Organizing Your Office for Maximum Productivity

By: Jill Revitsky, PHR, CPO

Working in a traditional office (or at your dining room table) can be challenging if you are distracted by existing paperwork, emails, and texts from colleagues, customers, and other important contacts.  I often hear from my clients that they wish they could have a day to clean up their office so that they “can think”.  Non-important papers or completed project folders often get pushed down to the floor, and begin gathering dust at our feet.  When I work with individuals in small to large offices, the first thing they say to me when we are done is that they feel like they can finally be productive.  How do we get to that point?

Sometimes the answer is as simple as your environment itself. I have walked into basement offices and been saddened to hear that my client “hates coming down here.  It’s so depressing.”  What can you do to change your space to your liking? Besides a new paint job and some minor remodeling, ask yourself these questions:

When you sit down to do work, are you facing the door or the window?  Sitting against a wall may help some people focus, but I recommend having your chair face an opening or entryway.  This also aids communication and safety, as you will be able to see who is entering your office, or who needs to speak with you.

—  Are you comfortable in your chair? Sitting in an uncomfortable or poorly positioned chair can not only make it undesirable to sit and work at a desk, but can also cause orthopedic and muscular strain.

—  What is covering your work area?  If your work surfaces are covered with too many piles, personal photos, and trinkets, your space to be productive gets very limited.

—  Is your office lighting adequate?  Don’t underestimate good lighting! Overhead lighting might shine enough light for you to see the whole space, but “spot” lighting your target work zone can really change your perspective on the task at hand.  My mother used to always put my desk lamp on when I was doing my homework and said, “That should put some light on the subject!”  And she was right.  I concentrated better! (My mother was right about everything.  Everything.)

—  Do you have enough writing space near your computer keyboard?  If you are right handed, give yourself a clean slate of space to the right in which to take notes, sign papers/checks, and edit printed material.   If you are left-handed, well, you get the idea.

—  Are current work files near your work space?  Now, if some of these are on the floor, this doesn’t count!  Use a desk top vertical filer – a metal, wood, or plastic graduated elevation will help you see the file names and keep information close at hand.

—  How far do you have to go to put things away? If active files are placed in drawers across the room, the likelihood of you crossing the floor to put that information away gets smaller as your energy wanes during the day.  Keep your “hot” files on your desk and your “warm” files in a desk drawer – handy, but not too close.  File “cold” files – those that are purely reference, in a filing cabinet specifically for archives and reference material (i.e. insurance policies, signed contracts, etc.).

• Do you use “Catch – All” Folders?  Please, I beg of you, for your own good…don’t! “Miscellaneous” is a dirty word, and that pile of homeless papers will become the black hole of your office!

Three Quick Tips for Organizing Your Email…

—  Set up and use the files in your email system to hold important or sensitive emails from others.

—  Save and label documents to the shared drive (if available) for easy access.

—  Hang Up The Phone on your email.  Complete that “call” by not “keep as new”, but DOING something with it.

Finally, I will leave you some sage advice from Bill Banmiller – a man you may not know because he is my Dad.  Every night before he would leave his office, he would always, without fail, do the following three things 15 minutes before he turned off the light to his desk:

1. Line up tasks for the morning by priority.  (Make a list if necessary)
2. File the papers (clean off the desk)
3.  Review your date-book (or PDA/Smartphone)

Remember, routine is the answer when it comes to organization, and you can’t get organized until you are clutter free and your work zone feels right!

Jill Revitsky, PHR, CPO® has been Professionally Organizing since 2003.  She now owns and operates a large Professional Organizing firm, comprised of Professional Organizers and Organizing Assistants in Pittsburgh.  Discover Organizing Inc.® organizes residentially, commercially, and specializes in downsizing, memorabilia/photo organizing, and home office organizing. Jill has been seen on KDKA (CBS) “Today Live” regularly, and has been featured in several local magazines and newspapers.  Jill believes that EVERYONE can meet their organizing goals – at home, in the office – and that everyone has their own successful style of organization.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jillrevitsky