Devising a System for Becoming More Efficient at Home and at Work

There is a reason that the local Professional Organizer is thriving. Society at large has too much to do and not enough time to get everything done. For people or companies that are disorganized, there never seems to be enough time in the day. The question that must be answered is how to increase productivity or efficiency. If it takes you thirty minutes to find your keys or a client file then it is time to make some changes. A few simple adjustments can make a big difference, leaving more time in your day to enjoy life. Getting started is the challenge for many people.

Establish a System

Before you get started cleaning up the clutter, you must decide on a system that will work for you. There needs to be a place for everything, so that you always know where that item is when you need it. Of course, different methods work best in specific areas of life. Using multi-colored files may work well in your home office, but that won’t work in the kitchen. One rule of thumb that can be followed for any area you want to organize is to be sure and store things that you use often in very accessible spots. Save the top shelves and other hard to reach storage areas for those items you do use infrequently.

Getting some advice from a professional organizer is advisable. Once you have a good system you can use, then the rest becomes easy. Many people feel overwhelmed when they look at a huge mess they need to organize. Most people find that they benefit by consulting with a professional organizer before getting started.

For example, Christmas decorations or other annual holiday items could be stored in the garage or basement since they will only need to be retrieved once a year. This concept works well in an office setting too. The space heater that comes out every November and is then returned to the closet in April can be stored on a top shelf since it will be something that will be needed for only a few months per year.

Decluttering

Once you have a system established, then you can start decluttering. It is crucial that you have a set system before you start decluttering so that all the hard work will get you closer to your goal of saving time and being able to find things easily. Many experts recommend that it makes sense to tackle the toughest part of your home or office first, utilizing your peak performance hours to complete the hardest tasks. If you’re a morning person, that means you work on the most challenging decluttering project first thing in the morning.

Time Management Tips

When contemplating how to increase productivity, setting short-term and long-term priorities is crucial for getting what you want from life. Time Management Strategies complement any system you put into place. Focusing on top priorities first is the number one time management tip to remember. It is far too easy to spend time on less important tasks which can sabotage the overall goals you set for yourself.

Author Bio. : When seeking Time Management Strategies  call a
Professional Organizer to learn about how to increase productivity.

7 Activities That Waste Tons of Time

Time wasters can be the downfall of any business. Especially if you are a Solo Entrepreneur. This article will cover the 7 things that waste tons of time and do not give you anything in return. You?ll learn to save time and keep your business growing.

1. Rabbit Trails: Here is how it goes, you get a great idea, and you jot it down and start writing out a business plan and who you want on the team. You write out the idea as much as you can, dreaming of the cash that will be flooded upon you when you launch this. An hour or two later, you look up and the work you were working on is still there. Yes, that boring work, is staring at you like Gieco Money.

The cure: Get small note book to jot down ideas and the basic nuggets for later. Just in case that idea really can make you $1 million dollars, you don?t want to lose it.

2. To do list: They just never, never, never, never, never ever end! You add to them daily, you add what you left out last week or last year. Most items have no priority.

The cure: Have a project list, then with each project, list what has to be done for that project. You can focus better and better monitor exactly where your project is.

3. Deciding: You have a lunch appt and somehow you wind up volunteering to find out which place is midway and priced correctly and has the food you can both eat without someone having a gastric emergency or rash.

The Cure: Let them decide. Once you agree to the time and write it in your calendar, tell them to pick the place and you just show up. If you look at the address and feel like that?s too far to go for that meeting, cancel it and talk by phone. Re-evaluate why you wanted to meet face to face. If it?s not going to create real business for you, why are you doing it?

4. Searching Craigslist: You want to find the one thing. Your business can use you, you can use it and you know someone on craigslist must be selling it cheap! You look on craigslist for what you want, like everyone tells you to. Six hours later, you feel like you know Craig personally, however you still have not found your item, because people are constantly listing new items, you have to keep re-freshing.

The Cure: Get a FREE craigslist reader and use it, it can sort for you while you do something else. It also keeps you from getting caught up in the scam ads.

5. Doing everything yourself: You are overwhelmed, your marketing finally paid off. You have got great new customers coming in and you are ready to pull what is left of your hair out!

The Cure: Virtual Assistants. Be clear on what you want done and know how long it should take someone, so that they are not charging you by the hour for nothing. Also if they have any contact with customers make several calls to them and listen to how they answer the phone. You want that person to help you continue to grow, not kill the growth.

6. The Telephone: You look over your schedule and realize you are spending too much time on the phone that is not productive.

The Cure: Timers: When you get on a call put on a timer, when it goes off, let the person know, you?ll have to pick it up later, you need to move on to your next appointment. This will train people to get to the point when they talk to you and not waste time. If the problem is YOU and not them, it will help you get to the point, go it?

7. Distractions: Depending on what you are doing and where you work, anything can be a distraction. The phone is not a distraction for me, I never feel compelled to answer it. I can let it ring until it goes to voice mail. If you are unlike me and feel like you have to pick up each call, turn the ringer off, so you can focus on finishing a task. That goes for email, tweetdeck and anything else that would make you stop what you are doing and do something else. The truth is this: multi-tasking does not work. I will not go into the brain science that proves it; this is something you can find for yourself. You have to remove what distracts YOU. It?s about YOU not me. Do not let anyone give you the list, make it yourself and start removing them one by one and find your productivity grow by leaps and bounds.

7 Activities That Waste Tons of Time

Time wasters can be the downfall of any business. Especially if you are a Solo Entrepreneur. This article will cover the 7 things that waste tons of time and do not give you anything in return. You’ll learn to save time and keep your business growing.

1. Rabbit Trails: Here is how it goes, you get a great idea, and you jot it down and start writing out a business plan and who you want on the team. You write out the idea as much as you can, dreaming of the cash that will be flooded upon you when you launch this. An hour or two later, you look up and the work you were working on is still there. Yes, that boring work, is staring at you like Gieco Money. Read more