The 7 Most Effective Time Management Tips: The 7 Ways to Get Organised

Tip # 3: The 7 Ways to Get Organised 

I have shared quite a few blogs on time management on Ghostwriters' World recently. If you have missed them out, you can check out the interesting connection between expressing gratitude and time management here and all about setting your goals correctly to increase your productivity here.

Today, I will share another pretty unusual connection today: between organising your desks and increasing productivity at the same time.

Decluttering and having a clean, well organised working space helps you work more efficiently and perform better at work. I bet you have heard that a million times before, right? Ever tried it out? If not, now is the time. How, you ask? I'll tell you in a bit.

 

                    If our desks are cluttered, so are our minds.

Decluttering is time consuming- I get that, but once you take out some of your precious time to do it, trust me, it'll help you save a lot of time hunting for stuff in the future. Also a clean space helps you work in a stress-free environment. This is not stuff that I have just knitted in my head. It's well proven by solid research too.

Harvard University conducted a study to test the productivity of students working in environments of various levels of clutter. And what did the study prove? You guessed it! The students who worked in a clean and well organised  workspace performed better, of course. In fact, they were able to work at a steady pace for 7.5 minutes longer than those students who were performing the same task in cluttered workspace. The conclusion: a messy and unorganised workspace  “undermines people’s persistence in completing tasks.”

It is also sheer common sense that in a cluttered space, anyone will waste more time looking for important files, documents and other relevant stuff than in a decluttered one. Did you know that International Data Corporation has found out that searching for lost documents costs businesses $2.5 million approximately in lack of productivity. Yes, it's $2.5 MILLION!

There's so much more that can be done in the time that's wasted looking for the things you need at work. If, however, you keep all your important things organised, you create an environment that induces the efficient-performing hormones in you.

Wondering how to get a more organised, better looking work space? It's easy as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7.... I admit it- it is a tad bit more difficult than A-B-C, but it's still pretty much doable.


1. Declutter: Organise your space by using the well-known 3 box system fr time management. Go through all your important documents, books, notebooks, stationery and other such office materials and sort them into 3 boxes where:

Box #1: Keep and put back where it was.

Box #2: Keep but store elsewhere.

Box #3: Shred, discard or give away.

2. Light up Right: Your workspace should have the right amount of lighting and not glaring lighting or lighting that is too dim to make you fall asleep while working or putting unnecessary strain on your eyes. Ideally, you make use of natural light as much as you can. It is free and is better than any other form of light. Sunlight just makes you feel good and brightens your day instantly. If the sun has chosen to hide from you though, your next best option available is the LED lighting technology. It is economical, eco-friendly and imitates natural light in the best way.

3. Make Yourself Comfortable: Invest wisely in a chair that is ergonomically friendly for you, adjustable and a desk that is the right height for you. The more comfortable your seating is, the less tired you will get and naturally perform better. You will put in less time to stretch and move about.


4. Make Your Workspace Smell Nice: Pleasant smells increase work productivity. Don't believe me? Here is a fact:

A Japanese team, led by Masahiro Tanida and Masako Katsuyama (Bioengineering Research Laboratories), at the Shiseido Life Science Research Center, in Yokohama, in conjunction with Kaoru Sakatani (Department of Neurological Surgery) at Nihon University School of Medicine, in Tokyo, Japan, used near-infrared spectroscopy to test the effect of a “pleasant, floral green” fragrance on subjects who underwent  some mental arithmetic tasks. The fragrance was administered for 4 weeks. Their study revealed that stress activity in the subjects’ prefrontal cortex was much less as compared to a control group.

 So, bring in some freshness in the air. Make it smell nice. Light up some candles or make use of diffusers and air fresheners around your working space to increase your productivity.

5. Adorn Your Surroundings: Dress up your workplace with things that inspire and motivate you: greenery, paintings, photo frames, motivational quotes or whatever works for you. However, don't overdo it. You  are trying to declutter, remember?

6. Make Your To-do lists: Create to-do lists. Make a list of all the tasks or jobs that need to be done for a day, week or month. Cross them out as you go. These lists help you get organised and get your jobs done in the best of the way.

7. Avoid distractions: Set an appropriate time for work: the time when distractions are minimum. Just try getting as much work as you can get done during those hours.

 As a mum, I find the time when my kids are at school the best time to work. It could be different for you. Whatever time slot you allocate, make sure you avoid all distractions such as taking calls or using all sorts of social media-the biggest distractions (and time wasters) of this century.  Save them for later as there are absolutely no restrictions on using them all outside your working hours.



That's it-you have done it!

You have decluttered your desks (and your minds) and made your workspaces work for you.

 Try these handy tips out and let me know how you get on in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you.

Until the next post, keep reading!