If you want to know how well you are managing your paper inbox you can apply a simple method. Each time you take a piece of paper into your hand you make a small dot somewhere in the corner.

After one week you sort all paper on your desk and count the number od dots on each paper. Now imagine how many of these items you could have resolved during the time you spent putting them from one place to another on your desk.

Keeping your desk clean can easily save you 15 minutes per day you don’t spend searching and rearranging the staff on your table. Over a year this will gives you 8 full days!

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

If you have a private office room you have consider where to position your desk. Many people will intuitively position the desk front to the door, which gives a certain sense of control of your space.

However people who just pass by your office might distract you and they might have the feeling that they can just come in. You should rather position your desk in a 90 degree angle to the door. If you want you will see the person passing by and you can choose to react. In case you want to keep working on what you are currently doing you don’t look to the door. Even if it is open people will less dare to come in to just say hello.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

Jul

16

In order to maintain a clean desk you have to restrict the number of objects. In order to get used to having a clean desk I recommend to start with the following minimum only:

  • Phone
  • Network connectivity
  • PC / Laptop
  • Inbox
  • Outbox
  • Pens in not more than three colors
  • Clear folders
  • Stapler
  • Calendar
  • Notepad

On top of this you are allowed to have only one other thing on the table, which are documents related to the subject you are working on just in this moment.

I also recommend removing all personal objects from your table. Only when you became an experienced clear desk practiotioner you might consider bringing back som decoration.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

Jul

10

Be selective about what items you save. Remember that up to 80% of items that are filed are never looked at again. Any material filed requires your time to file it, it requires a lot of expensive space and also will cost for the disposal later.

Also consider that the larger your filing system is the more complex it becomes to manage it.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

Jul

10

If you are storing materials or files that other people have to access frequently, move them to another place. This will significantly reduce the number of interruptions.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

Mobile electronic devices such as phones, PDA’s, blackberries etc. usually are delivered to you with only one AC adapter. Since they are mobile by nature you often will also carry all adapters with you between home and work.

I recommend to have a second AC adapter for each device so that you avoid having them in your daily luggage. You should place them at a convenient place in your office or at home, so that you will immediately charge them when you are not using them.

I even heard of some people who usually have three adapters for teir most important devices, so that there is one in the office, at home and in the luggage permanently.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

Jul

07

A clean desk will help you to clear your mind and it will also reduce searching time. Here I share a few tips on how to keep your desk clean:

  • Use an inbox and an outbox

  • Handle each incoming document only once

  • In case of doubt about keeping it, throw it away (only be careful regarding legally required retention times for invoices, etc.)

  • Do not print emails to read them

  • In the beginning, schedule a time in your calendar to clean up your desk every day.

  • Always clear your desk before you go home.

I think that there is no gradual way in getting to a clean desk policy. If you want to start practicing the first thing to do is to clean your desk. Over the day your desk might get covered with all kind of things again and then you have to repeat the cleaning exercise. Only over time the tips to keep your desk clean will become real habits, so that your desk remains beautiful.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

careful in the number of mailing lists you subscribe, since they can quickly fill your daily inbox.

1) Voluntary subscriptions:

Rather than subscribing a service which sends you mails everyday, you should use the RSS feed wherever possible. This will keep your inbox lean and you will check the RSS feed, whenever the time is suitable for you.

2) Someone else put you on the list:

In companies your are inevitably part of mailing lists that others create - sometimes even without your permission. You should be very selective here and in case it does not add value to you ask the sender to remove your name from the distribution list.

 This is especially true when you are changing role or responsibility in your company. It might feel uncomfortable in the beginning but unsubscribing the mailing lists related to your previous role is a good step to let go and to focus on your new responsibility.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

Don’t keep a large collection of business cards on your table or in your drawer. Enter them into your electronic address book and dispose the card. If you want to automate this process or keep a the picture of the business card, you nowadays easily can buy a business card scanner, which will do the work you.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb

Jul

06

Open door policy?

by Nicolas

Many managers promote open door policy as part of their corporate culture. There is nothing wrong on being available to people as well as open communications.

However, you should really think if you want to be disturbed spontaneously by your staff at any time. Would it not be smarter to let people know there is a certain time slot per day or week they can come in without notice or that anyone can make an appointment through your assistant.

In any case it might also be more interesting for you to walk your company from time to time rather than waiting for people to visit you.

Related articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • Facebook
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • YahooMyWeb
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »