Get Organized for Life

Happy 2007! Welcome to all new subscribers! To those of you that have been subscribing for a while, what do you think of the new look? Check out the new look of my website at www.organize2optimize.com and let me know what you think!

How many of you realized that this month, January, is officially "Get Organized" month? What an opportunity for all of us! This is the month that many of us make resolutions to make our businesses and lives better.

One of the most popular New Year's resolutions, aside from losing weight, is losing clutter - or getting organized. Each year many make the committment to start anew by not having the piles on their desks or floor anymore, not spending time looking for items when they could be doing something more valuable, and not feeling frustrated by the amount of information that enters their lives and not knowing what to do with it!

Hearing these things from my clients and friends prompted me to write my new book, Organize Your Office for Life. The book is an easy-to-read, step-by-step guide for business professionals in all industries that teaches them how to take control of their office clutter once and for all. In the book, I show how anyone can get rid of piles, locate any piece of paper in their office within seconds, know what to do with every piece of paper that shows up on their desk, prioritize their time to improve productivity and save money, and feel more peaceful and productive.

See below the six major topics covered in the book. When you tackle organizing your office, you need to consider a few things:

1) Why are you getting organized? What are your goals in getting your office organized? Do you want it to look better for clients? Do you feel stressed when you enter your office that you are not as productive as you could be? The first step is determining why you want to get organized which keeps you focused and gives you reason to accomplish your goal.

2) Why it hasn't worked before? Is it that you simply aren't putting things back in their proper location? Is it that you have trouble making decisions? Are you spending too much time multi-tasking that keeping order and organization is nearly impossible? When is simply "getting organized" not enough, and what other things do you need to take care of first?

3) What basic tools do you need? Have you ever started the organizing process only to realize that you don't have all of the file folders or filing space that you need? What about a process to get started? A fellow organizer, Barbara Hemphill, says, "Half of any job is having the right tool." Learn in this book about the 4T Organizing Process (I mentioned it in a previous newsletter) and work wisely.

4) What do you do with all of the "to-dos" on your desk? Read in my book about the 3F files: 1) Fundamental files, 2) Fixed files, and 3) Flex files. How can these three things help you eliminate piles on your desk forever?

5) If I file things away, how will I find them when I need them someday? Reference filing seems so intuitive...file your car's information under "c" for "car." But what if your assistant, spouse, or child needs to find that information and they look under "a" for "auto" or "h" for "Honda?" Inexpensive, easy-to-implement systems are available to handle the amount of ever changing information in our world today. What are they and how can they help you or anyone else find anything in your office within seconds?

6) Once I'm organized, how do I support my success? This may be the most important topic of all. We all have spent time organizing our offices, and although it may come easier to some of us than others, the key is maintaining it for the long term. Learn tips that can help you increase your productivity by more than 100%!

If you think this small book can help you meet your goals for 2007, click here to start taking control of your office forever! And as always, please contact me with any questions or to share your stories.

Here's to a successful 2007,

Nicole