I teach a business strategy class at my local Small Business Development Center. In that class we discuss the idea that the reason you are in business needs to be of value to yourself and your customers/clients. If what you do IS of value, then now is the time to optimize your space and time by organizing your home business office. My definition of living organized came from a mentor of mine Stephanie Calahan, “Easily finding WHAT you need WHEN you need it.”
Below are a few home business office organization ideas pulled from the NAPO website. I’ve added my own thoughts in red.
1. Organize your home business office with time management:
• Use a planner to track appointments and tasks. It can be a paper-based notebook, a computer software program, or an electronic handheld device.
• Create at least one hour of uninterrupted time each morning to tackle projects and action items.
• Allocate nearly 2 times the time for a task that you think it will take. This accommodates for interruptions, etc.
• Break large projects down into small, sequential steps. Schedule these steps into your week with your planner.
• Set priorities for tomorrow – The best way to determine priorities is to ask your self the following questions:
- “What is the best Income Generating Activity I could be doing right now?”
- “Who are the people or organizations that bring the most money into my business?”
- “Where could we cut costs in the business/organization that would allow us to yield more profits?”
2. Organize your home business office by organizing your desk
• Keep only the home business office supplies you need on a daily basis on your desktop or in your desk drawer.
• Create an Action File for your incoming papers and documents.
• Use your in box only for items that haven’t yet been reviewed. Once reviewed file them in your reference file or your action file.
3. Organize your home business office with a good paper file system. Contact me for my 10% discount code on any of the systems you see in the link listed above.
• Create a filing system for your electronic documents that mirrors the one you have for paper.
• Keep a file index (a master list of file names). Check the index before creating a new file to avoid making duplicates. Also use it when deciding where to put new documents.
• Refer to your company’s records retention plan for guidance on how long to keep documents. If you don’t have one in place, leave a comment by clicking here and I will email you the one I use with my clients. Be sure to check with your accountant for his ideas on my suggestions.
Listen to my online show dealing with this very topic. Read more about home business office organization here.
I specialize in home business office organizing and have learned through training and years of experience the strategies that make home business office organization easier to begin AND simpler to maintain. I organize in person for Utah located clients, and virtually with phone and photos for others throughout the USA. If you need help beginning this project, contact me for your FREE 20 minute phone analysis.
Personal productivity has a broader meaning than “just” time management. However, managing the time spent on specific projects is an important component of personal productivity. There are many pieces to the puzzle including: mental control, decision making, delegation, process management, etc. That said, personal productivity is all about getting more done with the same time and resources.
