January 24, 2019
Organize Your Home and Work Space
You’ve heard it before — clutter and mess can have a severe impact on your mental and physical well-being. Maybe you’ve been accumulating items for a long time with the motto, “I could use this someday.” Have you used it in three months? Six months? A year? It’s time to take a deep dive and organize your space at work and at home.
Organize Your Home
While you organize your belongings, consider making a home inventory list. This will ensure that if you were to ever have a claim, you know exactly what is in your home and its value. Also, consider scheduling an appointment with your independent agent to review your coverage limits for personal property.
- Sort through paper. Do you have piles of paper stacked on your desk, your counter tops, your drawers and almost everywhere else? Create dedicated boxes in your office to store mail, receipts and other important paperwork. Sort through this once per week and organize a filing system for what you need and throw away the rest.
- Your garage. Queue horror movie music. You may have said as you were placing an item in the garage, “I’ll move this in a day or two” — now it’s been two years and you have even more stuff. Gather everything in your garage and sort it into “keep,” “toss,” “sell” or “donate” piles. Evaluate your “keep” pile – if it doesn’t belong in the garage, find a place to store it (and not in your basement unless it belongs there!). If it does belong in your garage, consider adding cabinets to the space and organize your belongings by category.
- Your closet. A closet can be a scary place, especially if you’ve been throwing clothes in and jam packing it with more sweaters. Start by organizing your closet into specific categories (clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.) and go through each item and assign it to a “keep,” “toss,” or “donate” pile. If you haven’t worn the item in a year, you probably won’t wear it next month.
Organize Your Work Space
As mentioned, mess and clutter can have an impact on your mental and physical health, along with your productivity. Here are a few ways you can increase your productivity and stay organized at work:
- Clean your desk. No wonder why you can’t find that presentation you were looking for – it’s because you have piles of paper stacked in all four corners of your cube or office. Sort through the paperwork — if you won’t refer to it again, toss it. If you need it for reference, start a binder with dividers by subject.
- Use a planner or task tracker. When you use a planner or a task tracker, you can remember all of your deadlines and create a daily to-do list. A planner will also hold you accountable and show your team that you are responsible and work efficiently.
- Make a to-do list. In today’s society, we all fall victim to multi-tasking. Our phones are ringing, our cell phones are pinging with emails and we have project deadlines. Rather than multi-tasking and dividing your attention (and success) on many different items, create a list of action items and assign a time you’ll spend on each for the day. This will ensure that you are dedicating all of your energy on one project at a time and you’ll be more successful.
- Take breaks. Frequent short breaks increase productivity and creativity. If you’re working intensely on a project for a long period of time, you may experience stress and exhaustion. Make a point to step outside, enjoy some fresh air and you’ll come back to work refreshed and inspired.
- Ask for help. If you know a coworker who organizes his or her work space well, don’t be afraid to ask for help! Ask how he or she prioritizes daily tasks and manages time.
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