Walking into a clean, efficient, well-organized office allows you to spend more time building your business, being productive and doing what you love! If your other tasks have run away with you and your office is becoming a barrier to getting things done, it’s time for a little house-cleaning. I’ll show you how with a few easy steps to begin.

Do you step into your office only to find yourself surrounded by a sea of papers, stacked knee deep as far as the eye can see? Instead of swimming through all of the piles just to get to your desk, why not start cutting back, filing and throwing things out now? Because today is as good a day as any. Watch my video below to see how you can start to cut the waste and feed your recycling bin and shredder some much-needed paper pulp.

It takes four simple steps to create a filing system that will work for YOU and YOUR business.  Check out the video below for tips that will help you get started today.

Is your filing system supporting your biz or leaving you flustered? Do tell!

I have worked with a lot of great clients over the years (lucky me!). No matter what I’m initially called in for, I’d say at least 90% of my clients have an issue dealing with paper. So, if you’ve got paper monsters chasing you, no shame! You’re not alone.

Check out the video below. In it, I discuss the top three mistakes I see people making when it comes to their papers – and what you can do to correct those mistakes if you’re currently making them.

Did you tackle your paper monsters? What worked for you?

Summer is here – are you prepared? As every hard working entrepreneur knows, business doesn’t stop when the seasons change. I’m sure you’ve heard the term “summer slump” before. Unfortunately, it exists for a reason. Though we all want to enjoy the season – extra time with friends and family, vacations, BBQs, lazy days in the sun…we have businesses to run! How do you keep your business not only running, but thriving and profitable during the summer months when everyone’s attention is all over the place? I wanted to share a couple quick important tips with you. Here goes!:

Whew! Another tax season has come and gone (or you’ve filed an extension at least!). How do you feel? Was it a rushed job? Did you spend hours pulling together all your financial documents?  Here are three things that help me get through tax season without breaking a sweat:

1) Have a good filing system. Paper, electronic, or a combination – it doesn’t matter. However you choose to store your information, create a system that keeps things organized. That way when it is time to do taxes, or hand your documentation over to your bookkeeper or accountant, you don’t have to spend hours of work just so THEY can do their part to help YOU. I can’t say enough about having a good filing system. You’ll definitely have piece of mind when you can put your hands on the piece of paper you need in less than 10 seconds.

2) Get a good invoicing system in place. Many people use Quickbooks, a popular software, to keep track of their finances and invoice clients. Definitely a robust system that can work for service or product based businesses.  I currently use Freshbooks, an online service. They provide awesome customer support, the design is excellent, and it’s super easy to use. Excellent for service providers. There’s also reports you can quickly run (also an option with Quickbooks). Lots of my clients use Freshbooks too – it rocks! Just starting out in business or not working with many clients? Freshbooks even has a free option for those without many clients. If you want to do your invoices manually, make sure you file them appropriately on your computer or keep hard copies in the awesome filing system you’ve got going.

3) Keep track of your expenses – especially those in cash if you pay with cash often! You can keep track of expenses in Quickbooks and Freshbooks. There’s also a groovy system I like called Outright that keeps track of your money and can help with reporting around tax time. They’ll even tell you what your estimated taxes are! I like Outrightbecause it integrates with Freshbooks – I love to keep things streamlined! 

Why am I sharing this with you now? Because now that you’ve got this year’s taxes off your mind, you can start planning ahead so you don’t flip out every time you sit down to report all your financial info! It is not too late to set up solid systems for your business. The longer you wait, the more you’ll have to process, shuffle, search for, etc. That takes time away from you MAKING money and doing the fun stuff in life. Start as soon as possible – you’ll feel much better. I promise!

So here’s what you’re going to do now, because you’re super savvy and know that financial health is important to any growing business (and to your personal life as well!):
1) Figure out the best way to organize your financial documents. Can’t start the system now?  Take a few moments to write down the plan  so you’ll know what to do when you’re ready.
2) Keep track of your income – even if you don’t send invoices to your clients, you need to keep accurate records for yourself.
3) Schedule a session with me to create a plan for you or get the job done. Don’t stay stuck – seriously, it will only make your job harder and keep your business from growing. And talk to the financial professionals in your life about your money specifics. We’re all here to help!
Speaking of money, if you want to boost your business or improve financially on the last quarter (or the last year!), you’ll definitely want to check out The Biz Panel: Mind Over Money event that I will be part of next week.  In addition to sharing tips and advice, I’ll also be doing some free one-on-one mini-strategy sessions with a few lucky attendees.  Hope to see you there!

Any business owner knows that there are many moving parts to keeping your business running smoothly. Having an organized office is a valuable asset. Not only will an organized office help you keep a clear head and be more productive, but it gives you one less thing to stress out about!

This post will cover one of the most important things you can do to work your way to a more organized office.

Clear off and reorganize your desk!

If you do only one thing, keep a clear desk! As I always say, physical clutter most often contributes to mental clutter.  If you sit down at your desk and immediately feel overwhelmed before you’ve opened your calendar or turned on your computer, you’ll want to take this advice. If this sounds like you, you’ve probably noticed that you become incredibly inefficient and unproductive. I’ve had some clients who avoided their desks like the plague because just the sight of it wanted to make them pull their hair out. Don’t get stuck in that place.

Yes, there IS a desk under there.

If there’s one space to keep clear, again, it is this one. If you work in an office, your desk is most likely your hub. If you’re an artist, this is your drawing table or the space you lay photographs on. Whatever that zone is for you – it’s important!

Here’s how to turn that disaster zone into a sleek money making machine:

Start by taking things off your desk an item (or pile) at a time. Sort them into categories – trash, file, and store for example. Trash should go immediately into the trash can or recycle bin. No sense in handling it multiple times. Filing should be done a regular basis (we’ll tackle that later. You can also read this post). Organize remaining items in to homes that make sense (all office supplies together, gadgets in the same drawer, manuals compiled in the same bin or binder, etc).

Only place things on your desk that you use every day – or several times per week. Your desk should not be a dumping ground – the items easily accessible should be the ones you use most often. The only things on my desk are my laptop, phone,  Master To-Do List (with pen attached), catch-all notebook (also with pen attached),  and my daily checklists. I don’t even keep my printer on my desk. I selected a wireless printer (love it!) that hides nicely in my closet.   Yep, that’s it!

As for files on your desk, I suggest only keeping immediate action items – things coming up that day or that week – at your fingertips. Keeping a stack of papers on your desk becomes a hindrance when you don’t know what’s what and can’t find the immediate action items. If you are worried about the “out of sight, out of mind” factor, consider keeping track of to-do’s on a master list, or use a cork board, magnetic board, or wall pockets for the important stuff.

Once you’ve cleared off your desk, respect your hard work by keeping it clean! Pretend there is a force field around your desk – if something comes your way that isn’t important, it doesn’t get a home on your desk top – trash it, file it, or put it in it’s home. Your desk is now a reverse magnet for clutter.

You’ll feel 100% better each day when you sit down at your desk and can find what you need when you need it.

Coming up: how to handle your paper and how to organize the rest of your office space.

Keep it simple. Please. I'm begging you. Kinda...

Last week, I had a chance to speak to a fantastic group of professional women. I've been fortunate enough to speak to several different groups of people, actually. I share tips, tools, resources, answer questions. I love to help! What I have found each and every time without fail is that when I tell the crowd "Keep it simple. Take baby steps. Break the project down into the smallest pieces that you can," a light bulb seems to go on.

I think deep down inside we all know that its OKAY to take things slow, to just tackle it piece by piece. I also think our busy lifestyles and the demands placed on us by others - and ourselves - makes us feel like that isn't okay. We have to tackle a big project and finish it in a snap. We have to dive into our jungle of a closet and have it perfectly organized by sundown. Our desk, piled high with a years worth of papers has to be reduced to a minimalist's dream by the time the work whistle blows. Well, of course you feel overwhelmed!

Keep it simple.  What can you do in a month? Okay, now what can you do this week? What small part can you tackle today to push you toward the goal? What can you do for the next 15 minutes? Yes, drill it down that small if you have to. As someone I recently coached put it, "it's 15 minutes more than I would have spent on the project if I hadn't thought of it this way."

Every little bit helps, it's true. It's very easy to resist that notion, but it's true. If you don't toss that first pile of junk mail and old credit card offers, you won't toss the second one...or the 10th. You have to start somewhere.

Chart your course. Pick a place to start. Start small. Get moving.

Take a look around you. Every single item you see represents your choice to have that item in your life. You either chose to purchase the item, or were given the item and chose to keep it. From your new red sweater to the pile of junk mail on your kitchen counter, every item represents a choice made.

When your life is full of clutter, you might begin to resent all the “stuff” around you. Why do you think that happens? Often it is because you don’t LOVE the stuff you are looking at! Maybe the sweater doesn’t fit anymore. Maybe it was an impulse purchase that you now regret. Sometimes we purchase too much of a good thing – who really needs five staplers? – because it is much easier to buy the thing we need than find it in the junk yard that has become our home or office. When someone sends a gift or just gives us something we “have to” have, we often feel obligated to keep it “for a little while.” Let me tell you, I’ve met plenty of people whose “little while” is now 5+ years.

Make a choice NOW to change things. Start small. Pick five items around you. If you don’t absolutely love the item, find it useful/functional, or it doesn’t add beauty to your environment, get rid of it. Ebay, CraigsList, yard sale, trash can. I don’t care – let it go. It doesn’t matter if you paid $100 for it. If you have the receipt, take it back. No receipt? Ebay or donate it. Your peace of mind is more important than $100.

What items are you holding on to that you need to let go of?

Personally, I do not make New Years resolutions. There’s nothing wrong with making resolutions. They make people feel warm and fuzzy. It’s nice to feel warm and fuzzy sometimes. The problem with resolutions is that most people drop them by the end of the month – some people simply state the resolution and never even really try. Do you know many people join gyms in January? A lot!

If you want to get organized this year, whether it is for your home, office, car, purse, or brain, I have a challenge for you.  Write down the resolutions. Post them up somewhere prominent. Put them in your planner. Tell your friends and family.  But don’t just stop with stating the resolution – turn it into a goal and turn that goal into your reality. Set manageable deadlines and milestones.

If you want to “get organized in ’09″ stop being so broad. What do you want to organize? Even if you feel like you want to organize “everything,” list what everything means to you – your home, your office, your paperwork, children’s rooms, the garage, the basement, family photos.  List out what you want to do so you have a better picture of what is ahead of you.

You can NOT do everything at once – even if you have nothing else to do with your time. So break down the work. What is your goal for January? The office? Okay, great. So maybe at the top of your January calendar page you write “Goal: Organize my office.”  The next thing you should do is decide what you can do each week to get you closer to that goal. For example:

• Week 1: Filing all papers so that all 2008 stuff is out of the way and I have fresh files for 2009
• Week 2: Organizing all office supplies and making sure I purchase the appropriate ones so I have everything I need.
• Week 3: Getting everything out of the office that does not belong in the office
• Week 4: Rearrange the furniture, have a cleaning crew come through, creating a marketing plan for 2008, etc.

While “organize everything” and “organize my office” are broad goals, these narrowed down sub-goals are practical, achievable goals. Of course, you can break it down further. For week one, a daily goal could be to spend 15, 30, or 60 minutes a day filing (based on how much paper you have!). Of perhaps your goal is to schedule someone to come in during week one and do the filing for you. Perhaps you’ll hire a Professional Organizer. Maybe during week 4 you will with a feng shui expert, a cleaning crew, an interior designer, and a marketing consultant who can have you create a system for marketing your business.

This same formula can work for every area you want to organize. Just scale it appropriately. Maybe you spend a week cleaning out your car and set daily goals: toss all trash, buy a receipt organizer, buy small baskets for the car and talk to the kids about only having as much stuff in the car as will fit in the basket. When everyone gets out of the car, they put all of their stuff into their container. Purchase a mobile organizer that holds notebooks, pens, calculators, etc.

If you want to achieve your goals, whatever they might be, you have to do more than simply stating them. Take action. Start now while the calendar is fresh and there is optimism in the air. If you start planning now and work toward your goals, you will achieve great success this year.