Top Time Tip #80
People with messy desks don't know how to make decisions
29th August 2006
Bold statement? Well - decisions relating to their paperwork, anyway.
I was helping a corporate client last week in Christchurch. The whole team had worked with me that morning on general time management techniques. The afternoon was dedicated to teaching Stewart how to sort out his desk and control his paper flow - the poor guy was seriously struggling.
It's more than likely that you've got people in your office with desks at least as overloaded as Stewart's - I've seen many worse. With very few exceptions, the poor battler with the mile-high piles of paper feels as though they've got just too much work to do, whether they've got a small space in an open-plan environment or a large but seriously cluttered self-contained office. Even when they make bold statements to others such as 'I know where everything is', there's a little corner of their mind going 'I've got TOO MUCH TO DO'. Stress and a sense of overload are the outcomes.
I love helping people with this topic - it is without exception the fastest stress-releaser in town. Within 2 & ½ hours Stewart's piles of paper and 'stuff' all round his space had been transformed. His colleagues gave him a round of applause as we finished: he beamed with well-deserved pride. He was a willing student and did a great job.
So what are the steps?
Almost everyone with a messy environment has two things in common:
- They don't make decisions when something first arrives - whether physical or electronic. The typical thought process is: 'I'll think about (or look at) that later'
And/or
- Something needs doing some time soon. They put it beside their current work, at their elbow, under their nose, so they 'won't forget it' until they 'get round to it'. Then, when the next thing arrives it goes on top of the ugly pile already there, or a new pile starts.
Before too long the whole desk is littered. Then every other available space is brought into service - floor, tables, shelves, the top of any nearby furniture or equipment. If it's an open-plan environment the flood-tide of non-decisions and waiting items becomes a tsunami - affecting all those around.
A number of my past Top Time Tip ezines (check the archives at www.gettingagrip.com/ttt/index.asp) have given some of the 'how-to's of this topic, and my third book 'Getting a grip on the paper war' www.gettingagrip.com/products/books/deals with it in full detail, so I won't repeat myself here. In this article I'll just share with you a few of the specifics that made a difference to Stewart.
1. Equipment and layout.
A low cupboard beside his desk had awkward shelves, which meant that the seldom-used ring-binders hiding there couldn't stand upright. Some were found to contain duplicate or out-of-date information - out they went. The shelves were then repositioned so the remaining relevant (but infrequently-used) folders could stand upright.
The now-narrower bottom shelf became the cubby-hole for emergency snacks (previously cluttering his desk drawers), seldom-used phone books, and a few other miscellaneous items still needed (but not often).
Stewart then relocated his 3-drawer mobile from one side of the desk to the other. He's now facing away from people walking past and is therefore less distracted. It also had a clean-out.
Principles 1-3:
- Place things upright, not flat. Then you can retrieve and return them quickly.
- The space closest to you is your most precious. Only have things within reach that you use constantly.
- If your desk is facing others you'll regularly be distracted. Many people find up to an extra hour a day by simply shifting their desk, chair or computer position.
2. Clean up the clutter and set up good systems.
We all allow insidious junk to sneak into little corners. Stewart was no exception - a lot of 'stuff' was either thrown out or repositioned, some of it to archives, some things to go home.
Then there was the large backlog of old files (not urgent, but waiting to be entered in the system). They were sitting right under his nose, next to his computer. What do you suppose is the subliminal message when work sits in front of us all the time? It's as if invisible hands wave at us all day long, saying 'pick me, pick me'. Pressure, pressure, pressure!
Stewart's solution was to make a daily appointment with himself to work for an hour a day on the backlog. He selected a time of day when he'd be ready for a break from more demanding work; the job will be completed in less than 2 weeks. Once the reminder was in his diary he could safely shift the physical reminder - from the middle of his desk to the front of the now-cleaned out suspension file drawer in his mobile. The work is still at his finger-tips but not weighing heavy on his mind.
Principle 4:
Why do people leave things under their nose? Because they're scared they'll forget if things are put out of sight. Solution? Don't rely on your memory. Set a reminder in your diary, and treat it as an appointment with yourself.
In-trays
The other thing he cleaned out was the in-trays. I'm a bit antsy about in-trays. Too often they become rats' nests of forgotten documentation. The simplest answer is a step file. (Check out the fabulous Quefiles designed by one of my clients www.gettingagrip.com/products/management/ They're the best product I've come across to sort this problem.) It's based on Principle 1 as discussed above - when something is placed upright you can quickly find it. The whole team got a Quefile each.
Place your current projects and work in a Quefile and you've got everything you need within fingertip reach but neatly out of the way. Just one of the benefits - it clears the top of the desk for whatever you're currently working on, but future tasks are easily seen because of the tiered placement.
If you want both the Paper Warbook and Quefile, check out our special at www.gettingagrip.com/products/bundles/
Have an annual 'Clean up the office day' - and involve the whole team
It wasn't just Stewart having fun. His colleagues got into the exercise as well. Desks were sorted; archive shelves were labelled for quick retrieval; rubbish was thrown out. It's more enjoyable and useful if the whole team gets involved.
And here's today's final piece of wisdom.
Every piece of paper or information lying around is a symptom of a decision not made,
or an action not completed. Be a quick decision-maker and you'll reduce your stress.
Technology tip - quick ways to increase line spaces
To quickly double space text in a document, highlight the text then press Control 2.
For 1 & ½ space - Control 5.
Control 1 will make it single spacing.
From Donna Hanson, Prime Solutions Training & Consulting Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia. http://www.primesolutions.net.au/
And Debbie Mayo Smith's ' Conquer Your Email Overload - Superb Tips and Tricks For Busy People ' is a brilliant resource to cover just about everything you ever wanted to know about managing email.
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