Starting the new year off on the right foot

By: Julie McCoy January 7th, 2009

I have had quite a day. We had snow last night, so I had to clear my car off this morning in icy rain, and I forgot my lunch. Once I got to work, someone plugged in a space heater and short circuited our entire row of cubes. Of course, I lost part of an article I was working on.

Despite the chaos, my sparkling clean desk is a calm oasis.

My desk wasn’t always the picture of organization that it is now. I had stacks of old articles, scraps of paper, and random handouts I received in meetings strewn from one side of my cube to another. Not to mention cassette tapes from my interviews, tape recorders, and Tupperware.

Not anymore. I turned over a new leaf after speaking with Odette Pollar, an organization and time management guru. I interviewed her for my January RPA article about time management tips for coordinators.

Pollar says that a clean desk can make you feel less stressed, and after today’s series of events, I agree.

Although cleaning your desk, sorting through papers, and throwing stuff away can seem like a daunting task, it’s worth it. Plus, once you’ve dug yourself out, keeping your work area tidy becomes easier.

Pollar suggests taking 5-10 minutes everyday to straighten up. Before lunch or right before you leave are opportune times that will not disrupt your work flow.

Look out for an upcoming post with an audio clip from my interview with Pollar.

How do you keep your work area from becoming a dump? As I’m new to this whole ‘neat’ thing, I’d love your advice.

Comments(1) General Interest, Program Management

Comments

By Diane Slosser on January 13th, 2009 at 11:15 am

One thing that I find helps me to stay organized is to make folders for anything that I’m working on. I’m still a paper person, so I have a desk file sorter on the cabinet behind my desk which serves as a quick place to put anything that gets thrown on my desk, i.e. conference attendance sheets, vacation requests, case logs, portfolio information, PIF updates, etc. Find that rather than just putting everything in my “to file” or “to do” folder, its easier to find things. Only takes a minute to “file” everything in the appropriate folder…thus, no desk clutter or fingering my way through a huge stack of paperwork.