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As you gear up your business for 2008, I'm sure you have lots of good ideas. But there is something that is often ignored – getting organized. And with the explosion of email and digital media, being organized is getting even tougher.
To help things out, I had a chance to interview Monica Ricci, the author of Organize Your Office In No Time
Ricci's core filing system is called F.A.I.T.H, which involves:
File It: If something requires filing, then file it now.
Act: Have an action file for your recurring tasks.
In Progress: This is a file for things that don't fit in a category. Examples: invitation to an event, plane tickets, directions to a client location, or even a birthday card.
Toss: Don't be a pack rack.
Hand Off: Maybe something will be useful for a colleague?
"Everyone should set aside time once a month to sort and slim the files," said Ricci. "Put the date in your planner for one hour on the last Friday of every month."
Store It Up
Ricci advises that you get into the habit of backing up your digital materials. To this end, she recommends a SimpleTech Portable Hard Drive that can store between 40GB and 1TB. "Take the time each day to back up your work," says Ricci.
Another idea is to have a flash drive, such as the Ativa 4GB flash drive (it holds as much as 160,000 sheets of paper).
And, sometimes "old school" approaches work well too. Says Ricci: "Stop taking notes on loose paper and begin using a three-ring notebook to keep all important meeting notes and phone messages together. A well-priced, leather-bound notebook -- like the Three-Ring Binder by Foray -- gives you the ability to move pages while staying well-organized and professional-looking."
Tom Taulli operates SmallBizMix.com.
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