Overcome Stress by Learning How to Get Organized at Work

Stress is taking huge tolls on our physical and mental health in the U.S. today. It is estimated that 75-90 percent of all doctor visits are related to stress. Stress can be blamed for conditions like allergies, migraine headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, and skin and bowel problems. ALL of the leading causes of death can been caused or exacerbated by stress, including cancer, heart disease, lung disease, cirrhosis, accident and suicide.

In addition to the effect stress has on us personally, stress also has a negative effect on businesses of all sizes in the form of lost revenue. An estimated 1 million working are absent from work every day due to psychological problems, and 60 percent of employee absences are due to stress and stress related issues. Stress can be blamed for an estimated $300 billion annual loss to U.S. industry as assessed by employee turnover, diminished productivity, absenteeism, and direct medical, legal and insurance fees.

Given these staggering numbers, now is the time to take control of stress before it costs your business more money! One of the first places to start to get a handle on stress is through better organization.

If you start your day by sitting down at a cluttered desk, you are setting yourself up for stress and lack of productivity from the very beginning. You have enough stress coming at you from every which way, you don’t need to add more coming from your workspace. You deserve to start your day refreshed, and confident in your ability to be productive and make progress on your to-do list. An organized workspace will give you that confidence and feelings of empowerment. A cluttered workspace, on the other hand, will only make you feel sluggish and confused and will zap your creativity and energy!

So, now you may be wondering how a few disorganized stacks of paper can cause a ton of stress? This is because those pieces of paper represent postponed decisions. Every piece of paper in the pile is a reminder of something that you still have to take care of, which is inevitably going to stress you out every time you see it. If left unchecked, the small paper molehills you create will grow into mountains of stress, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and you will not even know where to begin to start organizing.

The worse part of it is, the bigger the piles of paper you have, the bigger the chance for you to miss something important in those piles. Have you ever misplaced an important document you need for a meeting that is just minutes away? Or totally forgotten to pay a bill? Or lost track of your progress on a significant project as the completion deadline approaches faster and faster? This is usually because of those piles of paper!

These are some of my favorite tips for learning how to get organized at work:

1. Deal with paper as soon as it enters your workspace using the FAST System (there are only 4 choices for a piece of paper – File, Act, Schedule, Toss).

2. Delegate tasks whenever it is appropriate, remember that you do not have to do everything!

3. Try not to over schedule yourself. Make sure you have free time in your planner for the unexpected, and for breaks too!

Put an end to the stress caused by lack of organization and clutter by learning a how to get organized at work. Set aside some time every day to deal with all the paper coming into your workspace, remember FAST – File, Act, Schedule and Toss – there is no PILE! When you are more organized, you are more productive, less stressed and have more free time. You will be able to focus on your priorities and your goals, and delegate projects clearly and effectively. You will have a renewed sense of peace of mind and of accomplishment!