Uncluttering Your Workspace = Increased Productivity

A cluttered workspace leads to a cluttered mind. As the minutes pass by during the day, you collect different items that add to the collection of desktop waste. Old empty cups, cds, papers.. you name it. After a while you lose sight of what you need to do and forget where you put the agenda for today’s meeting in 10 minutes.

Your workspace is your home for the next 8+ hours so to remain productive and quick off the jump you will need to maintain an area that helps to your cause. A clean and clear workspace can be beneficial in many ways:

More room to work

Instead of working on top of other papers and getting distracted, you will have a clear desk to perform important tasks. Distractions are taken away, such as other papers from another tasks that need to be done. There is more space around to fully lay out necessary items for the current project

Files and desk items are organized

Rummage through paper files and toss the ones you don’t need. Use a filing system and make sure each file is categorized so you can recall it easily in the future.

You are not portrayed as messy and disorganized

Have you ever been to another business and noticed the mess and disorganization all around? What was your first impression of them? How was their service? If you’ve got papers piled all over the place, folders folded here and there and dirty cups lying around, you’re setting yourself up for a bad impression. It will degrade your quality of work and it can even ruin your chances for a raise or promotion.

Less stressful day

Having less junk scattered all over your desk can lead to a stress-free environment. No more worrying about clearing out papers and finding receipts under old receipts to fill out your travel reimbursement. Start a stress-free work day by cleaning off your desk at the end of the day at on Friday afternoons so you can start the next work day on a good note.

You can get things done

You have more room to work, your files are all organized, you can find what you need in a timely manner and you are not stressed. You can now get things done easily and quickly.

Your mind remains open

Clear your desk and your mind is less clouded. You have room in your head to think and work. With a cluttered work area your mind subconsciously puts you in a stressful mood and your train of thought does not flow as freely as it should.

As you begin to work with a clean space, keep in mind that you need to make sure it stays clear of clutter. One rule of thumb is 1 in, 2 out.

For every item you bring into your area, you should clear out two items.

This method was hard at first for me to implement but as I became aware of what has happening I’ve began to work more efficiently and it made me realize that I do like having a nice clean work space. It makes me feel good at sets the tone for the day when I come to work in the morning. What are your tips for keeping an uncluttered desk and work area?

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Enhance Your Gmail Experience with Gmail Labs

Google has done a great job implementing a dozen useful features that can actually be used by everyday people. I’ve found these features beneficial and productive in every way when working with email.

I don’t use an email client because I’m always connected to the internet whenever I check my email, that also includes the iPhone which is synced via IMAP. The following are features that I use daily to help organize my emails and they enable me to work efficiently within gmail’s interface. First things first, go to the gmail labs feature page:

1. Click on Settings at the top right
2. Click on Labs

Google Calendar

Wouldn’t it be great to see your calendar while you’re checking email! Just enable the Google Calendars lab feature and it will show up on the left side of the screen. You’ll even be able to add a quick even with ease.

Google Docs

Need access to the documents stored with Google Docs? No problem, enabling this lab feature will allow you to add that to the left side of gmail as well.

Superstars & Custom Label colors for categorization

Scanning through a long list of emails for one message is like finding a needle in the haystack. You can use the search function but that can still yield a ton of results. Using stars and custom labels with coloring will make specific messages stand out. You can even easily search by label through the Google search function in gmail.

Signature Tweak

Before, gmail used to add your signature to the bottom of each email message, even to the bottom of the reply quote. This tweak was highly requested by the people and is not available. Be sure to add your signature in the Settings section.

Right side chat and labels

After enabling a few lab features, the left side of gmail gets crowded and ugly. Moving a few of these features to the opposite side makes it easy on my mind and eyes.

Enhanced IMAP

If you use a mobile device to connect to gmail, you can fine tune your IMAP settings such as selecting which labels you want to see and automatically moving an email to trash if it was marked to go to trash on your mobile device or email client.

Quote selected text

When replying to an email you can select which text you want to show in the quote area of your newly composed email. I find it useful for when I want to remove any excess sentences and get right to the point of my email.

Forgotten Attachment Detector

This feature reminds you that you need to add your attachment. It recognizes it after you click the send button and reads your email for key phrases like “I have attached…”

Many other features can be found by going into your Settings and selecting Labs. You’ll see a whole list of them including a snake game. These are my favorite features at the moment which let me work efficiently and productively. What features would you like Google to add to gmail functionality?

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