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12 Tips to Work More Effectively at Your Desk

1. Keep your desk as clear as possible. Don’t’ kid yourself that “a messy desk is a sign of genius.” It’s not, it’s a sign that you always have to search for what you need.
2. Write down your ideas. Do not trust your memory however good it may be!
3. Set down your priorities before the start of each day’s work.
4. Establish a place for everything. If you don’t have a place to put something, then you have clutter.
5. Use your high productivity hours for your top priority projects.
6. Break large projects into do-able chunks.
7. Do not over schedule. Leave some time each day free from appointments.
8. Research says we refer to only 20% of the papers we save and file. How much of your papers do you ever need or look at? Don’t keep everything.
9. Concentrate on one item at a time.
10. Take breaks. Walk around. Stretch. Eat lunch away from your desk.
11. If you don’t have enough room for all your stuff, you don’t need more room, you need less stuff.
12. Keep paperwork moving.
13. Put limits on visits:

• Stack stuff on any extra chairs so uninvited visitors have to stand.
• When chatty people call, as soon as you answer the phone tell them you have only a few minutes to talk. Politely ask them the point of their call right away.

14. Remove from your desk all papers you are not working on. This prevents lost or mixed up papers.
15. Handle each piece of paper only once.

Please use this bio:

Rita Emmett, author of The Procrastinator’s Handbook, is a professional speaker who presents Keynotes and Seminars nationwide. She can be reached at 847-699-9950 and email is Rita@RitaEmmett.com.
 
To subscribe to her free monthly Anticrastination Tip sheet with quick short tips & ideas to help break the procrastination habit, go to the first page of her website RitaEmmett.com

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