The best gauge of being well organized, "is just the lack of anxiety that comes from a clean comfortable workspace where you feel like things aren't piling up and overwhelming you."

Measuring Productivity

Common sources of clutter for entrepreneurs include business cards, printouts from the Web, and literature from conferences and seminars.A good way to get rid of clutter is to turn each piece of paper that you're keeping around into an action item in your planner.

The Sources of Clutter

<ul><li>Not making time to assess the mess. If you can, build in 15 minutes at the end of the day to put everything back where it belongs.</li><li>Confusing the process of throwing away with actually getting organized. Organizing is putting systems in place to find what you need when you need it. Decluttering is about identifying what is obsolete and getting rid of it to make room for what you plan to do next.</li></ul>

Common Mistakes

Once entrepreneurs have taken the plunge and added an assistant to their payroll, they often don't use that person to their best advantage. Assistants often excel at taking tasks such as writing your blog posts, handling scheduling, and reminding you about following up with clients but they sometimes fall down when it comes to your business' big picture.

The Value of a Personal Assistant

<ol>
<li>Documents. The way you name your files can dramatically improve the organization of both your physical and your digital documents. Be consistent with file naming. </li>
<li>Group all like office supplies together and considering what role they play in your broader organization system before going out on a shopping run. </li>
<li>Electronic Documents. Many people use their computer and physical desktops as a de facto to do list. As a result, all the things they need to remember accumulate and create disorder.</li>
<li>Space. Consider arranging space by activity zones.</li>
<li>Time Management. Distinguish between events, which is time sensitive, and ordinary to-do items that are more flexible in time.</li>
</ol>

Categories of Organizing

Whether it's business plans or business cards, conference binders or marketing copy, entrepreneurs have a lot of information to keep track of. When you're running around like a chicken sans head, it's hard to put a tidy workspace high on your priority list.

The Sources of Clutter

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