The cost of chaos

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?