Organized?

Are you organized? What does organized look like and why is it important? Some might say that what looks like a mess to most people is organized to them. Some say that the piles of paper stacked on top of their desk is how they know where everything is. Have you ever been in the office with one of these “organized” people and asked them for a document? For somebody who claims to be organized, it’s pretty entertaining to watch them shuffle around, comment under their breath, realize they have no clue where the document is and ask if they can get it to you later. It turns out that their definition of organization is slightly different than mine and Merriam-Webster’s for that matter.

One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of organized is “having things arranged in a neat and effective way.” The key word in this definition is effective. By not being able to locate items, forgetting to complete tasks, missing deadlines, not being prepared for meetings minimizes your effectiveness. Merriam-Webster’s definition of effective is “producing a result that is wanted: having an intended effect.” As a leader, do you not want to achieve results that are wanted?

So how do we get organized? When it comes to your office, get rid of the items you don’t need. Go through your files and file them. Identify categories and place like items into these categories. Get rid of the clutter on your desk. Take the time each day to place documents in the files you have created. Taking this time will save you a lot of time when you need something. It is always impressive when someone asks you for something and you know right where it is. It also reduces your anxiety when you need something in a hurry.

When it comes to your meeting notes identify one notepad. I see so many leaders in multiple meetings and each time they have a different pad. Then when they need to refer to their meeting notes they can’t remember which pad they used. Use one method for taking notes so you never have to wonder where your notes may be.

It is also very important to have one method for keeping track of tasks/action items/to do’s; whatever you want to call them. I transfer all of my action items from my meeting notepad into my Outlook Tasks. If anyone asks me for an action item while I’m out and about, I enter it directly into my Outlook Tasks via my smart phone. If for some odd reason I had to make a note of an action item elsewhere I make sure to enter into my task list as soon as I can. I then set up my Outlook to open to my Day Preview page and what do you know—there are all my tasks. I take it one step further and identify each task as high, normal, or low priority and ask the system to automatically sort them when I open my Outlook. You can even set due dates and reminders so the system prompts you when something is coming up or is due. This method has been very beneficial to me so I strongly urge you to find a system that works for you and use it!

All of these steps aid you in being effective as a leader. It helps you meet your commitments, reduces your anxiety, increases your efficiency in managing your action items, and ultimately helps you achieve wanted results.

Some final questions for a leader…do you come to work with sloppy clothes on—half tucked, wrinkled, not matching? Do you brush your teeth and hair before coming to work? Hopefully the answers are no and yes to these questions respectively. And the reason is because you want to create a professional perception of yourself. So why would you not do the same with regards to how you manage yourself?