Desk: seven tips on how to get your workplace up to speed

2020-12-29T07:16:42.584Z

The time between the years is a good opportunity to reorganize your workplace - and thus throw away a lot of ballast.

Icon: enlarge

Photo: Elektrons 08 / DEEPOL / plainpicture

The time between Christmas and New Year is sacred.

Also for everyone who is now sitting at their desk instead of under the Christmas tree: Now is the time to finally tackle the things undisturbed that have remained in the hustle and bustle of everyday life for the rest of the year.

Create better structures and a more enjoyable environment for your work - you will benefit from this for the whole of the coming year.

And it works like this:

1. Design your work environment

We often no longer really perceive our immediate surroundings because we have become so used to it.

The efficiency expert Jürgen Kurz recommends a simple change of perspective as a first step towards a pleasant working environment: »Go over to the other side and look at your desk from the visitor's perspective Barrier works. "

It can also be useful to take a photo of your office - it doesn't matter whether you work from home or in the company.

It is important that you do not see your respective workplace from the everyday user perspective, but to a certain extent from the outside.

Suddenly you notice things in a photo that you don't even notice in everyday life, because they are there so naturally.

“Clear the desk completely and take care of everything.

Ask yourself: do I still need this?

If so, do I need it on my desk or can it disappear in the closet? ”Advises Kurz.

If you are unsure, it can help to throw it away on a trial basis: Pack the disposal candidates in a cardboard box that you give an expiration date and store out of sight.

If you haven't missed anything by that date - put it away.

2. Optimize your to-do list

Lots of people keep to-do lists.

The problem here is the plural - that makes things confusing, and it's easy to forget something or just have the uncomfortable feeling that you've overlooked something.

Jürgen Kurz recommends limiting yourself to a single tool.

»Lots of people have too much in parallel: notes, prioritization in e-mails, to-dos in conversation logs.

That is confusing.

Collect everything in one place - no matter where.

Then give each task a completion date.

And then just look at those for that day.

What it says for the next ten years doesn't have to stress you today. "

But what do you do with tasks that have no specific date?

"Put vague ideas in your own folder or turn them into concrete ones - then you will have the good feeling of being sorted." His colleague Marcel Miller, an expert in digital optimization processes, adds: "Orientate yourself in your digital to-do- List a series task for Friday evening - the weekly planning for the coming week.

Take a look at your annual targets and check which measures could fit. «We also come to the annual targets in point 7 of this list.

3. Project Inbox Zero

A full inbox feels like unfinished business to a lot of people, even if that's bullshit, because a lot of email is just lying around in it and doing nothing to anyone.

Nevertheless, it can release enormous energy to bravely bring the inbox to zero so that only the newly arriving things are found there that actually require action.

Marcel Miller: »The inboxes are often full of hundreds of unread e-mails.

Many people have an extremely pleasant, comfortable feeling when the mailbox is completely empty. "

And it works like this: »90 percent of the emails are done when they are sorted into four categories and either deleted, filed, delegated or answered briefly.

The fifth category is more difficult, these are the problem cases.

Tasks that might not become relevant for six months or that are too big to do all at once.

It piles up like a mountain.

Most people never get their mailboxes empty because they don't have a reliable re-submission system.

The solution is simple: If I have a working list of tasks, I just have to enter the mail there and delete it from the inbox.

This works wonderfully in Outlook - then the mailbox becomes empty.

This can be done as the last routine before the end of the day. ”The rest of the emails that you know you no longer need just go to the archive.

And whoosh, the inbox is empty.

4. Create a feel-good desktop

You have already tidied up your desk and its surroundings.

But what do you see on your monitor?

"A lot of people use the desktop as a clipboard," says Miller.

“Unfortunately, the files often stay there for a long time - that has a demotivating effect like a cluttered desk.

Better to create a storage space somewhere. ”Point 6 of this list explains how to create a useful storage space.

But first there is another fun task: If this is possible on your work computer, choose a motivating new background image - a snapshot from your vacation, your favorite family picture or the photo of a place you long for.

Do not underestimate the power of pictures: If there are not a hundred files on top, but the photo comes into its own on your tidy desktop, it brings a positive mood into your everyday work.

5. Work with checklists

Much of most work consists of processes - recurring sequences.

You will make things easier for yourself (and your colleagues) if you take the time to review these processes in between.

Efficiency expert Kurz advises: »Ask yourself: Where are recurring things for which a checklist would be useful?

And if you have any, ask yourself: Did they work well or can they be optimized?

What bothered me, what went wrong, where is there room for improvement? "

Such process analyzes are often neglected in everyday life, but they are also worthwhile for small tasks.

Especially when there is only one colleague who can really do it smoothly.

For example, if Mr. Müller always finishes the statistics at the beginning of the month, he could also record a short instructional video on how to do this, in case someone has to take his place.

The time that he needs for this is well invested if others do not have to familiarize themselves from scratch.

6. Optimize file structure

But what do you do with all the files that have accumulated on the desktop?

The best thing to do is to invest a morning to think about which system works best for you and your team - and whether the existing system should be optimized.

"In the heat of the moment, files are often just stored somewhere," says Marcel Miller.

»This often results in confusing structures.

I recommend the seven-folder method - because you can always keep seven terms in short-term memory at the same time.

The storage structure should neither be too wide nor too deep.

Seven folders, each with three levels in depth, are sufficient in most cases - and you don't have to click too long to find something.

You should think carefully about the structure and choose descriptive titles such as meetings, projects, personnel planning or knowledge. «

7. Plan your goals for the coming year

What has to happen in 2021 so that at the end of the year you would say: All in all, it was a good year, personally, for the department, for the company?

Organizational professional Kurz recommends discussing the results of these considerations in a target meeting with colleagues.

And he relies on purifying processes: »The economist Peter Drucker says: No organism can survive without systematic detoxification.

Dispose of files, digitally detoxify - and check: Does the colleague really need the statistics that you always send him?

Is one cycle twice a month enough for the Wednesday meeting?

Just give it a try - questioning things can help a lot in detoxing. "

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2020-12-29