Does Your Office or Desk Look Like This?

I realize that everyone has a different style of working. I've seen lawyers and CPA'S with stacks of files on the floor and on the desk.

Yet they know exactly where each tiny note is hidden however it takes unnecessary time to locate that right pile.

When I first walked into this huge office I thought, "Well, this is a daunting task". The first picture to the right is the beginning of the effort. Because my client is involved in amazingly paper driven projects, organizations and responsibilities for decades and still it, it was clear that her system was not working for her.

I realized after taking a deep breath that the same rules apply to big desks and offices as to small ones:

1. Segregate: We designated one section of the room for each "project" and just plopped everything in the appropriate spot.

2. Sort: In each section we prioritized to the most relevant and immediate needs to "This can wait for later."

3. Toss: We did a preliminary review of what was still important and timely and tossed the rest.

4. Place: We took each of the segregated and sorted material and placed it on different shelves and labeled each shelf and section so that further sorting will be easier.