Q: How
do I know if I need to reorganize an area in my office or home?
Although it doesn't look cluttered to me, I have lost time
looking for things.
A:
Want to discover how you can know instantly if you need to
reorganize an area in your office or home? Ask yourself this
question: "Am I going through my work to get to my work?"
Whenever I ask that question in my seminars, I get major groans
from the audience. "That's exactly what I am doing, all
day long," is their response. If you're going through your
work to get to your work, then you're costing your company
money and wasting precious time that could be spent be working,
producing or perhaps relaxing with your family.
For example, in your home, are you lifting three pans to get to
your skillet? Are you moving countless knickknacks in order to
dust? In your bedroom, are you constantly shuffling through your
stockings or socks to find the correct pair? In your office, do you
move your papers from one location to another because you don't
have enough space to do your work? Are you piling your work files
and then having to unstack in order to find the current file you
need? If you can say yes to any of the above, you are going through
your work to get to your work and thus you are doubling your
work.
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So let's look at what this may be costing your company
regarding its bottom line. Let's say you have a secretary who
grosses $30,000 per year. That translates into about 25 cents per
minute. If she spends precious time going through her work to get
to her work, then she is probably losing (conservatively) 30
minutes each day. It means that in a year, the time wasted will
cost your company about $1,500 in lost productivity.
Translate that to your salary: Perhaps you gross $90,000 per
year. If so, you are worth 75 cents per minute. If you lose 30
minutes each day looking for your work, you are costing your
company $4,500 per year in lost productivity. All this because we
are simply looking for our work.
Perhaps this thought still doesn't motivate you to change.
Well, what is going through your work to get to your work doing to
your psyche? You stew because you constantly misplace your files,
your keys or whatever. Your marriage is negatively affected because
now both parties have to stop their normal routine to search for
what was misplaced. You get angry at yourself and promise yourself,
yet again, that you are going to get organized. But then life
swallows your time, and off you go--never stopping to address the
real problem. Consequently, this dance is repeated over and
over.
Take some time during your workday to notice if you are
searching for your work. If you are, then take some more time to
reorganize and establish a system for your files, paperwork or
whatever needs adjusting. Not only will you feel better about
yourself, you'll save your company lots of money and yourself a
lot of energy.
Sue
McMillin equips and encourages her clients to clear office and
home clutter, enabling them to find anything they own in seconds,
recover 40 percent of the space in their environment, gain up to an
hour a day in productivity and save as much as $5,000 per employee
per year. Some of her clients include 3M, ABA, Boeing, Eli Lilly,
Fannie Mae, Intel, Kodak, Marriott, MCI, NEA, Steelcase, Toyota and
Xerox.
The opinions expressed in this column are those
of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers are intended to
be general in nature, without regard to specific geographical areas
or circumstances, and should only be relied upon after consulting
an appropriate expert, such as an attorney or
accountant.