Tackle information overload - how to organize a home office - Tutorial

Home Office Computing, August, 1993 by David Hallerman

Your Customized Plan For Getting Organized

It's 10:00 a.m. The phone rings. You dash--slaloming corners, hurdling piles. You pick up. It's an important client with a simple question. The answer is close by--but it might take hours of excavation to unearth. Take heart. While it's true that some people are born more organized than others, character need not be destiny. The key is to have a system that works for you. The way you deal with the deluge of data we're all drowned by daily must suit your particular temperament as well as the demands of your work. That's why we've put together this self-test. Once you've completed it, you will know where on the bell curve your organizational skills lie. Then factor in such work criteria as on the road versus deskbound, and we'll show you the best software and other electronic tools to use.

FILL IT IN

Choose the response that best describes your approach to these common work tasks.

1) When I get a new phone number for a hot prospect or an old client, I:

a) Enter it immediately into my computer, handheld organizer, or Rolodex. What else should I do with it?

b) Jot it down on a pad and stick it in my Phone Numbers file, to be entered later into my computer, organizer, or Rolodex.

c) Jot it down on a pad and throw it on a pile on (or in) my desk with other phone numbers, which I search through later when I need it.

d) Jot it down incorrectly on a gum wrapper, see it around for a few days, and then lose it.

2) When I need to find a lost file on my hard-disk drive, I:

a) Never lose a file, and besides, I always have two backups of it.

b) Invoke my file-finding utility and let it do the work.

c) Keep looking and looking and looking in directories or folders until I discover where the stupid file is.

d) Voice several choice epithets, take a spoonful of Maalox, and recreate the document from scratch.

3) When a prospective client calls me with questions about my service or product, I:

a) Answer all questions promptly as I take notes and write an address label. Then I mail off a previously enveloped package of my materials within seconds after getting off the phone.

b) Answer most questions easily, but promise to get back with answers to others. I also take notes, including name and address, and assemble my promotional package for mailing sometime within the next three days.

c) Do okay at least a third of the time, but someday soon I've got to get together my business information and materials.

d) Try to answer most questions, but generally don't follow up at all.

4) When I want to make an appointment, I:

a) Grab my scheduler--whether on computer, handheld organizer, or paper--and enter it.

b) First check my pocket organizer for one schedule, then look at my computer for my other schedule, try to remember anything I've forgotten--and then I schedule the appointment.

c) Write it down on a scrap of paper, and keep it safe with my other scraps.

d) Tell myself I'll remember, but I often forget.

5) When I want to get paid by a client, I:

a) Send out an invoice right away, 30 days net.

b) Cut an invoice just as soon as I'm able.

c) Add a note to my invoice file, then invoice the client as part of my regular billing cycle (which should be monthly, but often I skip a month or so).

d) Try to remember how much the client owes me, spend some time figuring it out, and finally come up with an invoice.

6) When I'm not certain what action to take with a new piece of information or scrap of paper, I:

a) Know what to do with almost any bit of data; there's a place for everything in its place.

b) Put it in my to-sort in-basket and deal with it later.

c) Stack it in a pile on my floor, kick over the pile, and eventually throw it out.

d) Think, "So, what else is new?" Then I spend about 15 minutes figuring out what I should do next.

7) When I'm trying to develop a very complicated project, I:

a) Enter each step in the project as a paragraph in my word processor, then rearrange the paragraphs in the order I need to do them.

b) Take copious notes on elements of the project one day, then put it together with the computer over the following week.

c) Spend weeks researching the necessary steps--felling a bit overwhelmed by it all--then tediously arrange the details into a logical sequence.

d) Begin from scratch, rarely remembering that the elements from this project replicate things that I've already done.

HOW ORGANIZED ARE YOU?

To figure your score, give yourself 4 points for each A answer, 3 for Bs, 2 for Cs, and 1 for Ds. Now, using the same star ratings we use for product reviews, let's see what level of organizational skills you have.

23 to 28 points, excellent rating:

**** You have high organizational skills and high motivation to control details. What you do with data, you do with consistency. For orderly people like you, the more structure, the better. Your mind is naturally organized, and you're just looking for the best tools around.

17 to 22 points, good rating: *** You sport useful organizational skills but not enough time to implement them. You do best with loose structure that lets you update information periodically; some of you may want simple individual programs for such basic tasks as keeping contact or to-do lists. However, if you're in work such as sales, a full-fledged contact manager or personal information manager (PIM) can be a good bet.