Quick Tip | Systems can work for you
A logical, well planned approach to administration in your home or office starts with a good system – so what happens when X, Y or Z file comes into the office or what happens when you get a new client? Think about the best way to deal with the different aspects of the admin associated with your work and home. Remember, you should only be handling each item once, make a decision what to do with it the first time you pick it up and stick with it.
Quick Tip | Time to let go
Do you have a paperwork file of things going back decades? Maybe snippets you think one day you’ll get round to reading but never have? It’s probably time to send it to the big recycling centre in the sky. If you really needed it you would have read it by now. More often than not, when the time comes to use the information you have stored away for all that time, you will have forgotten that you have it stored and will seek the information elsewhere. How many old articles do you have archived about topics that you would go straight to the internet to research?
Quick Tip | Get financials under control
– the certainties in life are death and taxes. This is probably the most serious tip in this book. It’s vital to keep your financial paperwork in order – even if you keep it in a box and take it to the accountant once a year. Keep records and information, simply organised, so if the tax man does come knocking you know where to find it.
Quick Tip | Delegation will save you
We know there are only so many hours in the day, and there are only so many things you are capable of. Really organised people use others to support them in their long-term aims by utilising their skills. Where you have time constraints, use your own time to do the things that make the best use of your skills and delegate the other tasks to people more suited to them.
“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you”. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quick Tip | And breathe
– learn to relax. Don’t panic. This is the quickest way to dive headlong back into chaos. If you get overwhelmed or something does go wrong then take time to sit back, assess the situation and deal with it. Don’t have a knee jerk reaction to events.