According to a recent survey commissioned by the Post-it® Brand, office organization and access to helpful office supplies contributes to office workers’ efficiency and productivity. Their findings and statistics may surprise you. Read on to see their infographic on how office organization affects productivity.
Staying organized at work and at home is key to getting more done every day. In today’s offices, disorganization not only looks bad, it can lead to decreased morale and productivity; According to the study, 3 in 4 office workers believe that a disorganized office is a sign of deeper problems at a company. For myself, I need to stay organized as I work full time, have a part-time business, family and also do volunteer work. One of my secrets to staying extremely well organized and productive is by using Post-it® Products. I love Post-it® Brand and have been using a variety of their products for years!
While I am a BIG gadget geek and love technology there is something about writing things down that gets interpreted differently by the brain, rather than using an electronic screen or device. I remember more when I write things down. I am also very visual so it helps to ‘see’ things represented visually in front of me, rather than out of site and mind in an app somewhere. I am not alone in this, in fact, 62% of office workers prefer to manage their to-do list on a piece of paper rather than through a computer or digital device. And despite the rise of the digital office, the Post-it® Note is still a staple of office life. The study reveals that office workers, on average, use 30 Post-it® Notes per week, with more than 2 in 5 (43%) using 25 or more. That’s a lot of Post-it® Notes!
Here are 5 things that I do with Post-it® Products to stay organized that will help to improve your office organization and productivity.
1. To-Do Lists
We all have them but we don’t all use them effectively. A to-do list is not meant to be a never-ending list of everything that you need to do for the rest of your life. A to-do list is also not meant to be a project break down (that is something I will get into later). A to-do list is a short list of tasks / reminders that you need to complete today. I use Post-it® Notes for my daily to-do lists. By using Post-it® Notes I am forced to make my to-do lists succinct and actionable. And it helps to keep my to-do lists reasonable and attainable. I feel more accomplished and successful at the end of the day. It forces me to prioritize what I really need to get done today.
2. Project Management
You can use Post-it® Notes to help keep your projects organized and on track. It is a great tool for breaking down projects, event planning, meeting planning, etc into its most basic steps so that you know exactly what step needs to be completed next. And if you need to re-arrange the order of the tasks or even deadlines it is easy to start moving the Post-it® Notes around. This is helpful if you have to work on multiple projects or plan different things at the same time. It is a multi-tasking saviour. I like to use a blank wall for this. Then you can add the various steps to you daily to-do list.
I also use the same method for planning out my blog content for the month. I have topics, blog post ideas and guest posts all laid out for a month in front of me on Post-it® Notes. Each Post-it® Note has a different blog post concept on it. It makes it easier to plan themes or to see if I have a week that is lacking content. Then I can just re-arrange my blog posts by moving around the Post-it® Notes.
3. Visualize and Organize
There is a reason why Pinterest is so popular. It creates visual boards of projects, to-do lists and helps us to organize things into categories. You can get creative and use Post-it® Products to do the same thing at home on the fridge, in the office or in a crafting area or on a wall anywhere. Think of your wall or fridge as your main Pinterest board. Use Post-it® Notes at the top to create main categories such as Family, Home, Hobbies, Sports, Work, etc. Then you can use different color Post-it® Notes under each category to create ‘pins’. You can be as creative as you want with these pins. Use them for appointment reminders, wants, wish lists, projects that you want to do around the house, etc.
4. Brainstorming
We have a unique space for collaborating and brainstorming at work. One area called the ‘fishbowl’ is an office space enclosed in glass. All over the glass wall is Post-it® Notes with idea starters and one word conversation starters that can be used to create sentences and help get over writer’s block or idea blocks. People working in a team can go up and grab the Post-it® Notes and move them around to help start the brainstorming and the creative process for problem solving.
5. Flag it!
I love to read and find nuggets of information that can help me at work. But I also like to keep my books and documents in good condition. I don’t like to fold over the corners and sometimes I need to add a little note. There are also times where I need to mark off several spots in a document that need signatures. This is where Post-it® Flags and Tabs come in. They are so handy to have that I carry around a bunch in my purse. That way I can mark of sections in books on the go and use them in the office for signatures and files. I also use them as book marks and have used them with the weekly flyers so that I can easily find an item that I want to get on sale or price match.
Post-it® Brand Office Organization Study Infographic and Results
What did Post-it® Brand find out after conducting and office organization study? Take a look at the infographic below and their key findings.
*The Post-it® Brand Office Organization survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 full-time U.S. office workers in 2015, using an email invitation and an online survey.
Want to learn more about how you can create a more organized office environment and purchase Post-it® Products in your area? Check out their website here. Don’t forget to follow and like on all their social channels; Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest
Photo Credits: All images copyright Take It Personel-ly
Excellent post Chantal!!! I am all about the organization! Sharing!!!!
Thanks so much Cynthia! 🙂