How to get organized at work

Unless you love working under intense pressure and running around like a headless chicken, you’ll know the importance of getting yourself together.

There are many benefits that come with being organized at work. Trust me. 

You work faster, you gain more trust with your employers and you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Now I don’t see how that doesn’t already inspire you to do so.

The opposite happens when people notice you’re disorganized. The effects can even go as deep as costing you your job, whether you are qualified or not.

It’s okay to recognize that you’ve not been doing your best and therefore work on yourself.

Here are five ways you can easily improve. 

Get organized at home

One major area that can affect your days at work is your home life. Your home gives you an opportunity to relax and forget the pressures of work but that doesn’t mean you should let yourself go.

For example, if you don’t do your laundry on time over the weekend, you’ll end up being stressed on Monday morning. That stress will block you from doing your work well and possibly make you very self-conscious of whether others can notice you’re wearing a shirt that isn’t properly dry leave alone washed. Or, if you’re constantly sleeping late watching your favorite series you will slowly be less productive.

Adjusting these small areas will make significant improvements.

Write your daily schedule down

Have a pack of sticky notes on your desk to help you write down your day’s priorities as well as some important tasks to remember.

This classic way of staying organized helps keep the distractions that come with devices away. That’s because you won’t be forced to look at any distracting messages, emails and other notifications as you attempt to look at your to-do list that you typed on your phone.

Simply put, a written note is more direct and less distracting.

Set future reminders on your device

I know this contradicts the last point a little bit but give me a minute to make my case first. Whether we like it or not, our devices come in handy when setting future reminders.

When it comes to events and future plans, you will need to make use of apps that you can download or those that are already set in any device.

If your boss notifies you of a certain task, don’t wait for hours to pass by before you set your reminder because you’re likely to forget. God forbid you miss a crucial event and ruin your reputation permanently.

Keep your workspace clean 

Embrace the habit of arranging your work area daily. If you always leave your items carelessly lying on the desk or floor, you will have a tough time getting things done.

Keep your documents arranged properly in files, buy handy items like a pen holder and do all you can to ensure you enter a fresh office with a clear mind every day.

Allow room for progress

You can’t wake up one day and expect yourself to dump all your old habits at once.

Give yourself room to progressively learn from your mistakes and with time, you’ll realize you’ve transformed into a whole new person.

Work on the most urgent changes you need to make first then improve with every step.