Running a business is not easy, we all know that. Being stressed and disorganized can have a negative effect on your business and personal life at the same time. We cannot deny the negative impact stress can have nowadays. There are so many things we need to do to keep the business running – business meetings, strategies, plans and other activities that business managers and entrepreneurs know very well.
In order to be productive and stress-free you need to be organized. You may think this will take a lot of time that you do not have but once you start to organize your office, your calendar and your plans, everything will be clearer and easier to deal with. We put together 5 ways you can become more organized in your day-to-day activities. Hope you will find these suggestions useful.
Buy a planner
Having a real planner will help you to keep everything in one place. Sure, there are many apps you can use to live a more organized life but an app that will help you with everything that you need was not invented yet. Use apps for specific activities and a planner to have the bigger picture always in sight. You can have personalized inserts in your planner with budgets, to do lists, shopping lists and you can create your own inserts if the ones you can find online are not what you need.
Make daily and weekly “to do” lists
Checking things off a “to do” list is a very satisfying experience. It keeps you organized and motivated at the same time. You know what you have to do and when you have to do those things and procrastination will be harder when you will have all your daily plans in front of your face all day long.
Keep your desk clean
Organizing your desk will help you to be more organized in your daily activities. You will spend less time trying to find something on your desk. You can buy colorful files and labels to organize your contracts, financial papers and other paper files. If you don’t like to have colorful files, you can buy simple ones and keep them in alphabetical order with proper labels on them. Don’t be afraid to use paper clips and staplers! You won’t have to search for different pages of a contract or you won’t have to try to put everything in order when you’ll need something fast. Having office organizers is also a great idea. You will know where everything is and that is always a plus when you are in a hurry.
Use a calendar
You can hang one on your wall if you prefer the old fashion version of a calendar or you can use Google Calendar and similar apps to keep track of your meetings, events you have to attend, places you have to be and so on. It will also be easier to reply to an invitation. You won’t have to check and double check your notes and emails to confirm or deny the invitation.
Make a list of your goals
If you are a business manager, you are probably used to establish annual goals for your business. It is easier if you take these big goals and transform them into smaller ones that you can accommodate into your monthly and weekly schedule. You will know where you are, what you have to do to accomplish the annual goals and you will also feel more in control of your business.