My mother is 93 and living in a rest home. I’m not terribly happy with her situation and I’ve been reading Atul Gawande’s book “Being Mortal” looking for better options for people like her. I was surprised in the first few chapters to find some similarities with business information systems.
messy office
Stop Wasting Time Looking for Lost Items
I love it when I come across someone who has a similar philosophy to mine about keeping everything in an orderly way in the office.
So when I found the Time Management Ninja I couldn’t help but explore this web site where Craig Jarrow helps individuals and companies reclaim their time.
15 minutes action plan : tidy your desk
Although many people tend to work in the electronic environment, there are times when desks get covered in paper. If your desk frequently gets messy, my 15 minute action plan may be of help.
It will help you to clear your desk of unnecessary papers with the minimum of fuss and in a short space of time.
The benefit to you is that you will be able to find information quickly because you don’t have to rifle through the piles of paper every time you want one piece of paper.
You can download my 15 minute action plan to tidy your desk and clear your desk fast now.
How to manage your electronic documents across devices
In my last blog I discussed the complexity of managing electronic information on all the different devices we can use to run our businesses today; the laptops, ipads, tablets smart phones etc.
I gave you some rules to consider to help you keep your business information manageable when you’re out and about.
I noted that there are some technological solutions. Lets have a look at these now.
For example you can use a laptop as your main device whether you’re working in the office, working with a client at their place, or when you’re out of town on business.
You can sync all your devices; use cloud based email (eg Gmail, icloud) and storage (eg Dropbox, Google docs).
You do have to think about what is best for you and your business and learn how to make the best use of the technologies and electronic devices.
You will still need to have a filing system within your chosen solution so that your business information is organised for quick and easy access no matter what format – email, text documents, spreadsheets, databases, images.
If you don’t I can promise you that your information will still be in mess no matter how much you spend on the technology.
That’s why I created my eWorkbook ‘Keeping Good Records in Small Businesses’ so you can learn what to do, what is important and how to do it. If you want to create your own filing system then this book takes you through the steps one at a time. Alternatively you can use it as a starting point and work through it with one of our consultants – in person or via the cloud.
You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system for your business.
Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities for more than 20 years to improve and streamline the access to their business information. She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.
Filing used to be easy. What’s happened?
Filing used to be easy – or seemed to be – when we only had paper to sort out. Sure there was lots of paper and people had shelves full of binders and large cardboard folders or boxes all neatly labelled. But it all looked efficient and probably was.
Still is for those who still keep good paper records of their business activities. It’s easy to find what you’re looking for because the labels on the folders are so clear.Then along came PCs and Macs with their electronic documents, spreadsheets, presentations and – OMG – email.
The devices and the software came with instructions on how to put the bits together and how to use the software. The missing link though was how to organise the information people created and stored inside the devices.
As a result many people couldn’t find documents and important business information. No-one had explained how to organise these files so documents could be found quickly and easily when they were needed.Now our electronic life has become even more complex as we have become more mobile and use tablets, mobile phones, laptops when we’re on the move and often a desktop PC back at the office.
So when we want to access certain pieces of information, which device is it on? Did I reply to that important email? If so where is my reply? It can be so confusing. So what to do?
Well there are a few simple rules you can impose on yourself:
- Stop and think about the implications of your actions now when you want to revisit them later
- Consider how critical it is to send that email from your smart phone right now. Can it wait till you get back to the office later in the day?
- If you really must send an email while you’re out and about, Bcc the message to yourself so it’s in your inbox on your main device
- Don’t check your email on your mobile phone during the day (Hmmm, now there’s a challenge!)
- Discipline yourself to only send email from, and save documents to, your main device.
- If you are ruthless you can stop emails coming into your mobile phone. You won’t be alone. Search Google for ways to stop email on your mobile phone
There are of course more technological solutions. I’ll look at these next time.
Season’s Greetings – celebrate with our special Christmas offer
Special Christmas offer from Terrace Filing Services
20% off our e-workbook “Keeping Good Records for Small Businesses”.
Only $45.50. Offer ends 6 February 2014.
Give your business a flying start in 2014. Take a fresh look at your filing system.
If you have been frustrated at the amount of time you have spent searching for that elusive piece of information during the past year, it is especially timely now to review your filing system for both paper and electronic files and documents.
Take advantage of our special Christmas offer and take a few hours in January and February to give yourself loads of time later in the year. This offer is for 20% off our eWorkbook – the eBook that gives you step-by-step instructions to create or revise your office filing system.
To get this offer contact Terrace Filing Services
By email: judy@terrace.co.nz
By text: 0274851706
Put “Christmas Special Offer” in the Subject.
Include your business name, email address and quote the code mx1312
For further information phone +64-4-9041498 during business hours or contact Judy
Offer ends 6 February 2014
Testimonials and recommendations
Testimonials and recommendations – you can’t really go past them as a marketing tool. I’ve been delighted with some I’ve received recently from happy clients.
Here are some excerpts:
“We contracted Terrace Filing Services to assist us to implement an electronic filing system. Judy Owen project managed and did the majority of the work for us to a very high standard. Judy consulted with the team and designed and implemented our new system. The associated documentation and help files was first class and I would unreservedly recommend Judy to any business looking to implement or upgrade their filing systems, documentation or staff training in their filing systems.” Stuart.
“Thank you Judy for your report after visiting my office. I was surprised at the level of detail included and the additional suggestions for things that I hadn’t even considered. I have immediately implemented some of your suggestions and I am enjoying the benefits of them already. I will be implementing more in the near future and look forward to having my office organised, tidy and with everything in a logical place. I would recommend anyone with a home office space to contact Judy for a consultation.” Sandy.
“Thank you for bringing your valuable expertise and care to help our information-intensive business. With years of history and many thousands of files it is easy, even for information professionals like ourselves, to have our files ‘drift’ out of order, and fantastic to have your support as we brought them back into shape.” Sarah.
And just in case you think I only work with people whose names begin with “S”, here’s one more
“Judy came to help me with both my paper files and the electronic ones. Both were a mess! She was quick and clear. It has made such a difference that this year my tax returns were filed early and my accountant was most surprised and pleased. It also meant my refund came through earlier! I can recommend Judy and her systems.” Barbara.
Wow – it’s great to be appreciated.
You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system that is tailored for your business.
Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities for more than 20 years to improve and streamline the access to their business information. She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.
Spring into Spring : clean-up and organise your office filing system.
The recent weather has been very spring like, daffodils are brightening gardens, lambs are frolicking in the rural areas and everyone seems to have got some new energy after the winter.
It’s a great time to put some of that energy to work in your office, especially if it is looking a bit cluttered with papers that have piled up or if you have a desktop screen filled with icons for documents that haven’t been filed properly in your record-keeping structure.
It’s also timely from a business point of view, especially if you’re almost half way through your financial year like I am. If you have a clean-up now you can:
- sort out your invoices and receipts well before the time you need to get your financial information to your accountant for your annual accounts
- find your business plan and review your progress so you can congratulate yourself on your achievements or put in place some actions to improve your position.
Did you know that once you’ve got your business information organised and at your fingertips you will be able to save up to 15 minutes a day every day. Think about how many non-productive hours that adds up to over one year.
If you think you don’t have time to do a clean-up then take a look at my 15 Minute Action Plan to tidy your desk. It really works. Jill and Sandie among others can vouch for that.
If you can’t find documents easily in your computer, then work through the 15 Minute Action Plan to organise your electronic documents.
When you have your filing system in order you will save time and reduce stress as well as increasing your productivity and profits.
You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system for your business.
For more than 20 years Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities to improve and streamline the access to their business information. She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.
Lawyers, accountants and their filing systems
Recently I was talking to my lawyer about governance in my business. For a good chunk of the hour I was with him he explained the filing system he uses in his law firm. That had nothing to do with the reason for my visit but I guess I have to live with the fact that I’ll get charged for that time!!!
I have noticed over my time that lawyers and law firms have pretty good systems for keeping a record of their work. I suspect that a lot of it is to do with the teams of secretaries they have. These people- mostly women – must be angels as far as their bosses are concerned.
The bigger firms were early adopters of electronic management systems. In my experience the legal profession in general keeps a good record of their business activities no matter what system they choose to use.
I assumed accountants were the same. Maybe they are. But I saw one accountant’s office recently that made me shudder. There was paper everywhere. All in piles admittedly but there were so many piles. There was simply no spare space except a few spots on the floor.
This man was quite happy with his “system”. However no-one else in his office knew how or where to find anything. One of his staff admitted that it could take her 2-3 hours to find a client file when Ken was away recently. She was quite concerned. But Ken didn’t see a problem.
I left his office feeling pleased that he wasn’t my accountant.
7 habits of highly organised office workers
I often walk past people’s desks that are cluttered with paper, food, empty coffee cups etc and wonder how they manage to work in such a mess.
I’ve also seen what the desks of high achievers look like when they’re busy. I’ve noted some of their habits and share them with you here.
- Start the day by planning what you expect or hope to achieve by the end of the day. This can be a written list or just a mental note.
- Check your emails before you start your first activity or task. Deal with them as appropriate (see Good Habits around Email). Check emails again at lunch time and again late afternoon if you need to.
- Turn off email alerts do you don’t get distracted mid-task.
- Gather the information you need for the first activity and get going.
- As you complete a task, sort out the related papers and bin or file them. Save and close down related electronic files, emails and applications.
- Mentally prepare yourself for the next piece of work. Take a break – grab a coffee, fill your water bottle. Go for a walk and get some fresh air – even 5 minutes round the block works wonders to clear your head.
- Stop whatever you’re doing 5-10 minutes before you need to leave. Spend that time tidying your desk, closing down desktop applications, binning and filing papers. Taking this time will set you up really well for the next day.
By now you’ll be dissing this blog as fairy tale land. You’re thinking how can you possibly focus on tasks when there are so many interruptions in the course of your day – how do you deal with phone calls, people stopping by to chat, not to mention meetings etc.
How can you stop work a few minutes before you leave when it will only take you another few minutes to finish off what you’re doing. (That’s a hard one that I really really relate to. I hate leaving a job before it’s finished. But I have learnt to manage that over time).
Maybe you can leave a bit later, catch a later train or bus. Bit more tricky if you car pool or have to pick up a child from day care or similar.
So I suggest you use these ideas to work out how you can create a habit that works for you.
PS – My desk isn’t necessarily tidy at all times during the course of a day. I do clear the papers and close documents, web pages etc when I complete a job. And I do tidy my desk at the end of the day. It makes such a difference in the morning to make a fresh start, even if I’m finishing off something from the day before.