Some people are born with the inherent ability of being incredibly organized, while others are not. Don’t feel bad, the organizationally inclined individuals are there to teach those less inclined how to become just as efficient and systematic! Organization is not a one and done event, it is learned and it is practiced each and every day for the rest of our lives. Without organization there would be no order and without order there is only chaos.

Keep reading to learn how to organize your business and keep it that way!

HAVE A DAILY GAME PLAN

Your schedule is completely up to you. It’s not up to us to decide when you check your emails, when you make phone calls or set meetings, or when you do your accounting. But it is up to us to provide you with the necessary information to better organize your day and your business. Setting up and getting into a daily routine can only increase your productivity and make your overall experience as an entrepreneur a lot more enjoyable.

GENERATE TASK LISTS

As your business grows your life will be consumed with tasks and whether or not you think you’ll remember all of them, you should write them all down anyway. Organize your tasks however you wish! Separate them by customer, or type, or priority. Whatever will help you to better manage your time and stay up to date with your customers is key to having a successful task list. Have a task list for your personal life too! Lists are incredibly useful because there is nothing more fun than checking something off a list. At the end of every day, your incomplete tasks will roll over onto the next day with higher priority. Keep track of how useful the system is over time and then make changes as you see necessary.

KEEP AN UPDATED CALENDAR

When we say keep an updated calendar, we mean just ONE calendar. Your calendar can be online, on your handheld, or simply on your office wall.. whatever you choose, it is easiest to keep all of your scheduled meetings and events in one place. This way you will be able to keep track of everything going on in your business without the likelihood of forgetting or missing an important event. You can go one step further and color code your calendar as well! Remember that the key to a successful calendar is to have it, use it, take it with you, and to keep it updated at all times. If you aren’t doing all of these things, then you aren’t doing it right.

ORGANIZE YOUR DESK

. Update current desk items that bore you and make them more suitable to your personal style! Buy new stationary, writing materials, technology, etc. Organize paperwork alphabetically and by color also and you will find that over time you will become accustomed to recognizing paperwork by the way that you organized it. Take your time getting organized and be sure to stay on top of it! An un-organized desk leads to an un-organized business.. and who wants to be a part of that? No one.

PURGE

Purging your desk and your computer of useless information could save you time and space in the long run. Old files can be shredded, worn out office supplies can be donated or trashed, and outdated technology can be updated! And this general rule can be used for absolutely everything in your office.

GO DIGITAL IF YOU CAN

We highly suggest going paperless due to the fact that it lowers the risk of misplacing important documents while allowing you to stay organized in a more digital format. Paper documents can easily be scanned and uploaded to your computer at the push of a button and doing so will give you portability and accessibility like never before! Don’t worry about misplacing documents or spending eons searching for papers when you can search through all of your documents on a computer at once. Make sure you regularly update your software and scan for performance issues as well and back up all your files to a trusted server to keep them extra safe. That’s going the extra mile for your business and your customers!

SUGGESTED APPS

Below you will find a list of suggested apps from yours truly to help you stay organized online:

• Contact management: Google Contacts
• Conferences and communication: Skype
• Accounting and bookkeeping: Quickbooks
• Task management: Trello
• Emailing: Microsoft Outlook
• Project management: Dropbox

Now that we’ve given you the tools to get organized and stay organized, it’s up to you to begin. It all starts with a simple step! So, turn the page, get organized, and discover what operating a business should really feel like!