I'm curious about everyone's level of (personal) office organization... do you tend to file everything, immediately and on time, or do you tend to spread things around a bit, getting to them as the need arises? A blend of the two?
As a hint as to why I'm writing this- I tend to lean toward the more disorganized (or at least the more cluttered) end of the spectrum and am trying to find ways to be a little more on top of it as my work load increases. Any thoughts?
Visual-spatial thinkers tend to be "pilers, not filers". Most planners appear to be visual-spatial thinkers -- at least the ones in this forumOriginally posted by vaughan
. There are lots of things aimed at visual-spatial types these days, you just need to go to an office store and find them. Most of it is color-coded stuff that is designed to organize things while keeping them in view. Visual-spatial types tend to be 'out of sight, out of mind' types. If you stick it in a file cabinet, drawer, etc. it ceases to exist -- so anything they have an ongoing need for tends to clutter their desktop and they never want to put it away because they won't be able to find it again when they need it. Hanging files in a small open-topped box for "live" files can be a godsend for some folks. These days, I have a lot of open shelves and otherwise out-in-the-open storage. It has made life a lot easier.
I tend to let things slide, filing-wise. I have piles of stuff that need to be filed, but only about once a month do I get around to filing. I just went through a three year Land Use Bylaw (zoning ordinance) update, and I'm getting around to organizing and filing all of that info right now. It's about five feet of paperwork (literally). I often try to start a filing system for a big project, but then I have to reorganize it at the end. It's funny that the issues that you think will be huge (and therefore you allocate big folders for) often tend to be nothing, and those that you allocated tiny folders for end up being huge issues with lots of analysis/letter from citizens. Or at least, that's what happens with me.
It may collect for a couple of weeks, then I spend some hours or maybe even a day getting organized and filing/stacking things neatly.
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I file things as I get them. My desk is usually VERY clean. I just can't concentrate in clutter.
But then, it probably looks like I don't have enough to do.
I am a piler...I leave things/projects that I am working on out in plain view. Once its finished I file it out of my office.
I wish I were more organized but MZ was correct, if I put it away "in" something, its out of my mind and I forget about it...
My desk, table and window sill have piles all over them.
Another piler here. Even my "in" box is a pile of things I can't seem to file away. My piles of paper probably look disorganized to most people, but I know exactly what's in each of them. Fortunately, I am at the far end of the office so my clutter isn't really an issue.
I don't know what those people with the empty desktops DO, anyway... they must have way too much time on their hands, if their desks are that clean.
That's kind of "the norm" for pilers -- as long as you leave their precious piles alone! Until I became so sick that I actually was genuinely a space case, my husband always thought I was disorganized but I could, without fail, put my hands on any important paper he needed within 10 minutes.
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