There are really essentially two kinds of people.  Those who are genetically organized, and those who are not.  Do you feel you are in the second category?  Don’t worry!  There is still hope for you to keep your small business organized. 

The advantages are great.  A person who is organized can complete their work much more efficiently.  They remember important events and meetings.  They are more relaxed and feel in control of their day.  This article will give you some realistic techniques to stay organized even if you feel you are a hopeless cause:

Don’t Let The Sun Set on a Mess

Don’t head out the door in the evening without taking a short amount of time to straighten your desk.  Gather your office supplies up and place them together on your desktop so they are ready to go when you return.  Throw out the trash and get rid of any used cups or other things that don’t belong. 

Most important, quickly go through the papers cluttering up the desk and stack them somewhat in the order they need to be tackled in the morning.  At the same time, you can quickly prepare an action plan (also known as “to-do list”) for the next day, and rank each task in order of importance. 

You will find that this simple 10 minute process each evening will fire you up to jump in feet first the next day to complete what needs to be done. 

Group Your Working Product in 3s

There are those people with organization stamped on their forehead who never waste time looking for what they need to complete a task.  The rest of us make up the bigger population.  I have found the best way to organize my working papers so that I can actually find something when I need it is to use the rule of 3. 

The idea is not tricky.  Maintain only three stacks of paperwork at any one time.  The first stack contains the most pressing items you hope to accomplish within the day.  Next, are those items to accomplish sometime during the week, and the final stack contains those less pressing items to get to within the month.  This can be a painful upfront process, but by taking the time to create these three stacks, you will save time in the long run from digging through piles when you are in a hurry and need some critical paper fast. 

Take Action

The bottom line is that you are losing opportunities for your small business every day that you wait to find an organization system you can work with.  A larger part of your day can be spent on making your small business succeed when you are organized.  But remember, one size does not fit all and what works for one would drive someone else crazy.  So find the system that works for you and make sure you can commit to using it every day.     

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year”  to learn about an online accounting program that makes it simple to organize your accounting and finance.