Being organized will definitely help keep you productive. When everything has a place, and every place has a thing, you will be far more productive because you know where everything is when you need it and won’t have to waste valuable time looking for something.
How you organize your home office is up to you. An organizational system that works for one person may or may not work for another. The simple fact is that I could write a book just on home office organization, so here are just a few tips to help send you in the right direction:
USE A FILING CABINET
If most of your business is conducted online you don’t necessarily need paper copies of everything, so there’s no need to create a folder for each of your clients. However, you should create a folder for contracts so you have a paper copy to refer to just in case an issue arises. Always save your bills, receipts, business cards from contacts, etc. Filing everything will make it easier to find when you need it. If you don’t think you’ll need it save it anyway, in a miscellaneous file. Clean that miscellaneous file out once a month, and file everything in it accordingly. You’ll treasure your filing system when it is time to file taxes!
KEEP A PEN AND PAPER ON YOUR DESK
As digital as we all are inclined to be, it is always a good idea to have a pen and paper close by to jot notes down as needed. This is especially helpful if you have a meeting with a client, and need to take notes on what was discussed. You can type them up and organize them later if it helps you. If so, it’s a good idea to email them to your client to make sure everything is clear and the two of you are on the same page.
ORGANIZE YOUR EMAIL BOX
It’s easy to get flooded with email. The more people you work with and the more newsletters you sign up for, you’ll drown in no time. If you use Gmail, you can label everything accordingly, and even set up filters to automatically label emails with such things as your client’s name. For instance, if your client’s name is Jane Doe, you can create an email filter so that all emails from JaneDoe@email.com will be labeled Jane. Then, you can read and archive the message, so that later if you ever need to find it, just look at the Jane label. Emails can have multiple labels, if you’d like.
While it may take a considerable amount of time to setup the initial label structure and filters, you’ll save yourself so much more time later, because you’ll be able to find things easier. You can even use filters to automatically move junk, so you don’t have to waste time reading things that aren’t valuable to you.
USE AN ONLINE FILE BACK UP SERVICE
Computer crashes happen all the time. Even if your hard drive is salvageable, you never know when a virus may render your main computer useless for a while. Having an online back up means you can access your client files and other important information whenever you need to, from any computer you need to. Most platforms allow for data access from your computer or smartphone, so it’s also an excellent way to back up your phone data. Some options include:
• DropBox
• Google Drive
• MS One Drive
• Amazon Cloud
• Carbonite
Over the past few days we have covered the basics of setting up your home office for success, including location and lighting, having the proper tools, using a headset, and finally how to stay organized. Starting tomorrow I’ll be sharing my best productivity secrets with you!
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