Need Energy? Organize Your Desk!

I'm getting into spring fever mode, for me that means organizing my desk and computer files.  Being organized give me energy.

If your desk and your computer files are messy and disorganized, it'll sap your energy, reduce your productivity and waste your time on trying to find things.

Furthermore, when your desk and your files are organized, it creates a sense of pride in your workspace. You're more likely to look forward to working, rather than dreading it.

What's the best way to organize your files?

Clear Filing System for Physical Papers

Do you have a clear filing system for the papers related to your business? Or are they just in random stacks of paper, where you hope to remember what they are?

It doesn't matter what the exact system is, as long as it works for you. It can be chronological, alphabetical, by category or any other system you can think of.  Need motivation?  I ADORE these file folders from Erin Condren, she always inspires





Eliminate Your "Stuff" Drawers

People often have drawers that are just made of "stuff." It's where they throw things when they don't know where else to put it.

Get a bunch of random business cards that you'll never contact but can't bring yourself to throw away? Toss it in "stuff." Got an interesting advertisement that you'd like to emulate but don't know where to put it? Toss it in "stuff."

Pretty soon your "stuff" drawer is overflowing and you have no idea what's in it. Important files can get lost in there, while unimportant files subtly zap your energy and sense of organization.

Eliminate your "stuff" drawers. Create folders for things like random business cards or future to-dos and file them. Even if there's only one piece of paper in the folder, file it anyway.

Get rid of the "stuff" drawer. It's the "under the bed" of your office.

Digital Organizing Essentials

Much like physical organizing, your first step with digital organizing is to create systematic folders so you know where everything is.

Think up a filing system that makes sense for you. Perhaps a different folder for every client or project. Perhaps a separate folder for deliverables versus things you're using on a project.

Again, the actual system doesn't matter, as long as it makes sense to you.

Create "quick links" to your most frequently used folders in the Windows file browser, on the left. Just drag and drop folders into these shortcuts for easy access.

Once again, do a deep cleaning of all the files and folders on your computer. Clean up your desktop so it's not strewn with random files and folders. Delete files you don't need any more and file anything that might be necessary for future reference.

Once you've organized your offline and online systems, schedule 30 minutes every two weeks to keep your organization system in check, and file any build-up of paperwork.  You'll have a renewed sense of energy!

The Holidays are Coming, is Your Business Ready? How to Know If You're Inefficient Or Not

How will you get everything done, increase your efficiency and streamline productivity?

It seems like everywhere we look we are seeing a drive for efficiency. Waste is to be avoided and expenses have to be cut if the small business is going to survive, let alone prosper. Today it's more important then ever to get maximum value out of the money spent on resources, whether it is the direct costs of running a business or the substantial costs associated with employing personnel. There's no room for uncertainty when it comes to handling these costs and every reason for the small-business owner to put in place systems to analyze where and why the money is being spent.

There are so many different reasons for employing a virtual assistant.  Each one of these reasons has in one way or another a lot to do with efficiency, so it is somewhat ironic when one of the reasons put forward by a typical small-business owner – faced with the question about hiring a virtual assistant – is one related to efficiency.

"I simply don't know how many hours work it should take to complete, so how can I employ a virtual assistant on an "as needed" basis?"

Before any progress can be made moving forward it is important to get a feeling for exactly what work needs to be outsourced. This will require careful consideration for the executive, who will almost certainly be surprised as the list grows longer and longer. These are all the tasks that should be delegated and many of them may be tasks that can be handled on an "as needed" outsourced basis.

Just think how inefficient it really is to employ an assistant or administrator on a salaried or weekly basis. This person is being employed for 40 hours whether there is sufficient work to fill those 40 hours or not. Invariably this leads to massive inefficiency as a salaried employee may simply "expand" the time that it should take to complete a variety of tasks in order to justify his or her salary. Some people might look at this as cheating, while other people would say it is also human nature to a certain extent. After all, this is the traditional way of handling administration and is it really the fault of the individual employee if there is not an "exact" amount of work to fill an exact number of hours?

In a drive toward efficiency this kind of operation of course needs to stop. Once that long list of outsource-ready tasks is complete a top notch assistant can be engaged to advise. The VA will know how long it should take to conduct and complete each and every task and can then agree with the small business owner to take on this raft of tasks efficiently. A price will be quoted for each job through completion and there will be no need for the business owner to worry about an employee "expanding" to simply fill up their weekly timesheet.   The best Virtual Assistants are experienced small business owners themselves. Their business is streamlining productivity for others and over time as they work with you, they can offer expertise in other areas of your business.  The more efficient the small business owner can be in this way the more likely they are to succeed and go on to prosper in the aggressive real world out there.

Thanks for reading!

Until Next Time
Diahana

Small Business Idea - How to Increase Your Efficiency

Everywhere we look we are seeing a drive for efficiency. Waste is to be avoided and expenses have to be cut if the small business is going to survive, let alone prosper. Today it's more important then ever to get maximum value out of the money spent on resources, whether it is the direct costs of running a business or the substantial costs associated with employing personnel. There's no room for uncertainty when it comes to handling these costs and every reason for the small business owner to put in place systems to analyze where and why the money is being spent.

There are so many different reasons for employing a virtual assistant, for example. Each one of these reasons has in one way or another a lot to do with efficiency, so it is somewhat ironic when one of the reasons put forward by a typical small-business owner – faced with the question about hiring a virtual assistant – is one related to efficiency.

"I simply don't know how many hours work it should take to complete, so how can I employ a virtual assistant on an "as needed" basis, accordingly?"

Before any progress can be made moving forward it is important to get a feeling for exactly what work needs to be outsourced. This will require careful consideration for the executive, who will almost certainly be surprised as the list grows longer and longer. These are all the tasks that should be delegated and many of them may be tasks that can be handled on an "as needed" outsourced basis.  Just think how inefficient it really is to employ an assistant or administrator on a salaried or weekly basis.

This person is being employed for 40 hours whether there is sufficient work to fill those 40 hours or not. 

Invariably this leads to massive inefficiency as a salaried employee may simply "expand" the time that it should take to complete a variety of tasks in order to justify his or her salary. Some people might look at this as cheating, while other people would say it is also human nature to a certain extent. After all, this is the traditional way of handling administration and is it really the fault of the individual employee if there is not an "exact" amount of work to fill an exact number of hours?

In a drive toward efficiency this kind of operation of course needs to stop. Once that long list of outsource-ready tasks is complete a top notch personal assistant can be engaged to advise. The VA will know how long it should take to conduct and complete each and every task and can then agree with the small-business owner to take on this raft of tasks efficiently. A price will be quoted for each job through completion and there will be no need for the business owner to worry about an employee "expanding" to simply fill up their weekly timesheet. The more efficient the small business owner can be in this way the more likely they are to succeed and go on to prosper in the aggressive real world out there.

Thanks for reading!  Feel free to share your thoughts.

Until Next Time,
Diahana