1. Your Workspace

Is it light, bright, invigorating? If not, what changes can be made? Good lighting, eye-pleasing wall coverings, and a few tasteful accents are relatively inexpensive and can be transforming. Does your workspace afford you a degree of privacy? Your desk should not directly face the doorway, or you'll be chatting with coworkers all day. When sitting in your desk chair, can you easily access (without rising) every file, book, tool, and piece of small equipment that you use regularly? Bring those things close to you. Remove anything that is not used frequently.

2.Desktop/Work Surfaces

Desktops are for work, not for storage. If paper piles, photos, memorabilia, and tools cover more than 15 percent of your work surfaces, the clutter is sapping your energy and stealing your ability to concentrate. If you desk pad is "noisy" in appearance (calendar, advertisements, doodles), consider replacing it with a solid color pad you can't "doodle" on. Move your telephone to a credenza behind you or to the side not facing the doorway. This allows for better concentration during conversations and less likelihood of interruption.

3. Files, Not Piles

Paper piles on and under your desk can be safely eliminated and contents retrieved instantly by creating hanging files. Label each file with the words(s) that TO YOU describe the contents. (Extremities: What I call "Income Tax" you call "Taxes" and John calls "IRS." All three are correct for the owner of the file.) Determine the most logical "home" for that file. If it's a pending, action, or constant use file, it should be in the file drawer closest to you, preferably in your desk. As use of the file recedes, so should the proximity to your immediate work area. Use 3-ring binders to hold reference materials. Label the front and spine clearly so you can grab the correct binder every time.

4. Outgoing Interoffice Correspondence

Use stacking trays for people you constantly refer things to. For all others, there's a "general" tray. Delivery the contents twice a day or better yet, send them with fellow employees who are "headed that way."

5. Paper Scraps & "While You Were Out" Slips

Devise all systems possible to eliminate these from your office, home, and life. They get lost, buried, and blown away. They cause lost business, irate customers, and ulcers.

6. Incoming Mail

Have an in-basket, but have it behind you or, if possible, outside your office. Don't allow it to distract you from doing other things. Permit yourself to examine the contents only when you're ready to do something about them. Then think TRAF: Toss, Refer, Act, or File.

7. Magazines

Study the Table of Contents to decide which articles you wish to read. Pull those articles out, put them and a highlighter in a transparent plastic envelope, and keep it in your car or your briefcase. Each time you anticipate waiting for someone or something, be prepared with an article or two and the highlighter. If you decide the article (or a portion of it) should be kept, you can later photocopy and place it in a binder. The highlighted copy will tell you at a glance why you saved it.

8. Must You Keep It?

Probably not. The average company keeps 70 percent more records than necessary. Many of these are duplicates or are no longer of value. Eliminate "junk" paper from existing folders. Files that must be preserved but are not active can be put in (labeled) bankers' boxes and sent off to storage.

9. Control Your Time

If you don't, someone else will. Set aside two blocks of time each day to return non-urgent phone calls. If you speak to voice mail, leave a detailed message stating the action you want the recipient to take. Include two best times to contact you. Learn to say no or, at least, think before you say yes to any time commitment which is not a necessary part of your career future. When under pressure to finish a project, give yourself permission to signal or tell coworkers that you can't be disturbed. Let non-crucial phone messages go to voice mail.

10. Plan 60% of Your Time

This is the single most important thing you can do to help your days go smoothly. Experts recommend one hour per day of planning time. If you can't envision that, begin with 15 minutes, preferably at the end of your day. It's much easier to greet the new day when you're prepared for it!

Evonne Brown of That Organizer! helps individuals and businesses manage their time and space, determine and achieve goals, reduce stress, and increase productivity. Check out her web site at www.thatorganizer.com.

Reprinted with permission from the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Bay Business Journal.