Organizing Your Work Space: A Guide to Personal Productivity

Section 1: Why Get Organized

·        Yes, you can get organized

·        Benefits of being organized

·        Key principles

·        Where are you now?

Section 2: How Backlogs Develop

·        What is clutter, anyway?

·        How do paper backlogs develop?

·        Blocks to getting organized

·        Two common mental blocks

Section 3: Where to Start

·        Decide on your goals

·        Where to begin

·        The bookcases: reduce, refer, rearrange

·        Rearranging: How to do it

·        Handling the exceptions

·        Summary

Section 4: Your Work Area

·        The credenza

·        Your desk drawers

·        Equipment

·        The file drawers

·        Clearing the top of work surfaces

·        How are you feeling?

·        Summary

Section 5: Filing It and Finding It

·        Common filing mistakes

·        Filing guidelines

·        Setting up your subject files

·        Filing principles

·        Additional filing information

·        How to Maintain your filing system

·        Summary

Section 6: Managing Your Desk and Your Papers

·        The top of your desk

·        Out of sight is out of mind

·        Calendars

·        Daily to-do lists

·        Master list

·        Tracking delegated work

·        Summary

Section 7: Clearing Off the Stacks

·        Tying up loose ends

·        Business cards

·        Tickler files

·        The next-week file

·        Odds and ends

·        Maintaining your organization

Section 8: Managing Your Mail and Your Reading

·        Sorting incoming mail

·        Managing the reading

Section 9: Managing E-Mail and Personal Organizers

·        Managing e-mail

·        Cautions

·        Etiquette

·        Tips

·        Day planners and personal organizers

·        Summary

Section 10: Quick Review, Charts and Checklists

·        Review: Getting organized from A to Z

·        Review: Clearing the top of your desk

·        Keep the clutter away, permanently

·        Checklist: Monitor your progress

Section 11: A Friendly Reminder

·        A final word

·        Bibliography