Organizing a Hectic Workplace - Easy Steps to Use

Do you work in an unorganized office environment? I know that I do, even though working at a church would seem less hectic or at least that's what I thought until I started this job!

I am the secretary and personal assistant to the Vicar, and I knew there would be a bit involved in how a church works, but boy did I not realize just how much.

Like a normal secretary I take calls, forward calls, contact whom we need to get in touch with, and many many more various duties. I love this because there are so many different tasks involved and I usually stay pretty busy and never do something enough at a time to get bored with it. I like the multi tasking. I keep a certain notepad 'only' for messages, this way I'm not writing on whatever paper I can find and then misplacing it later on before I can relay the message. This makes it a lot easier.

As for being hectic, I always have people asking me to do a million things as well as what my boss wants me to do, I'm having to juggle so many things at once, sometimes it gets a little too hectic, even for the master I thought myself to be.

My desk is not only mine, people tend to put things on it when I'm not around it, and not always leaving a note leaves me confused as to what it is and what it's for, etc. Therefore I decided to make a one spot for people to put things that are left for someone, etc. So far this seems to work well; although I still have the occasional item misplaced somewhere else on my desk.

I do a lot of mailing and to save myself time when I'm not busy I gather some envelopes and put stamps on them, followed by our return address label. Then I keep them in a separate part of my desk, so when I have something ready to mail, I can grab an envelope and only have to stuff and seal; saves me half the time.

If you print addresses on envelopes with your printer, a way to save time if you are able is to have the address on the letter you are mailing and use a window envelope. So all you have to do is fold so the address shows in the window, and mail. No printing envelopes unless you just like the tedious job. J

We receive a lot of magazines and catalogs pertaining to things the Church might need. I go through these every month and pitch the old ones, so our shelf isn't overcrowding with a bunch of old magazines or catalogs. It looks neater and is easier to find something when you need it and know that it's the current one.

These are just a few simple ways for an office person to organize around them, and I have tons more that I will put on later. If you have some suggestions, I'd like to hear them as I am always trying to find ways to stay organized and neat. Not only for myself but so that anyone that comes in will see a clean and orderly office.