10 top tips for organising your office space

By: Elite Virtual Executives

There is nothing more motivating to me than having my office space organised and tidy. I feel like I am in control, and that I have a clear space to get on with my work without distractions.

With my business, I can be working for many clients at the same time, and so it is imperative that I keep my office space organised. At one time, I can be working on a mail merge, be in the middle of writing a brochure, have a skeleton design of a flyer printed off and sitting on my desk, be on the phone to a new client and still be supporting a project of training workshops which are being rolled out tomorrow.

So you can see how important it is for me to be organised!

Below are my ten top tips for organising your own office space – I hope you get as much use out of putting these into practice as I do.

#10 – Set any recurring events into your Outlook calendar
For example; I have set myself a recurring event reminder, for the same time at the end of every month, to raise my invoices and mail them to my clients. This also inadvertently keeps my clients organised – they can schedule to process my payments for the same time every month.

#9 - Have a one page, month-view calendar in front of you at all times
This way when clients call and want to set an appointment you can immediately see, at a glance, when you are free.

#8 – Mark two files in your filing cabinet, one for " Business Receipts" and one for "Personal Receipts" (THIS IS MY FAVOURITE TIP!!)
Clearly write on top of the business receipts what the purchases were for as you file them. This way your time and patience are saved come tax time.

#7 – Keep ONE notebook on your desk to jot notes into while on the phone
If all of your notes are in one spot instead of on bits of paper and post it notes, you will always know where that name or phone number was written down.

#6 – Schedule time to check your emails
Make sure you attend to yesterday’s priorities before opening your emails to today’s priorities. Spend some time catching up on yesterday’s to-do list every morning before you open today’s emails. Decreased distractions means increased productivity!

#5 – Keep your desk clear of unnecessary items
If you are working on several projects at once, separate the paperwork for each project into manila folders marked with the name of the project. Then invest in a vertical sorter where you can clearly store the manila folders at arms reach and reduce the amount of desk space taken up by your paperwork. That way you can more easily focus on one task at a time.

#4 – File paperwork away as you go
There’s nothing more stressful than looking at an overflowing ‘filing’ tray. It takes almost as much time to drop the paid invoice into your filing tray as it does to open the filing cabinet and drop it into your "Invoices - Paid" file. So file things away as you go. You’ll thank yourself at the end of the week when your filing tray is empty!

#3 – Don’t save files on your computer’s desktop
How much time have you wasted filing items you had previously stored on your desktop for ‘easy access’? Resist the temptation to store a file on your desktop unless you will be deleting it straight after use. File electronic files as you go, as you will do with your paper files.

#2 – Go through your business card file once a month
Get rid of those contacts you no longer need, and add any new contacts to your database. That way, you only have the most current information to sift through when looking for a particular service. Also, if you are marketing to these contacts, an up-to-date contact list will save on your marketing costs.

#1 – The most important organisational tool you could use in your business, is an efficient virtual assistant.
Virtual assistants work on your writing, marketing and administration priorities while you get on with more important tasks. They work to your deadlines, with efficiency and professionalism.