One of the key elements to success is to have strong organizational skills. Organization is an excellent indicator of professionalism and the ability to prioritize. As you climb the ranks in any company, you take on more and more responsibilities… and with more responsibilities there are more things to track, record, and prioritize.

Some great ways to organize your work include:

1. Make Lists: Lists are a great way to determine what needs to be accomplished that day. Prioritize your list by ranking the items by level of importance, than level of difficulty or time needed to complete the task.

2. Categorize Your Work: Many programs on Windows allow you to use customizable folders to categorize e-mails, documents, or files by what department they are associated with.

3. Calendars: Calendars are excellent tools to use to start your day off right! I use a white board calendar at home where I mark my appointments, I use my daily planner every day, and I have a calendar I use through Outlook where I can see my meetings. I also emphasize important e-mails that I need to follow-up on by flagging them in Outlook.

4. Color Coding: I color code items in my planner by using highlighters. I use different colors for items that need follow-up, appointments, or meetings with colleagues, to name a few.  You can also color code emails into different categories in Outlook, and another great idea is to color code folders.

5. Have a Back Up: Save, save, save your work! You never know when you’ll be in the middle of writing a report and you lose power or your computer crashes. Make a point to save your work every few minutes. You should also get into the habit of saving a backup of all important documents on a USB drive. In the event your computer does crash, you will still be able to access those documents. This will also allow you to carry your work with you as you travel.

6. Time Management: You must value your time, and it is important to set the precedence up front that you are indeed busy. Make it a habit to only work with confirmed appointments. If someone wants to work with you, they must be able to respect your time, as well as value theirs. You should also stick to a routine schedule to make yourself more efficient.

7. Plan Ahead: Planning events ahead of time will remove stress in your life. It will also allow you to plan for worst case scenarios, as they do happen! Being prepared for any situation will give you the upper hand and will allow you to maintain control of that situation.

By utilizing these tips you will be able to accomplish your work more effectively and efficiently. If you have organized your work appropriately, you should have additional time left in the day to enjoy the things you love!

Written by: Jessica Nguyen

Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com

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