Most Americans judge their co-workers by how clean or dirty they keep their desks, says a survey by Adecco. It’s likely that you’re not the one suffering from disorganized habits, but your co-workers or boss may need help wrangling their desks into shape. Here are tips on streamlining a mess:
Environmental psychologists know that sensory experiences impact the way we work. Here’s what they say: 1. Keep red to a minimum. 2. Grow a leafy green. 3. Face the entryway. 4. Make small adjustments for comfort. 5. Declutter but not too much.
It’s possible to have a messy desk and still know which pile holds what. But it’s definitely more difficult to think clearly if you’re surrounded by clutter. Here’s how to clear the deck:
With all those details swirling around in your head during the rush of the workweek, it’s not surprising that you can’t always “let it go” at day’s end. The solution? The best tactic, says time-management expert Laura Stack, is a “brain dump”—or weekly review session—every Friday afternoon.
“My boss carried several boxes of files into the office one day because his wife told him to remove them from their garage. They have been sitting in the office for more than two years! He won’t let me throw anything away.” What can this admin do about a boss who’s a hoarder?
Keep on top of the boss’s or someone else’s inbox with these proven tips from the trenches: 1. Avoid duplicating work to the extent that you can. 2. Scan for timely actions. 3. Customize any system you adopt.
How do you make sure a task gets done? Peter Bregman, author of 18 Minutes, believes we ought to make appointments with ourselves in order to accomplish things. “We should all be working off our calendars, not our task lists,” says Bregman.
When the meeting participants are mostly VIPs, scheduling can be a hairy process, says executive assistant Trisha Heil. Currently, she offers attendees a basic date-filled chart, so they can narrow down the choices to a mutually convenient time and date. But what do other admins do?
Jasmine Freeman’s job as chief executive assistant to Joan Burge at Office Dynamics keeps her busy supporting Burge’s day-to-day work and developing social media to support the business. A number of tools help her “keep on top of things”:
Defer judgment … The more ideas the better … Bosses, don’t hijack the discussion. These are among the top rules of a productive brainstorming session. Before a team even begins the meeting, though, be sure to set up the room for maximum effectiveness:
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