Our business has benefited from the principles and ideas contained in this post, and several to follow. We thought they might be helpful to others within the AR community, so here you go.
This is a very brief discussion of the realtionship between personal organization and personal productivity. By "personal organization" I am referring to the level of efficiency and order within one's work space. By "personal productivity" I am referring to both the quality of service to clients, as well as the definable business success as measured in, for example, sales volume. My main point is simple, but it has a set of deeper insights behind it. It is that personal organization is a wonderful starting point for renewing personal productivity.
If that seems like an obvious point, think for a moment about how "automatic" and "taken-for-granted" our physical space, and the work systems we use, can become. Of course, personal productivity is about a whole lot more than getting one’s physical space organized. On the other hand, working toward and achieving a far higher level of personal organization can be the platform for all sorts of positive business results.
Here is a question to consider:
If my office space – and general work environment – were organized for
maximum productivity, how different would it be than it is now?
If your answer is, “No different. I’ve got the physical space part of productivity well under control!,” then you are good to go.
However, if you have been wanting to get a higher level of control and organization over your business by starting with the physical systems (office space, desk, filing systems, computer files, calendars, etc.), then here is a simple sequence to help.
Let me at least try to succinctly state why I think focusing in the area of work space organizatiion as a starting point for enhancing personal productivity is a useful way to think about the issue. Even the best training and coaching services in the world still require personal application. And personal application requires an organized set of systems that can be repeated consistently. And this requires a skillful level of personal organization within one’s work space.
Some people have a greater natural gift to make this happen. If you don’t see this as your strong suit, and you know someone who seems to have this talent in abundance, consider flattering them with a conversation in which you ask them questions about how they achieve their special level of organization. You may be amazed at what you will hear. Of course, personal organization does not necessarily translate into personal productivity, especially in terms of sales volume. My point is that personal organization is a great starting point for more business productivity.
Here are the steps.
1 FOCUS - Focus on a single area you want to improve or transform.
Build momentum, but make it easy to start. The principle here is to concentrate your efforts in one single area. Massive "reorganizations" and clean-outs are overwhelming and induce procrastination. You can achieve a personal organization transformation, but start it with a small, manageable project.
2 SORT - Separate items into like categories. Sorting is the simple process of separating items into categories. From kitchen cabinets to garage shelves to desk drawers to home filing cabinets to client files to whatever other area on which you choose to focus: items in an area are sorted in this step. Sorting puts similar items together as a prelude to the steps that follow.
3 PURGE - Eliminate items that have become clutter, or for whatever reasons, will 
detract more from your life (and/or your business) than they will give.
It can be difficult, but it is also liberating to “toss" things you really don’t need. Having less unnecessary “stuff” will make life easier on many levels.
4 ORGANIZE - Think about how you want the focus area to look and function and set it up accordingly. Organizing a space is a creative process which has no single formula that is right for everyone. But consider the following principles as you organize or reorganize the space on which you are focusing:
• A visual look at the space intuitively says, "This place is well organized!"
• There are not too many "things" for the space to hold
• Similar items are "containerized" for easy access
• When appropriate, labels are clearly visible (e.g., filing cabinets have easy to read tabs, allowing rapid access and filing)
5 MAINTAIN - Regularly set aside a short time to maintain and improve the system.
Even the best-designed spaces will become "out of kilter" with use from normal "wear and tear." The point: to stay fully functional the space needs regular maintenance.
Should You Choose to Accept This Assignment
There are many good books on this subject, but you can bypass all of that and jump right in with the five steps I have outlined. If you want to dig deeper, one well-constructed method that includes many “bells and whistles” not included here is “Getting Things Done” by David Allen (2001).
[This post by Fran O’Neal – The Kathy O’Neal Team serves home buyers and sellers in Northern Virginia, with special focus on Chantilly, Centreville, and the communities of the Western Fairfax region.]
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