Why Purging Your Office Is So Important

 

Purging your office frequently can be one of the most important tasks you can perform whether you have a home office or share office space with others. I have many clients who call me to help them organize their office and we soon discover they have many items they will never need again. We usually find things they kept from their last job or calendars from 10 years ago. They are unable to find items they need now and often do a task twice because they lost the original.  They also waste a considerable amount of time because they are constantly looking for things. If you are wasting time everyday looking for lost reports, notes or files, then you need to purge and only keep those things you use and refer to often. Someday it could mean your job. You could be up for a promotion or downsizing could be happening in your workplace and if you are the least productive because you are always looking for things, the more organized worker will win.

Files also seem to be a problem as far as keeping paper never looked at again. Statistics show that 80% of the paper we keep, we will never look at again. Ask yourself what would happen if you did not have that piece of paper? Can it be obtained elsewhere? Keep completed projects in a space that will not interfere with your everyday job but where you can refer to them if need be. If a project was completed 5-10 years ago and you have not looked at it since and the information or technology is out of date, it is possible that purging is the best. Always purge the outdated information. You certainly do not want to have the older version of a report while you are in a meeting. Take time to purge monthly and your productivity will improve greatly.