So Now What?

Life after Getting Organized and Why You Need Time to Maintain Work Day Productivity

By Leslie Shreve, productivity expert

Ok, so your office is clutter-free, you have great file systems, a great task list, you’re delegating more, you’re using your time wisely and you have little or no email in your Inbox.
You’re not apologizing to people for not calling them back. You’re not missing deadlines, you’re not late for meetings or losing key information. You’re completely caught up and on top of your game and you don’t want your work day to spin out of control again.

So what do you do now?

The most important thing to remember about maintaining systems, once you have them, is that they don’t take care of themselves. YOU have to take care of THEM. No need to buy them gifts or take them dinner… just give them a little attention each day and make sure they’re doing ok.
Setting up new systems is not a case of “set it and forget it.” In order for you to do your best job, you need your systems to always be current, up to date and ready to support you at a moment’s notice. To keep systems like this, you need to give them daily attention.

Yes… daily. Really.

Here are five things you can do every day so that your organization sticks and your systems stick around for a long time to come.

1.) Paper and files

You get new information constantly. This includes articles, files, projects, papers, e-mail, attachments and more. Build time into your day to file these in existing files or make new files as SOON as you recognize that you need one. This goes for both paper and electronic filing. No matter what, please don’t let this information build up!

2.) Tasks

You will add new tasks, change existing ones, and complete others every day. Build time throughout the day to review an electronic task list to check progress and reprioritize, especially at the end of the day.

3.) Contacts

You may collect new contact information or business cards frequently, so take time to enter them into your computer as soon as you receive the new information or plan to enter them once a week.

4.) E-mail

You’ll continue to get lots of email, so take time to review it. Get a process in place that allows you peace of mind – to know you’ve seen it and dealt with it. And don’t leave your e-mail in the Inbox! An Inbox is for bringing e-mail IN. It’s not a file cabinet or to-do list.

5.) Time

Do you see a common theme in the first four things to do on this list? The key to maintaining your organization and the systems you have is time. Make sure you protect time in your day and use it wisely. Don’t hesitate to block out time on your calendar for yourself. You need quiet time to process your e-mail and work your task list between all the meetings and other activities that make up your work day.

Freedom - Organization - Control - Unbeatable Results - Simplicity

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About the author:
Leslie Shreve is a productivity expert and the creator of the Productive Day Success System™, which teaches busy professionals simple, logical and easy-to-use strategies for getting more done in less time with less stress. Her clients enjoy maximum FOCUS: Freedom, Organization, Control, Unbeatable Results and Simplicity. For more information, or to sign up for her fr.ee 7-step e-course, visit http://www.productiveday.com or contact Leslie directly at 410.218.4896 or leslie@productiveday.com.

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