Do you have your office space under control or is IT controlling you? Come join us as we discuss some ideas that might help you in your struggle to be clutter free and organized. Presenter: Shari Mills © 2012 South Central Kansas Education Service Center, Clearwater, KS 620-584-3300

1. Organizing Your Office Space
Shari Mills
SCKESC

2. Agenda
• Tips for an Organized Desk
• Schedule your day according to FlyLady
• Ergonomics at your desk
• School Secretary Desk Signs
• Bookmark Fun
• Drawing

3. Getting Started
1. Stop staring at the piles and take
action. Admit that your disorganized
space is creating an environment you
can’t work in very well.
2. Determine key areas. What needs
organizing the most?
3. Get rid of pens and pencils you don’t
use—throw away what doesn’t work
and give away what does work but
you don’t need.

4. Organized office (cont.)
4. Have a place for pocket stuff like
keys, phone, etc. that goes in the
same place each day.
5. Easy to access files. Without moving
your chair or getting up, you should
be able to grab an unused folder,
label it and put it in your file cabinet.
a. Speaking of files, let’s talk about our
filing systems.

5. Organized office (cont.)
b. Reduce before organizing. You should
eliminate the unneccessary before
organizing at all.
c. Put the papers to file or cluttered files
in a pile to go through one at a time. If
you can’t see yourself needing it in a
couple of months, get rid of it by
recyling or shredding. If you can’t toss
it, route it to someone else.
d. File it if it is absolutely necessary and
file it immediatley—no stacking.

6. Organized office (cont.)
e. Reduce your needs over time.
Instead of keeping all those
documents, consider scanning them
and storing them electronically.
f. Reduce incoming paper. Ask people
to send you documents digitally.
g. Stop printing stuff.

7. Organized office (cont.)
6. Cleaning Supplies. Keeping an
organized desk clean helps you
maintain the organiztion.
7. Scratch Notepad. As you get phone
calls, phone numbers, and other
important information throughout
the day, write them all down in one
place.
8. Organize those cords and wires. It is
easy to have half your desk covered
with wires for various electronics.

8. Tip for all those cords

9. Organized office (cont.)
9. Take a look at those drawers. Once
again, take everything out and
decide what to keep and what not to
keep.
10. How is your lighting? A bright work
area seems to be easier to keep
clean than a dark one.
11. Organize as you go. It is more
efficient to stay organized as you
work instead of trying to do it all at
the end.

10. Start your day with a morning
routine by FlyLady
• 1. On the way to work, start your transition to
work mode. For fun, grab a flower from your
garden for your desk.
• 2. When you get to work, get your coffee or
water right away and get your day started.
• 3. Check your appointment
schedule/meetings, gather items needed for
them.

11. Start your day with a morning
routine by FlyLady
• 4. Make calls and complete to do list.
• 5. Now check your email.
• 6. If you have a project that will take all
day, check your email at the top of each hour.
• 7. Open regular mail.
• 8. At around 10:00, take a small break and
breathe, do some stretching, and if
possible, step outside for some fresh air.

12. End of Day Routine
• 1. Clear off your desk and straighten your top
drawer.
• 2. Start a To Do list for tomorrow.
• 3. Make a list of calls to make.
• 4. Turn off computer and other appliances
(coffee pot, copy machines, etc.)
• 5. Pack up your stuff to take home.

13. End of Day Routine (cont.)
• 6. Check your piles and put projects in order
of priority for the morning.
• 7. Turn off lights.
• 8. Leave your desk in wonderful shape to
welcome you in the morning.

14. The Zones
1. Zone 1; Your files
2. Zone 2; Desk Top, In box and Out box
3. Zone 3; Left Desk drawers
4. Zone 4; Right Desk drawers
5. Zone 5; Credenza behind you or shelf
above your head.
This may not work exactly for you, but
adapt it for your workstation. Spend 15
minutes each day focusing on an area of
your office.

15. Ideas for your Work Week
• Monday morning after you have done
your morning routine, look at the week
ahead and take a few minutes to
prioritize your goals for the week.
• Tuesdays: Have lunch with a friend.
Treat yourself to something a little
special.
• Wednesdays: Is your Anti-
procrastination Day. Tackle those jobs
you have been putting off for a week.

16. Ideas for your Work Week (cont.)
• Also on Wednesdays, get into the habit
of sending a co-worker a little note.
• Thursday: Check your office supplies
and place orders or gather them from
the supply closet.
• On Fridays do your Weekly Office
Blessing; Get things cleaned up so you
can come in Monday to a nice
workplace. Spend about 10 minutes
tidying and about 5 minutes planning
the next week.

17. Ideal Office Ergonomic Features

18. Workplace Tips
• Your telephone should be positioned within
reach of your non-dominant hand.
• When working at the computer, overhead
lighting should come from the side and not
directly above the terminal.
• Tops of computer terminals should be at eye
level.

19. Workplace Tips (cont.)
• Sitting posture while at your computer should
be as follows: feet flat on floor, knees at 90
degree angle, back resting against back of
chair with lumbar roll supporting
spine, shoulders relaxed, elbows at 90 degree
angle, and wrists in neutral position.
• Wrists should not be supported on edge of
table, but can be supported on palms or on
wrist supports.

20. Workplace Tips (cont.)
• Your ideal work chair should be stable,
adjustable for height, and equipped with
rollers, lumbar curve, curved front edge of
seat, and five-pronged support base.
• Follow the 50-10 rule. For every 50 minutes
you work sitting at your desk, take a 10
minute break. During your break, walk
around, stretch, mingle with co-workers, etc.

21. Useful Office Stretches
Let’s stand and try a few of
these together.

22. Some fun School Secretary
Desk Signs
How about some of these?
Just to give us a few
laughs………

23. THE BRAIN IS A
WONDERFUL ORGAN…..
It starts working the
moment you get up and
does not stop until you get
to work!

24. MY DESK MAY BE
CLUTTERED……
But my mind is empty!

25. ANSWERS PRICE LIST…..
Answers………………………………2.00
Answers (requiring thought).3.00
Answers (correct)……………….4.00
Intelligent answers without
sarcasm……………………………..5.00
(Dumb looks are still free!)

26. I’D LIKE TO HELP YOU
OUT……
Which way did you come in?

27. NOBODY NOTICES WHAT I
DO AROUND HERE…..
Until I don’t do it!

28. NO COFFEE……
No workee!

29. I WELCOME YOUR ADVICE
AND CRITICISM…..
And always rush them
through the proper channels!
(One flush usually does it!)

30. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I
DO…….
That there is a woman in
charge of every school in this
country—and it ain’t the
principal!!

31. A huge Thank you to all of
you and your countless hours
you have devoted to the future
of our country—our greatest
asset—our CHILDREN!!

32. • To show our
appreciation, we thought it
would be fun to make
some pretty ribbon
bookmarks.

33. Time for a………….
Drawing!!

34. References
www.productivity501.com
www.any-book-in-print.com
http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/ergo
http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-
lessons/desk-chaos-control/
http://zenhabits.net/how-to-simplify-your-filing-
system-or-why-stacking-just-doesnt-work/

35. Thank you!
Have a wonderful day!
Shari Mills
SCKESC