Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 9, 1994 TAG: 9401070058
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GERTHA COFFEE AND SHELIA M. POOLE COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But we took it in stride. "A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind," said the note on the side of the computer terminal we share.
And we laughed at co-workers' jokes, which were growing right along with the mess under our feet and over our heads: "Has anyone spotted Elvis under there yet?"
As business reporters, we receive an enormous amount of paper each day - faxes, letters, books, magazines, newsletters and brochures. Because we frequently write about different topics, we're afraid to throw things away - "just in case" we need the material someday.
But, frankly, that has created problems.
Co-workers have looked for us, and then mistakenly told callers we weren't around because they couldn't see us over the mounds of paper. That's bad news at deadline time when you're trying to talk to a key source.
There have been true moments of panic in the four years we've been desk neighbors. For example, we've misplaced crucial notebooks and phone numbers.
Visitors would stare at our desks in awe and say, "And I bet you know where everything is, too."
We didn't have a clue.
Appointment book? Forget it.
Press release? No way.
Promotional items to be returned? Naaaah.
Finally, at the urging of Assistant Business Editor Henry Unger, who sweated bullets helping us search for lost items, we agreed to get organized.
Call it his New Year's resolution. In case you didn't know it, there's even a designated day for getting organized. The National Association of Professional Organizers, which represents more than 500 members, is promoting Monday as "National Clean Off Your Desk Day."
Of course, there are as many ways to get organized as there are firms and consultants.
We tapped organizational consultant Greg Vetter of Atlanta-based Vetter Productivity to lecture us on the error of our ways, teach us his system of filing, and do a hands-on job of helping us clean up the mess.
Vetter, who generally charges clients about $125 an hour, says you have to do more than just organize your desk. You have to change your behavior as well.
And we needed a heavy dose of behavior modification, he said, as he snickered over our clutter, as well as the scores of other messy desks and mountains of papers in the newsroom.
"Your whole newsroom's a mess," Vetter told us. "It's just that your opportunity [for improvement] is greater."
Our cleanup day began with a three-hour class on how to change our habits and create a filing system that would work for us.
"You've got to change your belief system," Vetter said. "What you say about yourself comes true. People who say, `I'm messy or I'm disorganized,' will be that way."
To Vetter, the top of a clean desk sports only four items that you use every day:
An "in" box to gather incoming papers.
An "out" box for sending material to others.
An appointment book.
And a telephone.
That's it.
Vetter's basic system is centered on the "in" box, which is where every item that comes into your office goes first.
Think of it as a decision-making box. You're supposed to clear your in box at least three times a day: morning, midday and evening.
Do it standing up, because standing helps you make decisions faster. It should take no longer than five minutes.
Go through each piece of paper and ask your "Remember, if you don't get the jolt you would from spotting a $50 bill on the sidewalk, trash it," Vetter kept repeating.
Now for the other 40 percent.
If you need to send information to someone else, it should go directly into your out box.
And if you need to keep a piece of paper, you should store it in one of only two places, a file in an "action" drawer to deal with fairly soon, or a file in a "support" drawer, where you should keep resource and reference materials.
For us, the hardest part was standing up for six straight hours - after the three-hour class - to decide what to do with every single piece of paper on top of, inside and under our desks.
It was exhausting - physically and emotionally. In fact, by the end of the day we wanted to file both Vetter and Unger in the trash can.
Still, after more than four years, we finally got organized. Now, we're able to use our desk drawers, which we divided into "action" and "support" categories.
In the "action" category, we have hanging file folders for each day of the month and for each month of the year. We also have folders to keep material used in our daily routine, such as people we need to call and those we already have left messages with.
There also are other color-coded folders that we need to use regularly. The goal is to be able to put your hands on what you need in about five seconds.
In the "support" category, we have folders for reference materials, source lists, financial information and forms.
We also set up drawers for office supplies, rolodexes and personal items.
As we filed those last pieces of paper, we finally felt vindicated. For the first time, we were better organized than absolutely everyone else in the newsroom.
In fact, our desks were so clean that colleague Robert Luke - returning from a two-week vacation - hollered, "Were they fired or did they quit?"
by CNB