By LPM Department Director, Reba Nance
Spring Cleaning and Organizing
Today is the first day of Spring, and that means it’s a good time to take a fresh look at your personal space. Whether it’s a complete overhaul, or just a little sprucing up, it’s always helpful to reorganize. Start by taking a fresh look at your work space! There are undoubtedly things that are working, and things that aren’t. Try these simple tips to help you declutter your workspace:
- Make it convenient to put files away, or you won’t do it. Is the credenza or file cabinet on the other side of the room? If you moved the cabinet closer to your desk, would you be more likely to file things away? If all you had to do was reach around behind you, would that make you more likely to file?
- Use a ”to do“ list. Do you leave files sitting out as a reminder to do something? If so, try using a to do list. Outlook has a ”task“ function that is very helpful. There’s even a space at the bottom to put details like “there’s a file on the third shelf of the bookshelf that relates to this.” If you have a ”stake in the ground“ for the project or task, you can put the file away and not have to worry about forgetting to work on it.
- Does it have a ”home?“ It could be that it doesn’t. Julie Morgenstern has a great book mentioned below that talks about this very issue. If you have something sitting on your desk, it may be that you need to change your system so it has a ”home.“
- Consider going paperless, or less paper. ”Paperless in One Hour for Lawyers“ is a great book on this in our lending library.
We have a number of books in our free lending library that will help you tackle this project! Click here to see books, by category. We’ve scanned in the table of contents for each book so you can easily see what is covered. Also, a check out form, and policy for borrowing books. You can pick the books up at our office, or we can mail them to if you if that’s easier. Feel free to email Sue Bertram if you have questions.
- ”The Organized Lawyer“ by Kelly Lynn Anders
- ”Organizing From the Inside Out“ by Julie Morgenstern
- ”Let Go of Clutter“ by Harriet Schechter
- “Paperless in One Hour for Lawyers“ by Sheila Blackford and Donna Neff
This month’s newsletter contains ten tech tips for lawyers, ways to revive your LinkedIn profile, family leave for solos and small firms, as well as other useful technology reviews, marketing, and time management tips. Click here to read the full newsletter.
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