What message are you sending when your office is always filled with piles of paper, project information and notes scattered all over your desk and chairs? You might think it works for you, but have you ever considered an outsider’s view. What does your boss, colleagues, clients or assistant think when they meet in your office? Does it create an image of professionalism, productivity and control?
What is the image you want to send out? Do you want it to suggest that you are in control, that you can handle your job responsibilities, that you can find what you need when you need it and that you are you able to prioritise and get the job done?
If you thought that no one cares about the state of your office, you might have to reconsider. It does reflect on you in numerous ways. Remember, regardless of how you organise yourself, systems for tasks, papers and time management will keep you focused and productive and will create the professional image that will help you get ahead.
We need to realise that disorganisation can distract you from your goals and scheduled activities and can waste valuable time. According to Harold Taylor (Harold Taylor Time Consultants Ltd.) people can spend an average of 22 minutes per day looking for things on their desks. He also says that each piece of paper will distract you up to 5 times per day. Richard Swenson, in his book, The Overload Syndrome, claims the average worker has 36 hours of work on his or her desk and spends 3 hours per week sorting piles trying to find the next project to work on. Other studies have shown that managers waste from 30 minutes to 45 minutes each day just searching for things on their desk. Jeffrey Mayer claims that 60% of the stuff on most people’s desk can be tossed.
Let’s translate that to a rand value. If you are for instance a consultant who charges R150 per hour and you waste just 30 minutes per day in total – it will translate to R16500 lost income per year.
Being organised is an investment in your career and business - can you afford not to Beorganised?
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Detox your Life
We are living in such a rushed world where so many things demand our time and attention. We are spreading ourselves thin to make sure we get to everything and it leaves us feeling emotionally and mentally cluttered and exhausted. By getting organised with our time, our surroundings and our possessions we are more in control and have more time to do the things which are really important. Whether you want to spend more time on money-making tasks at work than on admin or whether you simply want more time for your family and friends, the key is organisation.
But why don’t we get organised? We are often too overwhelmed and exhausted to see the forest from the trees. We do not know where or how to start. It is almost like being overweight and knowing you have to lose 50kg, it looks so unachievable and out of reach, you almost quit before you begin. Sometimes a tragic or life change event derails us and we simply can’t pick ourselves up. Clutter might even be completely out of control and appears impossible to sort out. We also attach perceived values to items and struggle to let go, even though it is weighing us down. Many people do not have the skills or experience to be organised.
If you recognise yourself in any of the above categories, it is best to get a bit of help to get started. This is where professional organisers come in. They help you to remain focused on the task at hand and offer objective and non-judgement assistance, whilst ensuring the project gets completed. They have expertise in setting up solutions and help you to systematically eradicate chaos. They can even give you ongoing assistance to help you maintain order. An organiser will help you to take charge of you life again and by taking charge of what was holding you back, you will feel like a new person. Call it the LIFE DETOX.
I always say that you can measure the state of my mind by how organised (or chaotic) my cupboards are. I know from my own life experience that whenever I went through tough times, taking control of the things that I can control - like organising my time, my work and environment - always resulted in a drastic improvement of my emotional state, which in turn enables and accelerates self-healing.
But why don’t we get organised? We are often too overwhelmed and exhausted to see the forest from the trees. We do not know where or how to start. It is almost like being overweight and knowing you have to lose 50kg, it looks so unachievable and out of reach, you almost quit before you begin. Sometimes a tragic or life change event derails us and we simply can’t pick ourselves up. Clutter might even be completely out of control and appears impossible to sort out. We also attach perceived values to items and struggle to let go, even though it is weighing us down. Many people do not have the skills or experience to be organised.
If you recognise yourself in any of the above categories, it is best to get a bit of help to get started. This is where professional organisers come in. They help you to remain focused on the task at hand and offer objective and non-judgement assistance, whilst ensuring the project gets completed. They have expertise in setting up solutions and help you to systematically eradicate chaos. They can even give you ongoing assistance to help you maintain order. An organiser will help you to take charge of you life again and by taking charge of what was holding you back, you will feel like a new person. Call it the LIFE DETOX.
I always say that you can measure the state of my mind by how organised (or chaotic) my cupboards are. I know from my own life experience that whenever I went through tough times, taking control of the things that I can control - like organising my time, my work and environment - always resulted in a drastic improvement of my emotional state, which in turn enables and accelerates self-healing.
Spring - New Beginnings
In the spirit of new beginnings - from launches to the season of spring bringing new life - I decided to share the inspirational "The Principle of Emptiness" by Joseph Newton with you:
Think... Have you got the habit of hoarding useless objects, thinking that one day, who knows when, you may need them?
Have you got the habit of accumulating money and not spending it because you think that in the future you may be in want of it?
Have you got the habit of storing clothes, shoes, furniture, utensils and other home supplies that you haven’t used already for some time?
And inside yourself? Have you got the habit to keep reproaches, resentment, sadness, fears and more?
Don’t do it! You are going against your prosperity!
It is necessary to make room, to leave an empty space in order to allow new things to arrive to your life.
It is necessary that you get rid of all the useless things that are in you and in your life, in order to prosperity to arrive.
The force of this emptiness is one that will absorb and attract all that you wish.
As long as you are, materially or emotionally, holding old and useless feelings, you won’t have room for new opportunities
Goods must circulate....
Clean your drawers, the wardrobes, the workshop, the garage...
Give away what you don’t use any longer...
The attitude of keeping a heap of useless stuff ties your life down
It’s not the objects you keep that stagnate your life... but rather the attitude of keeping...
When we keep in store, we consider the possibility of wanting, of penury.
We believe that tomorrow it may lack and that we won’t be able to fulfil those necessities.
With that idea, you are sending two messages to your brain and to your life:
That you don’t trust tomorrow... and you think that the new and the better are not for you.
Get rid of what lost its colour and brightness...
Let the new enter your home... and yourself.
May prosperity and peace reach you soon.
Jeanne Viljoen
Think... Have you got the habit of hoarding useless objects, thinking that one day, who knows when, you may need them?
Have you got the habit of accumulating money and not spending it because you think that in the future you may be in want of it?
Have you got the habit of storing clothes, shoes, furniture, utensils and other home supplies that you haven’t used already for some time?
And inside yourself? Have you got the habit to keep reproaches, resentment, sadness, fears and more?
Don’t do it! You are going against your prosperity!
It is necessary to make room, to leave an empty space in order to allow new things to arrive to your life.
It is necessary that you get rid of all the useless things that are in you and in your life, in order to prosperity to arrive.
The force of this emptiness is one that will absorb and attract all that you wish.
As long as you are, materially or emotionally, holding old and useless feelings, you won’t have room for new opportunities
Goods must circulate....
Clean your drawers, the wardrobes, the workshop, the garage...
Give away what you don’t use any longer...
The attitude of keeping a heap of useless stuff ties your life down
It’s not the objects you keep that stagnate your life... but rather the attitude of keeping...
When we keep in store, we consider the possibility of wanting, of penury.
We believe that tomorrow it may lack and that we won’t be able to fulfil those necessities.
With that idea, you are sending two messages to your brain and to your life:
That you don’t trust tomorrow... and you think that the new and the better are not for you.
Get rid of what lost its colour and brightness...
Let the new enter your home... and yourself.
May prosperity and peace reach you soon.
Jeanne Viljoen
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