JANUARY 15: CLEAN OFF YOUR DESK DAY

Have you ever telephoned someone and in the middle of the conversation been interrupted by the distracted plea, “Wait a minute, I need to find something to write on,” followed by the sound of rustling papers? Ah, the din of disorganization. How often does it come from you?

Use this date as a motivator to clean off your desk. Pick a spot, pick a time and begin.

1. Surface of your desk. Reserve this area for projects that you are working on daily. Knickknacks belong on shelves away from the desktop.
2. Inside your desk. Projects that you work on weekly should be kept in the drawers and on the lower shelves of your desk.
3. Around your desk. Arrange projects that you work on monthly on nearby surfaces or in easy-to-reach file drawers.
4. Away from your desk. If you must walk across the room to reach a bookcase or filing cabinet, use it for storage.

One of the first steps in organizing your environment is to get rid of clutter. Survey all that you see.

• Subscriptions: Do you collect them? Do you read them? Do you need them? Can you cancel them?
• Catalogs: How old are they? Are you really going to purchase the item? What immediate benefit comes from saving the catalogs? Can you throw them away?
• Ads/coupons: If you don’t know what it is or haven’t seen it for a while, throw it away. Resist collecting materials that appear to represent “good bargains.”
• Business cards: Is your link to the person on the card a mystery? Can you throw the card away? Don’t pile business cards in a desk drawer or shove them around on the surface of your desk. Dig in, go through your collection and get rid of the cards you won’t use. Then develop a better storage system.
• Paperwork: Can you do it? Can you delay it? Can you delegate it? Can you dump it?

File It

Label your files clearly using nouns. Choose categories that are simple and easy for you to recognize and retrieve. Never have a “miscellaneous” file. Keep frequently used files close at hand. File daily; don’t let paperwork pile up.

Remember, do not use your desktop for storage.

Celebrate Success!

MARCH 5: PROCRASTINATION WEEK

Do you use a snooze alarm? If so, you are starting your day by procrastinating—putting off the moment when you finally throw back the blankets and get up. Neither a good precedent nor a good beginning. Think about it.

People procrastinate for all sorts of reasons. Why do you? Perhaps you procrastinate when you dislike the project at hand or feel overwhelmed by it. Or maybe you put things off when you can’t figure out where to start. Procrastination is a killer of productivity, efficiency, and success. It takes self-discipline to get over the hurdle and begin a difficult project. Mark this date on your calendar, and use it as a motivator to begin conquering procrastination.

Pick a dreaded project and schedule a time to begin. Then start at the beginning and go to the end! Take small steps. Be realistic about your ability to focus on the project.

Break It Down

Get a piece of paper and do a written dissection of the project. Break the project down into manageable pieces (tasks or combinations of tasks). List the pieces needed to complete the project and then go back and put them in a logical, sequential order.

Identify your most energetic time of day, and use that time each day to tackle a piece of the project (from the list). While you are doing this, focus on the finished project and how good you’ll feel when it’s done. If you cannot define your most energetic time of day, start early. Plunge in at the same time every day or week. Get that piece done and enjoy the rest of the day.

Nobody’s Perfect

Do not seek perfection. The desire for perfection will prevent you from moving forward. Get started and stick with it, even if you hit only 50 percent of your target.

Make sure that the time you devote to the project is quality time. Eliminate interruptions by taking care of necessary communications ahead of time. Then ignore incoming email and let the phone ring. Stay focused.

Mark Twain said “If you’ve got to swallow a frog…you don’t want to look at it too long.” Do it now. Do the worst first. Reward yourself!

About the Author

Read more articles by Sally Allen.