4 Organization Tips to Work Smarter for Your Business

December 7, 2020


By Jason Eisenberg
Community Program Manager for Office Depot

Being organized.

What does that mean for a business? For some it’s always having the right things in place. For others, it’s an office desk with no clutter or a computer without icons overflowing the desktop. But no matter what business it is, being organized can help set a strong foundation for it to sit on and give you, the business owner, the time you saved from knowing everything is exactly where it needs to be.

“Being organized is about giving you freedom to do the things you want to do,” explains Laurie Palau, author of Hot Mess: A Practical Guide to Getting Organized and host of the podcast This Organized Life.

Palau, an expert in organization, shares a handful of tips and mentalities to consider when getting your business, workspace or even headspace clutter-free.


1. Brain Dumping

Way too many people rely on their brains to remember information and there’s no faster way to pack your head with clutter than random to-do’s like a follow-up call at 2pm, picking up your child from soccer practice, and cataloging the emails you have to respond to. The simple solution, Laurie suggests, is to write it all down or essentially do a ‘brain dump’.


Laurie’s version of this is using a combination between her to-do list app and Google Calendar because her phone is with her at all times and she can sync all of her information on her devices. 

She also suggests using a simple pen and notebook where you can jot notes and thoughts down throughout the day. Just, make sure your resources are in one central place.


2. Corral Your Stuff Into One Place

Per an article from SimplyOrderly:

  • The average office employee spends 1.5 hours a day (6 weeks per year) looking for things. OrganizedWorld.com
  • The typical executive wastes 150 hours a year (almost an entire month), searching for lost information.  Forbes ASAP

If you have 10 different notebooks and you’re going back to find a piece of information, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to find than in one notebook dedicated to specific information. This thought process is the same for digital storage as well.

 

Think about what makes the most sense – grouping things together in a bin or a basket (or an online folder) that will allow you to not have loose items, and immediately help you to reduce clutter and streamline your processes.


3. Use Double Duty Products

Whether you’re working from your home office, your store or at your kitchen table, it’s important to keep your physical workspace organized and streamlined. Laurie is a big fan of using office supplies that do double duty and are easily transportable.

Double duty meaning that the product can be used for more than just one task and saves desk or office space by design. For example a wireless charging notebook that can be your planner one minute and your phone charger the next or even getting creative and using a desk riser and utilizing the space underneath for stuff you’ll need to use while working at your desk. One that many at-home businesses could save space with are all-in-one printers that print, copy and scan from one machine.

The next suggestion Laurie had was utilizing easily transportable products – especially if you work at home. The reason is because with all the distractions that can happen at home, you don’t want your stuff to get lost in the shuffle of life.


4. Cater to YOUR Habits & Lifestyle

When you are designing your office space with organization in mind, be sure to incorporate the function piece. Laurie says there’s so much visual inspiration at our fingertips (social media) that it’s easy to look at something and say, ‘This looks beautiful, I want this.’

Instead, think about how you function. Are you the type of person that likes storage open and easily accessible? Are you the type of person that if you have a drawer, stuff goes in there to die and you never see it again?

“Think about your habits. It might be beautiful but it might not be realistic for your own habits and lifestyle. It’s figuring out what you really need opposed to what you want, and then working backwards from there.”

When it comes to organizing your life or your business, the best way to do it is by knowing how you operate. For more information on how to organize your life, check out SimplyBOrganized on Instagram.