Overwhelmed at Work

Today’s messy situation was submitted by Janine, and I want to extend a special thank-you to Keri for taking the time to answer this request!

And now from Keri…

Hello friends, thank you Davonne for letting me hop over and share a little again. Organization is one of my favorite things and I love sharing about it over at Living In This Season and love being able to help others! So let’s get started!

“Where do I begin?  How do I start?  My office does not portray the image that I want as a professional woman.  I have piles upon piles.  I have stacks upon stacks.  I just look around and literally want to cry.  I just don’t know where to begin to develop a system that will work for me in my office where it seems like I have a million and one different things going on.” – Janine

 Where Do I Start?

First, take a deep breath and get one of your favorite drinks before you start working. Get the TRASH out of your office first. A lot of it can probably be tossed or recycled. So do that first!

Also, don’t try to organize your entire room at one time. Start in ONE stack, then move on to the next. You need some quick little successes and that’s going to be the fastest way to give yourself a boost.

If there are any items that do not need to be in your office, collect in a box and bring home to put in the appropriate spot. Get in the habit of putting the item back in it’s home, it will help eliminate building clutter.

Melanie recently shared some very useful tips for organizing paper clutter that you will find very helpful and applicable.

How to Create a System of Organization

I would suggest setting up a system for papers that are coming in your office. Perhaps an inbox? Put in your planner or your phone when you will go through this inbox so it will not get overflowed. Perhaps this will be every Thursday – or even every day – at 9am, whenever it is schedule it like it is a date! Go through the box and recycle or file right away!

Baskets such as these from Vinea would be helpful for an inbox or you could use one that is hanging on the wall to free up desk space.

Storage: For papers you want to keep, use labeled binders or files. Have things labeled and have a plan. When you go through your inbox have a 3 hole punch nearby if needed, and put in binders or file away.

There are many other helpful tips that Davonne has recently shared that I think would be very useful: Solving The Desk Mess and Simplifying the Paper Mess.

I hope this all helps you! Remember, take it a pile at a time- when you start feeling overwhelmed take a break. You can do this!

{Note from Davonne: For more pretty office organization solutions, make sure to check out this article from Dani!}

About today’s organizational expert

PS Don’t forget that if you submit your own mess by October 30th, you’ll receive a free copy of Chaos to Clutter-Free, plus you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! Details and submission information are here.