- The use of a calendar can be very beneficial or can be hinder. Pick one that will work with your style. A couple of options are the use of a palm pilot especially if you are out of the office often, electronic e-mail calendar or time management planner.
- Electronic or hard copy to do lists can be helpful to avoid forgetting something
· Keep work areas free of paperwork
- Have most used items within easy reach such as stapler, pens, post its, etc.
- Keep shared documents in a central location such as a file system organized by subject
- Create and use a manual or documents to record procedures with step-by-step instructions
- Only have a meeting when:
- Too much information to be communicated via e-mail
- Working to find a solution that requires discussion
- Brainstorming
- E-mail can be very overwhelming especially when you get behind.
- Reduce how many personal e-mails you get by asking friends to send to your personal e-mail instead of work
- Delete junk e-mails, personal, advertisements first
- Purge e-mail at a minimum of every 6 months. This can be done by sorting by size of the e-mail, picking a certain date and deleting from then on and/or purging by subject when a project is over and is not needed.
- Shared drives
- Clean up on a regular basis and have a once a year clean up.
- Organize folders in a way that everyone can find documents such as by subject or by project.
- Constantly look at continuous improvement to make work easier or faster the next time.