Tips and Ideas What to Do When Your Desk Is a Disaster by Ronnie Eisenberg , a nationally recognized time-management and organizational expert. Many of my clients are truly frantic because their desks are such a mess. They can't find slips of paper on which they wrote important phone numbers; they know they received information they sent for, but it's buried in a pile of paper; they were working on a chapter of a novel, but the notes for the next chapter are gone. Here's how I counsel them when I make a house call: Address your desk problems in blocks of time. You may be able to straighten out the clutter in a few hours, or you may need a weekend. Sometimes it's better to devote a couple of hours a day to the job until you're done. Have on hand a trash can, a pen, file folders, labels and the other desk organizational aids mentioned above that suit your needs. Clear the space you want to organize (the desk surface, one of the drawers, etc.). Then make a big pile of all the paper. Evaluate each item, categorize it and put it away (in the desk drawer, in a file, in one of the desk organizers, etc.), throwing out as much as possible. Even when you are feeling overwhelmed, just keep sorting and categorizing. If you devote the necessary time, your desk can be cleared. Enlist the help of a partner;a spouse, a secretary, someone who can help you keep going. Organization is a skill that can be learned. The most difficult part is breaking your lifelong bad habits (like letting your paperwork pile up). The key to getting better organized is to start with one small step and then take others one at a time. You may find that what you've put off for years takes only an hour to do. And once you see the benefits in one part of your life, you'll be motivated to go on. Working with e-mail E-mail can become one of the most wonderful ways to communicate. It can also clutter your computer as paperwork clutters your desk. By carefully examining each piece of mail, not opening anything that you do not know as a reliable source, it’s safer than the post office mail today. It is also the quickest way to communicate, people receive their mail instantly. Correspondence, photographs, even voice and video messages can be sent and received today through the Internet. Don’t miss this opportunity to correspond with loved ones or make new friends through some of the chat rooms available. Don’t forget to use proper form when writing, it is still an art and some e-mails become rather cryptic, try to reread your notes and remember proper use of grammar and spell check. Here are a few tricks for this month: 1. Handle incoming e-mail, as you would incoming paper. DO (the action necessary), DELEGATE (forward it to the appropriate person), DELAY IT (file it in an e-mail folder if no action is necessary, but you need to reference the e-mail later), or DUMP IT (over 80% of incoming e-mail can be deleted right after you've read it.) 2. Check your e-mail once or twice per day. Try your best to respond to e-mail daily, so it doesn't get out of hand. 3 Some e-mail programs allow you to filter certain e-mail messages into e-mail folders that you designate. For example, you can have all the e-mail you receive from your aunt, filtered into a folder called Aunt Mary’s Mail. Check with your e-mail provider to determine how your e-mail software can be set up to filter mail. 4. If you must store a number of e-mails, use your e-mail software to set up virtual, categorized folders. However, be sure you weed them out regularly, just as you should be doing for the paper in your regular filing cabinet. 5. Set up your address book with the reply button, add to address book function. This can save hours of searching paper address books for an email address and you can print out your address book and create a new 3 ring binder of address books entries through Outlook. CLUTTER'S FOUR BIG QUESTIONS by Nita Jackson To make the decision process for getting rid of clutter a lot easier, ask yourself these four key questions: 1) WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU USED IT? When was the last time you used this item? If you can say 13 months or longer, this item is suspect for not being truly useful. Could you borrow or lease if you ever need a like item in the future? Would a friend or relative get more use out of it than you? Can you barter it for something you really need? 2) HOW MUCH WOULD YOU GAIN? How much space and money would you gain by giving it up? Consider the price of storage--a simple 4 shelf bookcase ranges anywhere from $35 to $100. Think about the square feet in the space it takes up. You may be paying a lot more in rent or house payments because you need more area for storage and are not weeding out clutter at least once a year. Don't forget, renters and home insurance will also cost more for each square foot you live in. 3) WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? If you throw it away, sell it or give it away, what is the worst possible thing that could happen? In all my time of attempting to get organized, I can truly say I have not regretted giving away or selling anything that met the first two questions. My husband has a simple phrase he uses for questionable stuff when he's considering getting rid of it--'When in doubt, throw it out!' We'll see if he really means it, when I start attacking his college textbooks. 4) WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO STOP IT? What are you doing to stop the influx of more clutter? If you have more cat collectibles than you can manage or are sick of the care and maintenance of such things, be vocal that you are discontinuing the collection. Suggest that buying more cat memorabilia, be replaced with a donation to charity or to an animal shelter. Try a moratorium on purchases for at least one month. Start thinking about real value verses just owning stuff. For instance, ask yourself, 'what would be the resale value of this item? Wouldn't I be better off if this money was allotted to my retirement fund or debt reduction?' _________ Visit Nita Jackson at http://www.organizetips.com for more help in keeping organization in your daily life. You'll find free planners, organizers, checklists for home, office, wedding, moving, pregnancy, chores, holiday and budget. Copyright 2001 Nita Jackson.