If you suffer from chronic disorganization and want to give your work life an overhaul, you’re in luck. With 2017 quickly approaching, there is no better time than now to learn a few new ways of doing things differently. Anyone can become more organized with some extra effort.
Here are five tips and tricks that help you get more organized at work:
- Take a few minutes to go through emails and social media updates so you can quickly respond to inquiries and get on with your day. This allows you to address any communications that piled up from the night before. It helps you organize your day and delegate tasks to other people, too.
- Schedule breaks to increase productivity. Give yourself short breaks throughout the day to get a drink of water, stretch your legs, and clear your mind. You’ll return to your workplace refreshed and ready to get things done. Taking regular breaks helps increase productivity.
- Turn off phone and email notifications. Although meant to simplify your life, alerts are actually very distracting. Turn them off while working so you can focus on the task at hand. It’s much easier to stay on top of work-related tasks when you don’t have Facebook or Google alerting you to the personal communications you have to address.
- Take big tasks and break them down into smaller, easier tasks. Projects seem less daunting this way. You start to feel a sense of satisfaction once you see how many tasks you’ve checked off your To Do List each day. It makes it easier to remain focused when completing a big or long-term project.
- Create templates that you can use over and over again. You can make things much easier for yourself by creating one template that you customize whenever needed. Make sure to save the master in a folder where it won’t get deleted or renamed. Whenever you create a new document from a template, give it a unique name so it doesn’t overwrite the template.
Improve the quality of your work life by becoming more organized in 2017. Use the tips and tricks listed above to increase efficiency and productivity. You’ll thank yourself for making adjustments early in the year. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to organize your professional life in the future once you’ve mastered a few techniques.