There are two types of people in the world.  Those who are genetically organized, and those who are not.  Are you part of the second group of people?  Fear not!  There is still hope for you to keep your small business organized. 

The benefits are many.  A person who is organized can complete their work much more efficiently.  They forget important events less.  They feel less stressed and out of control.  Below are some functional tips to keep your business organized for those of us that are organizationally challenged:

Don’t Turn Your Back on a Mess at Night

Never leave your workspace at night until you have taken a few minutes to clean up your desk.  Gather  your pens, stapler, and other tools together so you can find them in the morning.  Check the trash can and empty it if necessary, and remove any empty cups or other dishes that are cluttering your desk. 

A key component to this step is to “organize” your paperwork generally into the order you want to handle it in the morning.  At the same time, you can quickly prepare an action plan (also known as “to-do list”) for the next day, and rank each task in order of importance. 

The ten minutes these simple tasks take each night will be rewarded by your ability to jump in and start the day running each morning. 

Use the Rule of 3 to Group Work Product

There will always be those people who know right where everything they need is at any time.  The rest of us make up the bigger population.  The rule of 3 is a helpful technique that has worked for me in finding work betters when I need them. 

The idea is simple.  Never have more than three piles of paperwork going at any given time.  The first stack is your most pressing business that you hope to get through during the day.  Next, are those items to accomplish sometime during the week, and the final stack contains those less pressing items to get to within the month.  This may take a few minutes to create the first time, but in the long run it will save you ton of time from having to look through every paper on your desk for the one that you really need. 

Take Action

The reality is that each day you avoid creating an organization system that you can live with you miss opportunities for your small business.  Being organized allows you to spend more of your day focused on your small business and making it a success.  And remember, one person’s organization is another person’s nightmare.  So find a system you can call your own and stick with it.     

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year”  to learn about an online accounting program that makes it simple to organize your accounting and finance.

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