Organizing is Magic, Too!

You may remember that our last story was about Mindy Merritt and the mess on her desktop at her store, Make Mine Magic! One day, when the mess on the desk overwhelmed her, she remembered her grandmother's oft-repeated maxim, "A messy drawer means a messy mind." Mindy substituted "desktop" for "drawer" and she realized that she had to clean up her act — quick.

When Mindy's desktop was finally clean, her good friend Martine happened to drop by the store. Martine, who was a master organizer, complemented Mindy on her office's newfound cleanliness.

Martine also offered to help keep Make Mine Magic! running smoothly by offering Mindy Merritt a list of ten helpful, and easy, organizational tips.

1. Touch each piece of paper once only.

Most people waste a lot of time handling the same pieces of paper over and over again, because they open bills or clip ideas or write notes and just leave them on their desk. Then the papers get moved when you open them, and moved again when you needed one you saved last week ... and moved again when you looked for your calendar. No! No! No! The key is to touch each piece of paper once, and once only — when you receive it, or clip it, or write it. After that file it away immediately for future use.

2. Write only one thought or idea down at a time.

Unless you're making a shopping list, you should never write two different thoughts or ideas on the same piece of paper. Why not? Because where do you file a single piece of paper that has a display idea as well as a note about cleaning the jewelry case? The idea should go into a "Display" file and the note should go into the "Cleaning" file, because if they're mixed together, you're bound to lose one of them.

3. Have a place to file each piece of paper.

Of course, in order to find anything, you'll need to have a logical system of files. Condense all of your paperwork into a system of files that is thorough, accurate, and easy. A big box of plain file folders marked with large, clear headings is all you really need to do the job. Start with the obvious categories of paperwork, such as "Bills Payable" and "Paid Bills." Another file could hold a folder titled "Operating Manuals," where you keep the instructions to your telephones and small appliances. But no matter what, every piece of paper should go into a file folder. If there is no file folder for a piece of paper, make a new one the minute you have to handle that paper.

4. Ideas can be filed too.

Say a great idea for a new product comes to you during your morning shower. Well, write it down! (If you don't have a pad and paper in the bathroom, you should.) Take that sheet of paper with you to the office and file it — immediately — in your "Product Ideas" file.

5. Nothing goes on your desk except a notepad and pencil.

If you catch yourself with a hand poised to drop a piece of paper on your desk, stop it! Papers don't go on your desk — they go into folders. Papers on a desk are postponed decisions. Postponed decisions are like mousetraps: They'll snap at you if you're not careful. When you pick up a piece of paper, ask yourself: What is this? Why do I have it? Why will I want it in the future? And after you've got the answers, file it.

6. Touch magazines once only.

When you've finished reading a magazine, tear out anything that interests you, then get rid of the rest. Do not handle the magazine again. Throw it out, or it will only add to your clutter. For instance, when you finish this article in Gifts & Decorative Accessories magazine, tear it out and file it in your "Organizing" file. Then do the same with any other article you need.

7. Use your staff.

Picture this: You're standing in your office with a pile of paper, notes, and business cards to file. It could take all day! Meanwhile, you have ordering to do. (Or something just as important.) Your time is too valuable for filing. Have someone on your staff do it for you.

8. Label your papers as well as your thoughts.

Even if you do the filing yourself, you may forget why you saved something. So carry a red marker with you at all times. As you tear something out of a magazine or write a note, label it with the appropriate file name, for later filing.

9. Clean your desk every night before you leave.

Make it an ironclad habit to never leave your office a mess. No matter what you're doing or how rushed you are, you must leave a clean office every night, so that you can start fresh in the morning.

10. Rules are only useful if you follow them.

If you follow these rules, they will work like magic and you will be organized. If you ignore them, you'll end in the same old mess.

Six months later, Make Mine Magic! had become so magically organized that Mindy had time to go to the Paris shows. She stood on a Paris street looking at the displays in a shop window. Seeing something she liked, Mindy quickly whipped out her notepad and wrote a note about the window, labeled it "Display," and dashed off for lunch at Chez Pauline.