How To Stay Organized At Work

No matter if you’re working for a company or own a business, when it comes to being organized and keeping things in order, it sometimes seems like a real challenge. You seem to be getting more and more emails and endless tasks that need to be solved in a short period of time. However, the only thing that’s on your mind is the bubbly and relaxing bath that you’re going to be taking as soon as you get back home. Even though you’re an organized and motivated person, sometimes it might be hard to know where to start.

School life and work life don’t have that many aspects in common. While in school you know exactly what your assignments are and how many hours you need to spend on them, at work you can never be too precise about your tasks. You have to accept and expect the unexpected in your career. Nevertheless, if you’re truly passionate about what you’re doing, then those challenges won’t make you lose your mind completely. Planning and organizing are the magic words in this context. It is important always to take a day off and think about what’s coming next. Even though it might seem a bit complicated at first, over time, you’ll realize that all the effort is starting to pay off.

Try not to Multitask

Although this piece of advice might seem counterproductive for some, after all, this is the only productive way of doing work. Once you start focusing solely on a single task at a time, you’re going to complete it much faster. The easiest way to put this plan into practice is to start your workday by planning different small tasks. By doing so, you’ll be more excited about finishing different projects instead of switching from one to another. At the same time, your level of stress will also decrease considerably, and you’ll feel more productive and confident in your work.

Those who still think that multitasking is the only way forward should keep in mind that this practice eats up a lot more time that they might think. Therefore, multitasking is the definition of counter-productivity, and it should be eliminated. Eliminate distractions and stop peeking at emails when you’re supposed to be concentrating on a single task.

Have a Planner

Planning things out is another efficient way of staying more organized at work and reducing stress. Nowadays people can choose from a great variety of planners. One can opt for the classic pen and paper or for digital options. Either way, it is important to take at least a few hours off and concentrate on the upcoming events. This is a simple and practical way of making sure you’re prepared for what’s coming up. Nowadays it is quite easy to forget about important events if one does not have a planner. Moreover, the great advantage of planners is the fact that they sometimes come with reminders. Therefore, in order to make sure that you’re not going to miss any important events or meetings, you could easily set a reminder a few hours ahead. Sticky notes can be also a good alternative in this case. However, it is important to keep them in a place that is visible at all times. Due to the fact that they are easy to misplace, it might be a better idea to start with a physical planner.

Take Regular Breaks

Unfortunately, most employers feel guilty when taking a break at work. Even though the law enforces people to have a lunch break during their day at work, often people either decide to skip it altogether or eat lunch while completing tasks. This is terrible for both the mental state of the individual and for the productivity. A quick break of even 30 seconds is enough to increase productivity by 13%. On the other hand, a 15-second break from the screen allows workers to reduce the fatigue by 50%. However, they need to repeat this practice every 10 minutes.

In some cases, a good way of staying organized and increase the productivity is by counting on modern technologies. For example, people who own a restaurant and need an online ordering website could get in contact with Placebag. They provide online ordering systems for restaurant owners with customized designs and optimization for different screen sizes.

Turn Off Mobile Notifications

Even though this is common sense, a lot of people do not realize that when their phone keeps buzzing every few minutes, they are spending valuable time on checking useless notifications. The worst part of this aspect is the fact that people need to spend a lot of time to refocus on the task that they were previously working on. Therefore, this leads to a lack of concentration and productivity.

According to recent studies, receiving a mobile notification is just as distracting as conversing with someone on the phone. Although mobile phones play an important part of our lives these days, to be able to concentrate on important tasks and stay organized for a few minutes, it is good to put them away or turn them off. At the end of the day, people should understand that you’re at work and you’ll be able to return their calls in a few hours. Moreover, people who work in an office environment and keep receiving texts every two minutes might also disturb other colleagues, which reduces the overall productivity of the office

Organize Your Work Space

Last but not least, making sure your desk and workspace are organized and in good order allows you to know where everything is and be more relaxed at work. Office clutter leads to lack of productivity and motivation. Organized workplaces boost your motivation and creativity. You are less likely to get stressed about not finding important papers and spend time more effectively if you do that. If you have a lot of papers on your desk, it might be a bit difficult to keep them in perfect order at all times. Therefore, it might be a good idea to only keep essential objects on your desk or spend time researching ways to minimize such messes. Make sure to reduce the number of personal belongings so that you can eliminate distractions.

These are simple tips that everyone can put into practice. Remember, a bit of organizing in your workspace helps clear your mind and make you more productive.

Thanks to Wendy Manning