Home Sweet Home Office

Sometimes my projects require that paperwork not be filed away inside of a drawer. Instead of letting it pile up on my desk I use a Desktop File Sorter. It is divided by alphabet letters and the bottom of the file is accordion so that it expands. There are hundreds of office supplies sold by office supply stores and discount stores that may work well for this purpose but I have not found anything better than this.

I can find what I am looking for quite easily as long as I remember how I filed the paper that I need. My choice is by the name of the company or person and the other is by the category that it fits into. For example, I could file a bank statement under B for bank or I could file it under the actual name of the bank. My choice is to file by the actual name.

Filing each paper to the front helps keep the most recent additions at my fingertips. Again, I will use the bank statement as my example. Each month will be filed in front of the previous month.

Even if a piece of paper is very small it will not be hidden to the point that I never see it again. There is a hold in the center of each divider just for that purpose. When it is time to permanently file the contents of the Desktop File Sorter I can flip through each divider and if there is something hiding in the next section I will see if immediately.

You can see from the photo that I keep my file sorter setting in a basket hanging on the wall. Directly to the left of the wall basket is my desk. This is a very convenient setup. I can easily reach over and file a paper or I can easily retrieve one. My paperwork is kept private from visitors – while being handy for me.

Office Depot carries three versions of Desktop File Sorters. One is like the one I speak of here – A through Z. There is one that is divided into sections 1-31 and the third is separated 1-31 in addition to January through December. I use all three versions for various projects.

If you simply have a pile of papers to sort these file sorters work great for that purpose as well. For those who collect newspaper or magazine articles these Desktop File Sorters cannot be beat.

Some of my favorite office supplies are found in the school supply isle. Specialized products that make locker life easier often work very well for organizing my desk area. As a busy person I look for ways to keep time sensitive paperwork at my fingertips.

Credit card receipts as well as ATM receipts have to be some of the most difficult slips of paper to keep track of. Until the date of reconciliation most of us do not want to deal with them. I found a way to save time and to keep my desk area looking colorful.

I use plastic “Slimcase” storage clipboards to containerize my credit card receipts. Of course they can be used for other purposes. I like the bright lime green and hot pink colors. These storage clipboards are easily labeled so keeping them in order is easy.

The discipline found when working in a crowded office full of co-workers is different than that of a work at home worker. There is no one there to see you wasting time or to see you eating that extra donut. Time management is needed to keep you on track. There are several tips that can help make the day run smooth.

Interruptions are the major culprit. A home worker will not experience co-workers popping their head into the office or cubicle but they may have children that are constantly underfoot. The phone may not be in constant need of answering but the television may draw you in. A messy desk is a distraction no matter where you are.

If possible put the cell phone on silent, turn off the email notification signal, hire a babysitter and plan your day the night before. Gather all items needed to complete tasks for the next day.

Plan your work and work your plan.

I have strived to have a paperless office for the past several years – often coming close but of course there are always going to be papers that have to stay in tact.

There are several ways to cut down on paper clutter.

• Scan receipts and other papers into your computer turning them into digital files
• Open mail and pitch the envelope along with any frivolous inserts
• File important papers in file boxes or a filing cabinet
• Sign up for digital statements

You cannot stop with simply Scanning papers. Those scanned images have to be saved in some way. I suggest turning them into PDF files. A PDF file will keep the document in proportion and can be printed to a hardcopy very easily if needed.

I am amazed at how easy it is to loose several hours during an afternoon trying to navigate through Microsoft Vista. Since I am still an XP girl I was totally lost when trying to install a POS (point of sale) program onto a Vista machine.

As long as I did not need to find the “Add and Remove” program or until I needed to see a “System” file I did quite well. Until I deleted the Google Tool Bar searching for a file was a major effort. Whose idea was this anyway?

This is an example of why things do not get done on time. We find ourselves involved in tasks that should just a half hour but end up taking three or four times that long. I suspected that I would run into some type of trouble so I waited until I had free time to get started. I have made no promises for a deadline. I am working in a space that has no other purpose at the moment. In other words, I can walk away from the project whenever I want to.

Try not to put projects off until the last minute and you will not be as stressed. Set up equipment or tools in an area that does not require clean-up before you are finished. This type of control is not always possible but it is best to strive for something close to it.

Tomorrow will the busiest day of the week – Tuesdays always are. Sometimes I wonder what makes so many people follow the same routine. I wish there were an extra Saturday stuck in the middle of the week so that I could get caught up.

What things do you let go when there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done? Let’s see, I do not load or unload the dishwasher and my bed covers are left in disarray. Does it hurt anything that I let these duties carryover to another day? Not that I can tell.

I do find that my motivation suffers when I postpone things that I want to do. If you noticed in previous post I wrote that I want my work life to be integrated with my personal life. The subject of this post explains why I feel that way. I constantly fit in little tasks amongst work projects that have zip to do with work. It is much like having a garage sale that makes $100 when the same time spent at work could have earned $300. Cleaning out the junk feels better. Maybe it is the satisfaction of completing a project.

Then again, maybe it is as simple as wanting control of my own time. I will take what I can get when I can get it.

Problems revisited. That is the theme of today. Much of my time is spent fixing things that either should have never been a problem or on things that break down.

Except for screwing with my schedule these repair jobs don’t bother me. After all, if a small business owner cannot cope then they are in the wrong business. Now, not all my problems are business related but a problem is a problem and they all have to be corrected.

First of all, my husband’s gaming desktop has gone down again. Just a few months ago Dell had to come to my home to replace the Nvidia video card. I am sure they will be coming back to replace it again. Not a bad thing but the time it takes is annoying.

Since his computer bit the dust we moved my desktop back to his desk.

In my last post I mentioned using multiple laptops to get more work accomplished in a shorter period of time. How did I know at the time that I would be sitting here today using two laptops?

Great idea except that I had been having frustrating issues with my Dell mini 9 Netbook. After upgrading it to a 64GB SSD there were three drivers that apparently did not load correctly during the reinstallation of XP. Each time I booted up three popup bubbles – one after the other - informed me that drivers could not be found for some hardware devices.

At the same time that I was researching information for an article I need to write I was searching for a solution to the Mini 9 driver problems. I am glad to say that I found the answers and was able to solve the mysteries. Again, the problem was not a huge one – I could still use the Mini 9 but it was irritating me.

What is my problem now? Time is running short for the day and I still have to get a lot of paperwork finished. One step at a time – one foot in front of the other is the only way I know to get through any day. I am a problem solver and I love it that way.

Today finished out a busy week. Am I crazy? My regular workweek is over but the weekend work is just beginning. If you understand me at all by now you will know that this is my favorite time.

My creativity flourishes when I sit down in front of my computer. I have so many projects that I want to accomplish. I want to organize my desk, files, photos and emails. I want to update my website to make it more interesting. I would really like to start a personal blog. Even knowing that most of these projects will be postponed for a later time I need the stimulation of trying to fit them all in.

In case you have not checked out my tech blog here on today.com you may not know that tech gadgets are my all time favorite obsession (explains the CES thing). So far laptops are winning. Speaking of laptops I just had a great idea. Over the past three years I have accumulated three laptops and if each one was booted up all at once I could see my various projects all at once. Instead of being “out of sight out of mind” it would be “in my face I gotta get it done”.

Although it will not be as interesting as my “want to do list” I have another list of things to get done. This is January so several deadlines are looming. Payroll reports, W-2s and taxes – oh my!

Tomorrow will be what it is. I will do what I can. I will feel that I should have done more.

My last post was not meant to be depressing. I did not think that it was until I answered the question asked by a fellow blogger. The question was about specific examples of changes that are coming. Hopefully I can explain myself a bit better here.

My work life is not different than my personal life. I consider my life integrated between work and personal and it is very difficult to know where one starts and one ends. Before you say “ahh” don’t. I prefer it this way.

Even though my business does not allow me to work from home all of the time I have a home office that is used constantly for business. My bookwork, my employee’s payroll and my life planning takes place here. When I return home in the evening I sit down right here to talk to all of you.

I feel strongly about everything that I do. The little details do not always mean as much as the big picture however. For example, my writing is important to me – not the pretty details that surround it. I do not like change for the sake of change. It is important for all of us to realize that change will affect each of us in a different way. One size very seldom fits all and the unintended consequences can be damaging to some.

After spending several years organizing my future and suddenly seeing it all change through no want of my own is disconcerting. Organizing is not supposed to work that way. The basics should stay the same and only little tweaks should be necessary.

Looking forward is what keeps me moving forward. I need that carrot hanging out there in front of me – reminding me of what I am working so hard for. Big plans take time to achieve and I admit it feels like much has been ripped away. I am resilient. I will find a way to get what I want and need. The rest of the world needs to do the same.

You probably sense the confusion that I feel and I suspect that you probably feel much the same way. I try not to think too much about the small stuff because I think that I have that handled. I practice what I preach – especially about staying organized.

I am confident that we will all work our way through the changes and challenges to come. I appreciate every opportunity and I will make the best of each and every one of them – that includes communicating with you. Thank You.

Autopilot has been my mode of operation for the past several months. Projects and life in general has kept me busy so it has been handy having some things in my day that required little organization – I just sat down and got it done.

Things are changing in several areas – especially since the first of this year. Some changes seem to be good and others are not so good. It is most difficult when I have little to say about the changes. But, just like the rest of you I will persevere and hopefully find even better ways to do these things.

It may seem like a contradiction when I say that change is made easier when you can hold onto as much sameness as possible. Simply put, try not to change too much too soon. Keep what is working and change what is not working.

Free up time by weeding out unnecessary projects with little future. Cut your losses and move onto bigger and better things. In the meantime continue with projects that show promise. Change will come even if you are not ready so the best you can do is to stay organized. Open your mind to new information and put one foot in front of the other – keep moving forward.