(This post contains affiliate hyperlinks. Please read my full disclosure.
How can you get organized at work? As with many other personal productivity items, the answer is that it all depends.
Alteryx and IDC have shown that digital disorganization can lead to a loss of up to 14 hours a week. If you are more organized at work, you’ll see a rapid return.
There is no one-size-fits all approach. However, there are some tried-and-true methods and good practices that you can try. These might work for you. Even if they don’t, you will learn something about your work style and preferences that will influence what you do in future.
This article will teach you 15 ways to stay organized at your job, all of which have been tested and approved by project managers. I’ll also show you some examples of how being organized looks and how to get organized when you feel overwhelmed. I’ve been there, done that, and now I have the T-shirt!
Your calendar should be organized. You can block out half a calendar day per month
2. Write reports and book time
3. Set up reminders for your calendar
4. Make a To Do List
Organise your team5. Book team meetings for the remainder of the year
6. Reassess your resources
7. Book training for your team
Organize your projects8. Identify your priority projects
9. Sort your filing system
10. Check your templates
11. Put key project dates in your main diary
12. Book your project governance meeting
Organize your environment13. Get organized with your tech
14. Give your team the tools they require
15. Tidy your desk
How to organize your work when overwhelmed
Books on Organization
Next steps
Organise your calendar
To be organized at work or anywhere else, the first step is to ensure that your calendar is current and accurately reflects what you need to do. Here are some tips.
1. Take half a day off each month
You can schedule a half-day meeting with yourself and call it “process review”. This is your chance to reflect on how things are going. To get more done, think about what you could do differently. Improve your processes.
This is why I choose Wednesday afternoons for it, as Fridays are too likely to be spent on last-minute tasks for that week.
This is equivalent to 6 working days a year. This is not too much to ask. If you can’t make 3.5 hours a month to support your personal productivity, reflect, and refine, then why not? What is it that you don’t have time for to help your future self succeed?
2. Write reports and book time
To schedule the reporting time, book a recurring meeting. I need to write weekly project reports. I have a half hour each Thursday as a time block.
Another tip for staying organized when writing reports is opening the last report on Monday and then adding to it throughout the week. You’re almost done by the time it comes time to submit it on Friday. It’s a small effort that pays off big and you won’t have to worry about reports being late.
This applies to any recurring tasks, such as updating project risks logs or any other task that you might ‘overlook’ if time is not available.
3. Set up reminders for your calendar
You can schedule ahead any important dates this year, such as team members’ birthdays or project management conferences. To remind yourself of these dates, you can set up alerts.
You can copy important milestones from your project into your calendar to make sure you are aware of them. You should block out time for major meetings the week before to ensure you have enough time to prepare the agenda and other papers.
4. Make a To Do List
This is how you organize your daily tasks at work. A To Do list is the best way to organize your work day. However, you need to be careful about how it is used. You won’t be able to stay organized with a list of 500 tasks.
If