office organising overwhelm

We haven’t spoken about something very important – organising overwhelm.

The feeling that it’s all too much.

One day everything feels alright and the next day it seems as if paper is all over the office, you can’t find what you need on your computer, you have thousands of emails in your inbox and you’re paralysed with overwhelm.

You can’t even get to urgent tasks, let alone the important ones that will help you reach your goals.

This is what I suggest:

1. tackle one thing at a time

If your paper is driving you crazy, spend an hour or two focussed on nothing else but sorting the paper. If it’s your email, then set your timer, set a goal and start replying.

I’m a very visual person which means I can’t ever work effectively with an untidy desk. I keep nothing on my desk except the current project and usually if I’m feeling very overwhelmed, I first clear my desk so that I can focus on my to-do list without distractions.

2. maintain the area

The key is to spend 5 minutes a day maintaining that organised space. It is amazing how spending just 5 minutes in each area of your office will set you up for success the following day.
It means that you can “hit the ground running” when you start the next day’s work. If you spend a half-hour by yourself once a week to set up the week ahead, and then do a longer session every month, your life will feel more under control and won’t leave you feeling frazzled.

3. Use 10-minute pockets of time

Make a list of 10-minute tasks and keep the list on your desk, in plain view. Next time you have 10 minutes before you have to leave for a meeting, or you’re on hold with a customer services representative, check your list and see what you can do to organise your office.

Some tasks that I like to keep for those 10 minutes are:

* filing
* tidying my desk
* decluttering a file
* making a phone call or two
* going through my sent items and following up on email
* easy web maintenance
* uploading blog photos

If you stick to these 3 steps, you should be more focussed and productive with your work and hopefully not feel like it’s all too much very often again.

Coaching challenge

1. Make your list of 10-minute tasks and position it on your desk or nearby.
2. Schedule a weekly maintenance session in your diary and on your phone.