Organizing Creative Professionals: Sorted

Getting your photos sorted

The idea for this post came from one of my prize students, Sally Hartman of the Norfolk Foundation. I helped Sally organize her desk almost a year ago for an article in the Virginian-Pilot. Sally took my suggestions and totally ran with them, and now she's organizing her family's photos.

I don't usually delve into home organizing stuff in this blog, but it occurred to me that many businesses probably have a lot of unidentified, unorganized, amorphous photos in their offices just like we do in our homes. Humans as a species tend to like to take photos, so this advice can apply to just about any situation. 

Sally, like most people, has physical and digital photographs. Fortunately, the steps for organizing both kinds of photos are similar.

1. Find them all. For physical photos, this means digging out all the packets you got from the developer, the boxes, the albums, even that collage you might have made for a retirement party. For digital photos, this means checking the servers for images (and that can be a pretty monumental task unto itself) and asking everyone to check their hard drives for pics they might have taken on their own.

2. Toss the obvious "no"s. The standard is the same for physical and digital photos: any photo that's blurry, whose main subject is a thumb, whose subject matter could cause a divorce or lawsuit. If you have no earthly idea who anyone is in the photo, or what's going on, feel free to toss it if it's for your personal collection. If it's for the family or a business, hold onto the mystery photo and ask some folks if they know what its story is. If they're clueless as well, it can be tossed. Sally has done a great job of culling her photo herd, and has found a way to spread some joy, too: she's sent her friends pictures of their kids that she had taken.

3. Sort them out. How you sort your photos is up to you; as always, use a system that makes sense to you and that you'll understand and want to use in the future. Photos can be sorted by date, by event, by project or by location, or some combination thereof. Try to keep your categories specific enough to help you find things, but not so specific that they overwhelm you. Sally has done just this by organizing her family's photos into branches of the family, events and stages in her son's life.

4. Solve the mysteries. There's no point in keeping a photo unless you know who's in it and what they're doing. Find out who everyone in the photo is and what event was being commemorated on film. Once you've learned the who and what, you can make further decisions about what's worth keeping and what isn't.

5. Label them. Now that you know who's in what photo, hold on to that information by labeling the photo. If it's a physical print, you can use a special photo-labeling pen to write on the back. (Also, if you're using an album to store prints, make a separate label to go into the album.) If it's digital, use the file's metadata (usually found under "properties") to store the labeling info.

6. Store them. Physical photos should be stored in acid-free boxes and albums; you can find them online or in basic home stores. (Sally found some at Costco and TJ Maxx.) Hold on to the negatives of your photos in case you need reprints; if they have sentimental or other value, keep them in a fire-safe box or safety deposit box. Digital photos can be stored on your hard drive (which you back up regularly, right?) and online through photo-sharing sites.

7. Repeat as necessary. If you take a lot of photos, make a semi-regular date with yourself to organize and label them. The labeling part is the most time-sensitive; the longer you go without labeling a photo, the more likely you are to forget who's who and what's happening.

Photo organization can be a major undertaking, and if the photos have personal or family value, it can be an emotional process as well. So allow plenty of time for it, be gentle with yourself and give yourself rewards for every minor milestone.

What about you? Have you been on the photo-organizing trail like Sally has? What has and hasn't worked for you? Let me know in the comments!

Where do you start? Part 2

When last we left you... My friend Angela had suggested a topic: "How about how to keep it (paper, stuff to do, etc.) from getting completely out of control so that you are faced with a giant project and don't know where to start and it just keeps getting worse?" 

We discussed giving your stuff a home and had closed with the needlepoint-ready maxim: Your stuff exists to serve you; you do not exist to serve it.

This leads us into the second part: "...you are faced with a giant project and don't know where to start and it just keeps getting worse." One of the side effects of not having a home for all your papers is that they're out there in their piles, basically in your face 24/7, and it's almost like they're harassing you about the project or work they represent.

The best thing you can do in such a situation is to step back and get more of a bird's eye view. Think about your project not in terms of what you feel you have to do, but in terms of what you want to accomplish and, most importantly, why. The "why" can carry you through the rough times of a project much better than "I have to" ever could.

"Why" can be tricky when it's not a project of your own inception. If it's a project your boss assigned you and you can't see any real point in it, the best possible thing you can do for your own motivation is to find some way that someone, somewhere could benefit from this project, even if it's in an unforeseeable future. "This will make Customer X's life easier" will give you some traction; "Boss says I have to" will only bog you down.

Once you've got a clear handle on what your end objective is, and why it matters, then you can do the nuts and bolts of planning your project. Break it down into steps and determine what you'll need in terms of time and resources to do each step. 

Also list the resources you have, especially the human resources. Don't be afraid to delegate some steps to others, or to ask for help or advice on any of your steps. Often, getting people you respect and trust involved increases your momentum and helps make that "why" stronger.

From there, you can start on your project, going step by step, and giving yourself some kind of reward at each step.

This makes a rather nice lead-in to the series I'll be starting on Thursday. I call it "Getting It All Done," and it will cover the ways we can handle the to-do list that seems insurmountable. If you have any questions, concerns or requests, please let me know in the comments!

Manuals can make your business more automatic

Every business does something. Your business may be service-oriented or product-oriented, but unless you've discovered the goal of alchemists and slackers alike—to get paid for doing nothing—you perform some kind of activities for your business.

Now, what if you couldn't do those things, even for a short time? What if you were hospitalized or needed to go out of town, and needed to hire someone to keep the baseline stuff running in your absence? Hell, what if your business was so successful you needed to hire someone to help you keep the baseline stuff running? Could you explain your business's processes and outcomes to another person?

If those questions make your hands go clammy or make you want to change the subject, that's a good indication that your business could benefit from a great tool with an uninspiring name: the Procedures Manual.

A procedures manual is basically a how-to guide for your business that covers the basic operational processes. For instance, if you're a web designer, your procedures manual wouldn't cover how to design or program anything, but it would cover how to send out invoices and reminders and how often to check your clients' web sites for functionality. If you run a nail salon, your procedures manual would cover opening and closing the shop and keeping all the supplies stocked, but it wouldn't cover the secrets to a perfect French manicure.

If you ever want or need to expand your business beyond you and you alone, a procedures manual can help you train new people and give your new hires a resource to check when they need reminding of how to do something. It can also provide empirical examples of how something should look or what wording should be used.

Creating a procedures manual is not a short, one-sitting project. It's a pretty important item, so take your time with it. Here are some tips for how to develop your manual:

1. Observe what you do for at least a week. Most business procedures don't occur on a daily basis; they're more like weekly or monthly items. So give yourself a chance to remember all the stuff you do and how you do it.

2. Keep a notebook nearby and write down what you're doing, how you're doing it, what your desired outcome is and how it relates to other aspects of your business.

3. Take pictures, make printouts. You can use hundreds of words to describe what a completed invoice should look like, or you can print out a correct generic invoice and write a few notes on it. Most people learn better with pictures in addition to words, so having visuals will help with training.

4. If your manual is longer than 10 pages, use a table of contents and an index. Microsoft Word has both those functions, so you can automatically generate these useful guides to your manual.

5. Once you've finished your manual, don't just put it on a shelf. Review it every time you do your procedures yourself for a while, and make sure that's how they're actually done. Whenever a procedure changes (you get a new vendor for supplies, for instance), make note of the change in your manual and print out a new page. After all, an out-of-date procedures manual is just a 3-ring paperweight.

It's a bit of an investment of time and energy to create a procedures manual that works for your business. Fortunately, you'll get that back and more if you ever ask another person to work for your business, too.

What do you think? Have you encountered good procedures manuals, bad procedures manuals or no manuals at all in your previous work? Let me know in the comments!

Got 15 minutes? Get organized! Part III

(This is yet another Inside Business column, but I've broken it into three parts.) It sometimes seems like organizing your work setup is a major undertaking, a project that will require a few hours, at least. And who has that kind of time? Fortunately, you can do a few things in 15 minutes that will make a major impact in how you work.

Option 3: Give yourself the basics of a filing system. 

Don't worry about filling dozens of those empty dark green hanging files in your desk drawer. This option just does the basics, and doesn't even have to leave your desktop.

Designate desktop trays or hanging folders in a box on your desktop as “In,” “Out” and “To File.” Make “In” the place where everything goes first—and promise yourself you won’t put anything back into “In,” that once you touch something in that box, you’ll find a home for it. Give yourself some space in “To File,” because chances are that various piles on your desk have been serving that function.

Then create some action folders for stuff that always comes up. These can be hanging file folders in a drawer or a box on your desktop. The categories will be unique to your work and circumstances, but it’s the sort of thing that keeps coming up in your work: “To Read,” “Invoices To Pay,” “Data Entry,” “Possible Purchases,” etc. If you have to do the same task every month or more frequently, give it a folder and put the necessary information in that folder.

Just spending 15 minutes giving the papers you use most a home can give you some major time rewards.

What about you? What 15-minute fixes have you found most useful in your own life? Let me know in the comments!

Got 15 minutes? Get organized! Part II

(This is yet another Inside Business column, but I've broken it into three parts.) It sometimes seems like organizing your work setup is a major undertaking, a project that will require a few hours, at least. And who has that kind of time? Fortunately, you can do a few things in 15 minutes that will make a major impact in how you work.

Option 2: Set up your desk for success. 

Toss out all the pens that don’t work anymore (you know you've got them), sharpen the pencils that need it, check your highlighters to see if they still work and otherwise prune any writing implements that no longer fulfill their purpose.

Then tackle your writing surfaces by choosing one target for notations: one notebook or one source of scrap paper. Designate that one thing as your only place to make notes and remove all other possibilities from your desktop. Keep a spare in a drawer or on a nearby shelf, but keep it out of your immediate vision.

If you don’t have a trashcan, a recycle bin and a shredder within easy reach of your desk, now’s the time to move them there. If you don’t have a personal shredder, but use a company-wide device or service, you’ll have to create a holding location. Designate a desktop tray as “To Shred,” or put that label on a hanging file folder and put the folder in the front of a file drawer you use frequently.

Take a minute to put your phone on the side of your nondominant hand, and to clear some desktop space on the side of your dominant hand. Put your writing implements and paper on your dominant side as well. (And if you've got a minute or so left, take everything off it and give the surface a good clean with something in a spray bottle.)

This is one 15-minute fix you'll probably have to do every few months, just because paper and pens keep running out. But it makes a noticeable impact for such a short time. Next time: Fast filing.

Got 15 minutes? Get organized! Part I

(This is yet another Inside Business column, but I've broken it into three parts.) It sometimes seems like organizing your work setup is a major undertaking, a project that will require a few hours, at least. And who has that kind of time? Fortunately, you can do a few things in 15 minutes that will make a major impact in how you work.

Option 1: Set filters for your email. 

Your inbox has vital notifications from your manager and co-workers. But it almost certainly also has emails of the company newsletter that you’ve never read, jokes your aunt sends you and even a bit of spam. Using filters can remove the worst offenders from your inbox altogether, eliminating visual clutter, decreasing that sense of overwhelm a full inbox gives you and potentially preventing you from getting the dread “your inbox is over its size limit” email.

If you’re in Outlook, go to the “Tools” menu and select “Rules and Alerts.” If you’re in Gmail, click on “Settings” in the upper right-hand corner, then click on the “Filters” tab. You can set filters based on the source of the email (such as your aunt), the recipients (the whole company), the subject matter (“Funny!”) or the importance level, among others. Some emails can be sent straight to trash, while you might want to create a folder for others so you can read them later.

To eliminate that trickle of spam that still gets by your company’s firewall, spend a couple of minutes unsubscribing from any mailing list that has your name. If it doesn’t have your name, it’s more likely that an unsubscribe request will just trigger more junk mail, so delete it outright.

These 15 minutes will ultimately save you hours in email. Next time: Your physical desk.

Project management and organizing your projects

 One of the classes I took this spring was Project Management, which I loved—possibly because it's so organization-oriented in the first place. Here's a version of a column I wrote for Inside Business about how project management principles can be applied to organizing your desk.

Every project starts with a need. Ideally, there’s not just a need, but a drive, a sense of why you’re doing the project in the first place. If you’ve managed people, you know “it’s what I have to do” is a lousy motivator. Well, that applies to you as well. If you’re organizing your desk because you feel you have to, you’re hobbling your project from the outset. But if you can give yourself a compelling reason and a goal to strive for, that will help keep your project on track.

The first stage of project management is always planning, and a small organizing project is no exception. If you dive into a pile before you know where you ultimately want it to go, you’ll soon be overwhelmed and probably even more disorganized. 

Projects are broken down into work units to keep things manageable. In the case of organizing your desk, the work units would be planning, selecting a file management system, implementing the system, then putting a certain number of files into that system. Breaking down the project not only makes it less daunting, it allows you to track your progress and recognize earlier if things are getting off track.

Breaking the project down into milestones also lets you acknowledge and celebrate each achievement. This might sound silly for such a small undertaking, but you’ve probably seen the positive effects of encouragement on larger teams. Well, the principles of leadership and motivation apply to “teams of one,” too. You’ve also probably seen the negative effects of pressuring a team to complete a project, or threatening or scolding people in the name of getting the job done faster. You know that doesn’t work in the long run, and that applies to you, too. Lead yourself the way you’d lead others.

In every project there’s a certain amount of risk. Projects never work 100% perfectly, and your desk organization project probably won’t, either. Don’t beat yourself up if things don’t go the way you had envisioned them. Instead, approach that risk the way you approach risk in larger projects: build in back-up plans, add in wiggle room, have additional resources on hand.

Project managers match resources and skill sets to the tasks that need performing, and that applies to your project, too. You know your own skill set, limitations and preferences better than anyone. Your desktop project will probably involve a lot of physical labor, so have a friend, admin or intern on hand to help with that (think of it as outsourcing). If there’s an aspect of the project you don’t know much about, don’t be afraid to ask for help or seek advice or coaching from others. Projects frequently involve subject matter experts, after all.

What about you? Are there any project managers out there? (Better still, is anyone looking for a project manager?) Does this ring true to you, and would you add or change anything? Let me know in the comments!

Organizing for NaNoWriMo

It's almost that time of year, folks! Every November, writers of all types celebrate National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal of participants is to write 50,000 words in 30 days, so it can be a pretty major undertaking. Here are some suggestions for NaNoWriMo'ers.

Note: From what I can tell, there aren't any comparable events for non-writing creative pursuits (which means there's a vacuum there!). But whenever you're planning a major creative project, the same guidelines apply.

Know your writing habits. The initial rule for organizing anything is: know yourself. As it applies to NaNoWriMo, that means knowing when you're likely to be in the creative-flow state, knowing how fast you can write and knowing how long (words or time) you can write before you need to take a break and/or you're just plain done.

Plan to miss a day or two. If you divide 50,000 by the 30 days in November, that comes to 1,667 words a day. Now, not only is that a messy number, it presumes that you'll be writing every single day, which might not be feasible for everyone—especially during a month that contains a major holiday weekend that many people travel for. If you plan to write 2,000 words a day, you only need to write for 25 days to make the 50,000 mark and "win" NaNoWriMo.

Know where you're going. Maybe some people can sit down before a blank page and write a narrative arc with no pre-work. I can't. I "won" NaNoWriMo in 2006, and part of how I did that was to figure out before I sat down to write what the next 5-10 steps in the narrative would be. Once I knew what would happen, it was much easier to tie the steps together with words. I'm a big believer in planning and outlines, and NaNoWriMo is no exception.

If timers work for you, use 'em! Another way I got through NaNoWriMo in '06 was to use my timer. I knew that once I had a good idea of where my plot was going, I could bang out 500 words in 15 minutes. So I'd set my timer for :15, knock out my 500 words and use whatever time was left over to adjust my narrative outline if need be. I repeated the process 3 more times, and I had my 2,000 words for the day in an hour (plus the half-hour or so of pre-writing outlining).

Reward yourself along the way. Every night after I had finished my writing, I'd treat myself to a cup of decaf chai and some mindless TV. After the halfway point, I got some bath goodies. After finishing the little bastard, I took myself and my husband out to dinner. Remember: this is genuine work you're doing, and you deserve some rewards for doing it.

Marelisa at the Abundance blog has some great strategy and planning tips for NaNoWriMo in this post, which I highly recommend.

What about you? Have you done NaNoWriMo before? If so, how have you gotten through it? What do you know now that you wished you knew then? Let me know in the comments!

How to do your best work when you're sick

Gotcha! You can't do your best work when you're sick. In fact, if you try to do any kind of work, the quality of that work will suffer and your illness will just be prolonged.

So do like I'm doing today and focus on getting better. Until you're back on your feet, your job is to get well. That's what needs your focus and your best efforts.

I'll see you again on Thursday... provided I feel better. Please take care of yourselves; this flu season is gonna be a doozy!

The road kinda-sorta-not taken

Earlier this week, my buddy Colleen (aka The Communicatrix) wrote this awesome post about deciding what you're going to focus on and "planting your flag" on that particular hill. I really liked this part:

...part of the process of clearing is asking some really tough questions about what’s serving and what’s not, what’s valuable and what’s not, what you have time for and what you do not. Choosing one thing means not choosing something else. At its best, there’s a certain wistful sadness to it...

This happens a lot when creative people sort out their workspaces and their time, and it can be a painful process. After all, when you choose something (and thus don't choose something else), you're acknowledging that your time and space aren't infinite. And that can open the door to all kinds of thoughts about the limitations we all have as human beings, which is rarely a happy fun time.

Also, not-choosing something can feel like saying "no," and that's something creative people are reluctant to do. Our instinct is to say "yes" to every idea, every possibility, every "maybe/someday," because it feels like we're saying "yes" to life when we do that.

But I'm not so sure that's what we're doing when we embrace every possible thing. Because while our hopes and aspirations can fly in a million directions, our presence really suffers when it's fragmented.

Take the "two roads" photo there. If you choose one road, but you keep looking through the forest to see the other road and even thrashing through the trees to travel on it for a while, you're not going to get very far on either road.

And even if you stay on the first road but keep thinking about the other road, are you truly on the road you have supposedly committed to?

Clearing unnecessary stuff out of your life isn't just about deciding what not to keep, it's about committing to what you are keeping. If you're going to keep an item, make sure to give it a home and look after it. If you're going to pursue a path, give that path your full attention.

Yes, it's painful that our finite time, space and energy make these choices necessary, but that's all the more reason to be fully present for the stuff you do choose.

What choices and commitments have you made recently with your time, energy and space? Were they hard, at first anyway? Let me know in the comments!