In New England we’ve had a few 60 degree days, so it’s felt like spring recently. I’m even seeing some flowers budding through the ground already – we’ll see if they make it. I know we’ll be reminded that it’s not quite spring yet, but it’s a good time to start the spring cleaning of your workspace.
Here are 3 tips to get started:
- Look at your space and think about what items do you use and touch every day? What needs to be right at hand, and what can move into a drawer or even the trash? Is the item/paper dusty? If so, it must not be critical and you can find a place to put it for when you really need it. In this age of technology, scan it, send it to email and save it to the cloud. Now it’s got a place forever.
- Declutter your email inbox. Most of us spend a good part of our days reading, responding and reaching out via email. How many emails are in your inbox? Can you create a system of folders to move items so you can find them when needed but they’re not in the way of you finding the emails that you really need to respond to? Can you delete some entirely?
Even though I receive over 300 emails per day, I try to keep less than 100 items in my inbox. These are the things I need to take care of, respond to, read and file. By keeping a smaller amount in front of me, I can easily find what needs my attention. It takes work…and some weeks I have more, but then I focus on filing and deleting them again.
- Give your day-to-day process a cleaning and an update. Are you being proactive in how you approach your day? Do you have a to-do list? Do you prioritize what needs to happen first? Do you schedule time to close email to focus on other tasks? Take the time to change things up and see if you can be more effective and accomplish more with a new system.
The calendar isn’t saying it’s officially spring yet, but take some time at the end of this week and come up with a plan to jump start your spring cleaning and get organized!
Let us know what tips you use to keep yourself organized.
