give you a buzz? Only keep things that give you a positive emotional response. Love, pride, happiness and respect are good emotions for keeping things. Guilt, fear, duty and worry are not.
• Less is More The more memorabilia you have, the less emotionally valuable each individual item becomes. You do not need 37 photos of you winning the junior school 100m dash. If every time you walk into your lounge you see those 37 photos you tend to overlook them or people think you are hung up on it and never want to ask you about your achievement. Perhaps just one of you crossing the finish line will highlight what it meant to you.
• Respect You may keep things out of honour for someone. This is important but think about how many things you need to honour this person’s memory. Can a select number of items displayed tastefully honour them better than lots of stuff just sitting in a box? Self respect – acknowledge your achievements rather than using objects to feel good about yourself. If you need lots of things to bolster your self esteem then perhaps you need to look at other psychological issues in your life. Many people think it is their duty to keep something they have been given or inherited. Just remember, when you receive something it is your duty is to receive it and thank the giver – not to keep the gift forever.
• Physical State The age, composition, monetary value, fragility of the item needs to be considered. How are we going to display this in the best way     or how to store it for best preservation.
• Pride of Place Once you have decided that something is so valuable to you that you are going to keep it then don’t just stuff it back into the cupboard never to be thought of again. Give it a chance to be seen, appreciated, loved or talked about. Put it out on display, share it with others or organise it in such a way that you can find it and exhibit it whenever you need to.
• Correct Storage Again, if you have made the conscious decision that an object is worth keeping, then make sure you store it correctly. Don’t let it deteriorate or become damaged. Likewise decide on the most appropriate way to display your pride and joy.

When you keep something out of love or as a reminder of someone or something important it becomes a positive part of your identity as a person but when you keep things out of guilt, perceived need or value it is the object itself that becomes the focus. Too many objects kept for the wrong reasons simply become clutter taking up valuable space in our homes and hearts. By letting go of the clutter we can enjoy the things we hold dear and make room for new memories.

Now go have a look in that spare wardrobe, what can you let go of?

Cheers,

Robyn

A few statistics for you:

• 80% of what we keep we never use.      Agency Sales Magazine
• The average person burns 55 minutes a day – roughly 12 days a year – looking for things they know
  they own but can’t find.      Newsweek
• We wear 20% of the clothes we own 80% of the time. The rest just hangs there. Calgary Herald
• 25% of people with 2-car garages don’t park any cars in there and 32% parked only one.       US Department of Energy
  80% of the clutter in most homes is a result of disorganisation, not lack of space.    Ottawa Citizen
• 23% of adults say they pay bills late (& thus incur fees) because they lose them. (Harris Interactive)
• Home storage products have become a $4.36 billion industry.   (Newsweek, 2004)

But, you may say, what about my stamp collection, or the souvenirs form our trip to India and my array of 1950’s
vinyl records are worth a fortune. That’s not junk!

Here in lies the difference between what makes a collector and what constitutes a hoarder. Add to that someone who just seems to have lots of stuff everywhere and we have a third category – the clutterer.

Let’s look at some of the defining features of each.

The Hoarder

• Compelled to constantly accumulate stuff.
• The material goods accumulated appear to othersbe useless or of limited value.
• Unable to get rid of clutter. Trying to declutter creates dramatic emotional responses that the hoarder finds unpleasant and
  wants to avoid
• The accumulation of stuff creates cluttered living spaces that prevent the space from being used for its normal activities.
• There is significant impairment in the ability to live a normal life.
• Does not perceive clutter to be annoying and may in fact find comfort in it.
• Social isolation often results from the hoarding disorder.
• The hoarding behaviour continues despite the negative social, emotional, and physical consequences that result.

The Collector

• Engages in accumulating specific objects.
• Regularly attains and disposes of the collected items through sale or trade, sometimes for monetary gain.
• Socializes with others who place similar value on the collected items.
• Continues with collecting because it adds value, interest, and meaning to life.
• Displays collected items with pride.
  Is often able to categorize and sort collected items with precise categories and labelling.

The Clutterer

• Accumulates things almost unintentionally. “I have no idea how it got like this.”
• Lacks organizing skills or does not apply them consistently.
• May have difficulty with setting priorities.
• Have poor decision making skills.
• Cannot categorize and sort items in a meaningful way.
• May be motivated to get rid of clutter but unsure of how or where to begin. In other words the clutterer can see the clutter but is overwhelmed by it.
• May experience shame at their inability to control and create order in their physical space.
• Often has emotional attachments to accumulated objects and will use rationalizations or excuses as to why it should be kept.
• May have underlying emotional issues such as depression and anxiety.

There are serious consequences to a hoarding disorder. There can be safety risks, physical and emotional health costs, family and social issues.
If you or someone close to you shows signs of being a hoarder please seekmedical advice.

Often caring friends or family believe that if they just get in and clean up the place or take all the offending stuff to the tip the problem
will be solved. However this is not the case for hoarders. Great psychological harm can be caused to a true hoarder by simply getting rid of the stuff in one
big clean up or it will only take a few weeks before the hoarders home is returned to the same state. If a space is cleared it will be filled up again
without correct psychological intervention.

A Collector usually only runs into problems if their collecting hobby or habit starts to impact on their lives. It may be that their collection
starts to take up too much space or become financially straining on the family budget. Whilst it may be difficult, the collector can usually find ways of
limiting, reorganising or modifying their collection to maintain its value in their life. If not they may have crossed the line to becoming a hoarder.

The Clutterer can often be the easiest to help. Friends, family or an objective third party such as a Professional Organiser can assist in
reducing the amount of stuff they have. Decisions can be facilitated about the emotional or financial value of items and appropriate storage solutions can be
found. Organising and decision making around their stuff can be a skill the clutterer can learn and simple systems put in place to maintain the
process.  If there are underlying symptoms of depression or anxiety the appropriate health professional should be consulted.

Filing with Finesse; Organising Essentials to Create the Perfect Filing System

Not being able to find specific information when you need it is one of the most frustrating and costly issues of any office. Whether it is the kids’ immunisation records at home or the quarterly budget projections at work, if you cannot retrieve the information quickly and easily you may as well not have kept this information in the first place. Filing documents, information, electronic data, keepsakes or anything else requires a simple system, customised for your situation which takes the minimum of maintenance.

Following on from our Office Organising Essentials let’s look at the essentials for an Entirely Organised Filing System:

1. Allow yourself enough time to do the whole job or break it into chunks and diarise time to do each chunk. An average office will take 2-3 days to organise. Do not underestimate how long it will take to sort through your existing papers. A four drawer file cabinet, when full, holds around 18,000 pages.

2. Be prepared to make a mess before your system comes together. If possible you may like to use another room to sort through your papers so that your office continues to function through the process or you can simply close the door when your available time is up.

3. Sort through your filed/paper, dividing them into 4 main areas.

· Action – items that need action on at least a weekly basis

· Reference – items that you need to access but do not require action

· Archive – items that you are required to keep either for tax, legal or personal reasons

· Irrelevant – these are the “no Brainers”. Anything out of date, no longer relevant or that doesn’t belong in an office

4. Throw out the irrelevant. Shred/destroy any documents with sensitive or personal information. Much of the information you think you may need “just in case” can be sourced through the internet if required. Don’t clutter your vital space and system with information you do not need.

5. Decide on the type of “Containers” you will use for your files. A step file located on your desktop is great for action files. Traditional hanging files in a cabinet are good for action and reference files. Lever arch or ring binders are great for keeping different files of the same category, e.g. a Banking binder can hold all different account statements in separately tabbed sections. Each financial year is easily retrieved for tax returns and later archiving. You may use one or a combination of containers. What is important is that you are clear on what is filed where.

6. Label your files with names meaningful to you or your business. Action files are best labelled by their action such as “Bills to Pay” while reference files may be labelled by their category such as “Insurance” or “School”. Archiving is best done with an itemised content sheet with date securely fixed to the container.

7. Don’t over stuff. If filing papers is difficult it is often avoided so make sure you have at least 10 – 15 cm of space available in the file drawer. That way you can easily open a file with one hand and drop your paper in with the other hand.

8. KISS (Keep Your System Simple)

· Toss out junk mail before it even lands on your desk

· Discard unnecessary pages that accompany the information critical to your needs

· Use colours sparingly. Colour coding is a great way to quickly identify general categories but too many create visual clutter and confusion. Stick to 3-4 major colour categories, such as Blue for Business, Green for Personal and Red for Action.

· Ensure your labels are easy to read (a commercial label maker is a great investment) and lining them up in a straight line will make it easier to locate each one or insert new files.

· Too many categories are as much a problem as to few. Create broad categories such as Insurance and then a different folder or section for individual files within that category such as Home & Contents or Medical.

9. Make one decision about each piece of paper that comes across your desk. Paper should flow through your office. When an item enters your office, decide whether it requires a particular action and by when or whether it requires filing as a reference or kept as an archive. Some will require all three steps but that one decision needs to be made when it first enters your desk space. A good system allows you to know exactly where every piece of paper will find its permanent home.

10. Electronic folder and filing systems should reflect your hardcopy one. Many documents can be obtained electronically thereby reducing your paper load. However these electronic documents still require a simple filing system on your computer facilitating easy location and retrieval.

11. Regularly revisit your files to move along any documents that are no longer relevant for that space. Paid bills move from action file to appropriate reference file. Reference files move on to archiving or discarding. Schedule in regular filing time throughout your week to reduce the risk of a filing backlog. End of the month, quarter or financial or school years provide great opportunity to attend to your system.

12. Make this your filing Mantra: “Filing is for Retrieval not Storage!”

Cheers

Robyn

When people talk about organisation they always speak about systems, but

What is a System? and Why Do We Need Them??

If we look at the Big Picture—a system is an arrangement of entities that interact with each other within a boundary to function as a whole.

The purpose of the whole is always different to, and more than, the sum of its parts.

Sounds complex but if we think of it in terms of a farm it makes more sense.

For example, a tractor is a vehicular system comprised of many sub systems such as mechanical and electrical which individually provide steering, motion, lighting, hydraulic operation etc. Each individual entity is a system that provides a purpose which in turn interacts with others to make the whole (tractor) function.

The farm itself is an integrated system of living and non living subsystems.

And each subsystem is a procedure or process designed to obtain an objective.

Eg. The farmer will have a cropping system which considers the season, the weather, a sowing plan, the maturity of the crop, a harvesting plan which will then interact with his tractor system, his marketing system and his banking system (and many more), all to ensure his farm is successful.

We can look even larger and see that the farm is a subsystem of the local community, the market is a subsystem of the agricultural economy and the bank is a subsystem of a global financial system.

There are networks within networks, systems within systems, various parts of which are physically, chemically and/or socially interrelated in an endless ever-changing dynamic.

That’s all very well, philosophically speaking, but what does that mean for the individual.

The Purpose of Systems and Being Organised

It is important to have simple, practical and repeatable systems in place to facilitate an organised environment in which objectives and goals can be achieved.

Whether we are working at home or at our job, systems provide an environment which:

• is Safer
• is Predictable—things are where we expect them to be
• Reduces Time wasting/time lost
• Avoids Confusion
• Reduces Stress
• Improves Efficiency and Productivity
• Models Organisational Habits
• Reinforces Organisational Habits & Strategies
• Promotes Creativity

For Government and Business Regulation systems ensure

• Licensing requirements are met
• Service and Product Quality
• Public safety
• Quality Improvement and Accreditation is ongoing

What sort of system do you need?

It may be a storage system for your garage or a marketing system for your business, it doesn’t matter. What is important is that your system fulfils your needs and is sustainable.

You can invent your own system, customise someone else’s or employ one of the readymade ones that may be available out there.

Firstly define what you are after and build your system by putting into place steps/procedures that will allow you to accomplish your aims.

Your system should be

• As simple as possible
• Easily understood by others
• Logical
• Repeatable

If you are employing a readymade system, once you think you’ve found it, ask the following questions

• Is it proven?
• Does it have other users willing to talk about it?
• What is the performance guarantee?
• How long has it been around?

The final question you need to ask and be very honest with your answer is:-Will you actually commit the time necessary to making it successful. Finding a system isn’t the end of the story. No system will accomplish your aims if it isn’t used.

Putting systems in place provides the platform on which we can all function and reach our full potential. Our tasks are completed, our goals are achieved and our dreams can come true.

Who would have thought a simple little system could do so much!

Cheers,

Robyn

An office is just a space; another room with a few distinct pieces of furniture and equipment. Nonsense, an office is the lifeblood of a business or family. When the office is in chaos almost all the aspects of modern life or a business can be at risk. A disorganised office can cost you an enormous amount in wasted time, money, productivity and increased and unnecessary stress.

Whether corporate or family, an office houses the really important information that you or others must be able to find in almost an instant. So what are the Essentials of an Organised Office?Firstly, step back and look at the whole space. Look at the size of the room, the placement of doors and windows, the lighting, the existing furniture and equipment. What do you have to work with?

2.         Establish the purpose of your office space. Does it need to accommodate a number of functions? How many people need to share the space? If it is a home office, will it be used just for paper work or will it accommodate study, hobbies, business and home purposes.

3.         Establish Zones within the office – What needs to happen where. You will need an action or work zone, a technology area for the computer, printer, phone, modem etc. Where will you keep your reference materials? What will your filing system look like and where will you create storage?

4.         Look at the lay out and traffic flow in/through the area and the zones. Do you need to rearrange furniture, add shelving, or remove items that don’t belong?

5.         What tools do you have or need in each zone to make them work for their purpose. All that you need for each activity should be found in that zone.

6.         Don’t procrastinate; it’s easy not to start because you can’t decide where to start. Don’t worry, just start on the top of the pile. Process the new papers first.

7.          Use the SPACE formula to declutter and organise your office and files

· Sort – group like with like, categories will soon emerge

· Purge – set boundaries for the types of files you will keep. Eg. The last 4 electricity bills, last financial years statements, clients back 3 years. Check with your accountant or solicitor what documents may be required and shred or archive as appropriate. Purge regularly.

· Assign a Home – create a single permanent place for items to live. Set up a logical filing system for documents.

· Containerise – decide on the type of filing system you want. Lever arch, ring binders and suspension files are the most common. Make sure your archive boxes will withstand dust, pests, vermin and humidity.

· Evolve – your business and personal needs change over time. Regularly assess your office components and tweak along the way. Set aside regular tune ups such as end of financial or school year, every quarter or at least every 2 years.

8.         Make one decision about each piece of paper. Consider the 4 F’s

· Finish it – if it will only take 2 mins to complete, do it now

· Forward it – if you have done your bit or if responsibility belongs to someone else forward the paperwork out of your space

· File it – the biggest and hardest to control if not regularly scheduled to do. Set aside 15mins every week and file your paperwork appropriately. The more paperwork you process the more regular filing sessions are required.

· Fling it – the garbage can is your friend. Dispose of irrelevant material before it has a chance to clutter up your office.

9.         Set up your

· Action files. These should be close at hand and are your “to do” files requiring action. Only 4-6 files are needed. Label them with their purpose eg. “Bills to Pay”

· Reference files. Require no action and should be easily retrieved, most likely on a less than weekly basis.

· Archive files. These are infrequently used but may be required to keep. Mainly old reference files for tax or legal purposes and keepsakes. Label them well and store out of your office space if possible.

10.       Use a labelling system that means something to you. What comes to mind first is often the best label for a category. Just remember that the more other people that have to use the system the more generic your labels must be. Label where equipment is housed so that things are always returned to where they can easily be found the next time.

11.       Consider going vertical- step files work well for keeping action files on your desk but not lost in a pile. Lever arch files or ring binders can store multiple type of the same file eg bank accounts. Above desk shelving can keep important information or useful items close at hand.

In a wellorganised office people, tasks and paper should flow from in to out. Creating an uncluttered, purpose based system will ensure your home or business office is a true assest.
Cheers

Robyn

I thought I would share with you some of the interesting and quite amazing facts that arise from Office disorganisation. Whether it is a large corporate office, small suburban business or just the small space from which you run the family finances disorganisation may be costing you much more than you think.

While you ponder just 10 of the many office scenarios out there, think about your office and its own organising challenges.

Are you wasting time, effort and money? Can some simple organising strategies increase your productivity, improve your bottom line and make going to work a pleasure instead of the daily grind?

1. An average organization:
• Makes 19 copies of each document.
• Spends $20 in labour to file each document.
• Spends $120 in labour searching for each misfiled document.
• Loses one out of every 20 documents.
• Spends 25 hours recreating each lost document.
(PriceWaterHouseCoopers)

2. Workers’ productivity decreases by 20-40% every time they multitask or “task switching”.
(University of Michigan, 2001)

3. Are 18,000 sheets enough? Your four drawer file cabinet, when full, holds 18,000 pages.

(Office Systems Magazine, 1995)

4. About 25% of workers save things in piles instead of files.
(Taylor Nelson Sofres Intersearch)

5. Studies have shown that some executives will pick up a single piece of paper from their desk 30 to 40 times before acting on it.
(Michael Woolery, Seize the Day)

6. White collar workers waste an average of 40% of their workday. Not because they aren’t smart, but because they were never taught organizing skills to cope with the increasing workloads and demands.
(Wall Street Journal)

7. 80% of what we file never gets looked at again

8. Executives waste 6 weeks per year searching for lost documents.
(Fast Company Magazine)

9. Employees spend roughly 25% to 35% of their time looking for the
information they need to do their jobs.
(Document Magazine)

48% of executives admit to having a messy desk but claim to know where everything is. In contrast, 12% say that although their desk appears to be organized, they have no idea where to find anything.

(Fast Company Magazine)

Analyse your office space or system.

• Where are the problems?
• What’s working well?
• What are the essentials for each space or job?
• What things are preventing the organisation of your office?
• And most importantly; Why do you want/need this office to be organised?

Answer these questions and you have the essential tools to affect change.

Cheers

Robyn