Is Your Workspace…

…A Time Robber?
Do you find that you are spending a lot of time looking for documents, files, receipts, invoices, and other items important to running your business?

How is this affecting your business?  Your stress level?  Your life?

Are you losing out on collecting payments from clients because you just can’t find the things you need?

Then your workspace could be guilty of being a time robber!!

This is one of the worst ways to run your business.  You are losing out on valuable money and time.  Time, we know that you don’t have to waste. And money you could really use to grow your business or compensate yourself or your staff better.  It could be making you cranky and worst yet, even be affecting your health.  You don’t have to live this way!

The first step is acknowledging that you are overwhelmed and you need to get a handle on the situation.

  1. Sit down and take some time to write out the most important items that you have to accomplish each day.
  2. Prioritize this list.
  3. Utilize the system that Stephen Covey recommends for putting tasks into quadrants from Very Urgent to Not Urgent.  Something that may be urgent to one person may not be urgent for you.  Decide what your level of urgency is.
  4. Now evaluate your workspace.  Is everything where it should be?  The obvious answer here is no, but you may have some things that are exactly where they should be but because of stress or time deadlines you may not even notice them.  Put nice labels on those items so they stand out to you.
  5. Get rid of unwanted paper and file documents in their appropriate place.  Keep the workspace as clear as possible of unnecessary clutter.
  6. Create a system for how you are going to accomplish and record tasks each day as you complete them.  For example, use Outlook to-do lists and check off items as you complete them.  It also allows you to set deadlines and dates next to each task.

Stand back and access your work.  Don’t you feel better?

Now we know some offices require a lot more complex systems and organization but getting a handle on managing your workspace could make a significant impact no matter the size of the organization and the increase the efficiency for all employees.

If you have a project that you cannot tackle yourself please give us a call, we would love to provide you with a free assessment.  Contact Marla today!