Are you looking for a tool that will show you how to get organized at work? The paperwork surrounding your day to day activities and follow ups can be a serious impediment to getting organized. A tickler system reminds you of your important follow-ups and other things that will require your attention at a future date. This is how you should use your tickler file system.
Set up Your Tickler System
Want to know how to get organized at work? Set up your tickler system. You will need to start by purchasing plastic tabs, hanging files and containers to store them in. Your tickler system should be set up in an accordion file. This file should have a tab for each day of the current month (1-31), and then tabs for each month of the year (January – December). The next part of the system is personalized to your specific needs. Your hanging files with tabs behind the accordion file can be tailored to the repetitive actions that best apply to your work. This could be calls to make, calls expected, bills to pay, data entry, expense reimbursement, read, to write, ect.
In my opinion there are two reasons that people stack up papers all around themselves instead of filing them in a system. The first is they are afraid they will never find them again. Customize a system just for you and you will never lose paperwork again. And second, they don’t want to act on the paperwork, they are avoiding it. A tickler system will make taking action simpler and easier. You will dread it less and have a clear idea what you need to accomplish each day.
It is important to get in the habit of checking your tickler file system every day. This is the only way it works! Here is what I recommend for developing a habit, make a daily appointment with yourself. Write it on your calendar, program an alert in your computer or phone. Just make sure you are reminded to check your tickler file daily, every day for a month. After that it will become an automatic habit. If you find yourself missing days put it back on your calendar. You’re making a commitment to get organized at work.
Choose a location for your tickler system that makes it easiest to check every day and to file things into it. This can be a desktop file frame or your desk drawer. Making your system easily accessible means no more papers stacking up all around you. You won’t put off the job of filing any longer. Now there will be a home for all the papers cluttering up your desk, even piled on the floor! A tickler file system will give you a home for phone messages, invitations, tickets, bill receipts, claim stubs, and anything that requires action by you in the future!
Want a plan for how to get organized a work? Start your plan with putting together a tickler file system. This will give you your daily to-dos right at your fingertips. A tickler system will give you a place to file those small slips of paper, phone messages to be returned, tickets for an event, ect. Don’t be afraid of losing a piece of paper again it will be filed on the exact day you need it again! Make it a daily habit to check this file system and you will be more organized at work.
