Summer has sprung, but don’t expect a lot of poetic blather about how happy
it makes me and all of those I meet. I don’t recognize any signs of summer from
my windowless office on the 6th floor in the dark recesses of the Penthouse many
mazes while listening to the sneezes and sniffles from my co-workers as the
corporate air conditioner filters out the fresh air, while pumping our workplace
full of dirt and grime.
Still, I would be lying if I said that the change in seasons had no effect.
As if by magic I find myself moving into total summer-cleaning mode.
Unfortunately, for many of us, the stimulation available is not sufficient, and
despite our best attempt to tantalize and energize our brain cells with repeated
viewings of the “Big Brother.” and “Holly Oaks,” the need to hibernate wins
out.
[If someone can tell me what happened in our office between November 22 and
February 22, please immediately email to the address below.]
When winter ends and the sun returns, our neural receptors red line and we
launch into the annual and familiar spring frenzy of mating, or, if we’re
married, cleaning. But how exactly do you tackle the mountains of paper that
have piled up on your desk since you last attempted to organize your work life,
which probably occurred during the time of Tony Blair? And how will your manager
react when you explain that you have entered a new realm of efficiency by
getting rid of useless time-wasters, like your telephone and your computer?
These are exactly the subjects covered here:
http://www.lifeclever.com/10-tips-for-keeping-your-desk-clean-and-tidy/
10 tips for keeping your desk clean and tidy:
I believe this study and a few more I found, while trawling the internet for
a new screensaver to remind me of the world outside of events, are all targeted
at “pilers” (those who pile their paperwork rather than file it) Many companies
it seemed surveyed the administrative assistants of important executives at big
named companies to learn their secrets for success—assuming you define success
as being an underpaid lackey for a Corporate Big Cheese. So what could you learn
from these highly organized individuals? Pull up a file folder and let’s get
started.
1. Tackle a tickle:
Fill a file draw with 31 file folders, one for each day of the month. This
will not only help sales at Rymans, Stationery Suppliers, but will help you know
when specific projects should be tackled. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for
months which don’t have 31 days, like February, which has about six days, I
believe, and August, when other people get vacations, and which lasts for 93
days. On the positive side, these systems will help you determine exactly how
late you are with your assignments, and that should be good for a laugh.
2. Reference this :
According to the assistants, “reference books are a great way to stay
organized and a unique scrapbook of your career.” Items to keep in your
reference book are phone logs, memos and contact info. Nice idea, and in later
years, if it doesn’t make your heart sing with emotional memories of your time
with your boss, it will be invaluable when you blackmail the creep.
3. No pop-ins
Rather than constantly popping in on your boss, the executive assistants
suggest you “keep a running list of the questions and comments as they occur to
you.” You would use this list for an end-of-the-day meeting to tidy up trifling
issues too unimportant to interrupt your lord and master, like “Your fly is
unzipped,” “You’re wearing one white sock and one brown sock,” or “Your new
French assistant is on fire.”
4. KISS
Truer words were never surveyed: “When it comes to working with your boss,
make things as simple as humanly possible.” The surveys suggest using colors to
help simplify the process, like red for urgent, and yellow for medium-priority
tasks, and blue for “cold” files. Clearly, this is far too complicated for the
average event person, who, when seeing a red file, would likely implode with
fear and trepidation. I suggest you simply burn all your files. That’s the kind
of forward-looking employee every executive wants, and wouldn’t all that empty
file space make a wonderful location for hibernation when winter rolls around
again?
The Leaning tower of Paper
