Order from Chaos

At Mid-American Building Services, we can do all your office cleaning, but its up to you to keep your desk space organized. If you'd like to talk to someone about keeping your office clean, give us a call at (414)475-2600 and we can work with you to provide a janitorial service that fits your needs.

Having a janitorial service like ours will help you keep your office clean of trash, but equally important is that you identify what is trash. Having too much clutter can increase stress, kill productivity as you rifle through stacks of loose papers, and overwhelm you on a daily basis. Don't make an emotional attachment to that 2006 Packers schedule. Instead, pitch it and pin the new one to your desk calendar!

Consider these 5 tips from Liz Davenport, of OrderFromChaos.com.

1- Write everything down; trust nothing to memory. Keep one calendar. If someone asks you to do something, write it down, right then.

2- Have a method to remind yourself when things need to be done. Your calendar and a pending file are just the ticket. Make a note on the calendar to remind you of the thing to do and keep the corresponding paperwork in the pending file.

3- If items have an assigned home, they will gravitate toward it. If they have no assigned home, they will wander into aimless piles on your desk. Decide how you might use an Item in the future, create a place for it, and put it there. Extra tip: Group things whenever possible.

4- Incoming information is the enemy. Don't ignore it or put it off. Have a station for dealing with all forms of incoming data mail, e-mail, faxes, phone messages. Have your calendar handy, your to-do list and a huge trash can. Write appropriate notes in your calendar and toss the supporting documentation, unless it will be needed.

5- Ask yourself, "If the house was on fire, would I grab this?" If not, why save it? Don't keep anything you can find somewhere else. Clear away as much as possible, then clear away more. Form the habit of throwing things out the emotional cost of being surrounded by useless paper is higher than you realize.