Office Organization
How Organizing Strategies Could Actually Cause More Clutter
In the spring, I usually come across quite a few media requests asking about how to deal with clutter. This past spring was no different. Here was one journalist’s inquiry: “I am looking for interior designers or home organization experts to share ways that intended organizational strategies could actually cause more clutter.” Whether you’re thinking…
Read MoreProductivity Tips: Paper Retention and Document Storage
I recently worked with a client on one of her biggest time leaks: paper management at home. To help you with your quest to refine your paper retention rules (or create them!) and fine tune your document storage system, here are some highlights from our paper management session. Action Items: *Store all papers requiring…
Read MoreTime Management Tips for How to Respond to Email
I was reviewing older posts about email best practices when I came across one in which I’d shared detailed answers to interview questions that were posed to me by Better Homes & Gardens. Here’s the paragraph of questions I received as part of a follow up to my interview at that time: What should…
Read MoreProductivity Tips for Communication Best Practices – Clarifying
In previous posts, we examined five communication best practices to implement, as well as how to avoid communication problems in the workplace. This week, we’ll take a look at a few simple questions to use in order to clarify meaning and avoid communication problems. While sharing five communication best practices to implement, I recommended that…
Read MoreProductivity Tips – How to Avoid Communication Problems in the Workplace
Last week, we examined five communication best practices to implement. This week, we’ll take a look at what happens when even just one of those communication best practices isn’t implemented. In other words, these are communication problems and pitfalls to avoid. Listen, then clarify. Here are a screenshot and inquiring question I posted on Instagram:…
Read More5 Tips for More Productive Meetings
Here are five fantastic tips for planning and facilitating more productive meetings from guest blog contributor Hadi Ossaily, founder of Meeting for Goals: Meetings can be valuable opportunities to improve business processes, build relationships, and make decisions. However, many meetings are unproductive due to poor planning or lack of clear goals. Here are…
Read MoreDo 15 Minute Meetings Actually Work? – Part 2
A few weeks back, I shared information about the concept of 15-minute meetings. The journalist working on the story asked two additional questions, the answers to which I’ll share with you here. This was the original topic request about 15-minute meetings: “A new trend is developing in corporate circles called the ‘15-minute meeting’, which…
Read MoreFile Management Strategies – A Purge Party!
It’s that time of year again! January 31st was the deadline for the delivery of various tax forms – 1098 forms for mortgage interest, 1099 forms for various types of income, W2 forms from employers, and so on. As all of these forms arrive, now is the perfect time to implement one of my…
Read MoreThe Tool Every Home Office Needs
“What is the single most important tool every home office needs?” A journalist recently posed this question to organizing and productivity experts. This was my response: The single most important tool every home office needs is a battery backup. APC is a popular brand, but they’re not the only ones: If there is any kind…
Read MoreHow Do I Get People to Use My Appointment Scheduler?
A client asked me last week: “How do I get people to use my phone appointment scheduler?” She’d begun to use a scheduling platform (think Calendly or ScheduleOnce). She was worried that people would be turned off by being told to use an automated digital calendar system to schedule a phone or Zoom meeting instead…
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