azcazandco

Getting organised… What do you do? What are your tips?

September 15th, 2006

This is a post that could go on forever but I figured it was worthy of writing a little about seeing as it seems to be taking up my time at the moment. Now I know that might sound funny that getting organised is taking up time but I believe I am making the right moves to being way more productive in both my home and business life. What I do now will change the way I do everything in future which is something I am really really excited about.
For a long time I have rattled about paper work and have been known to procrastinate from time to time but as I am getting more and more client work in, I realised that having the right setup would help me 10 fold in getting things done. So what have I done so far?

1. Well, for a start I blew off trying to get a virtual machine running under Linux so I could run both Windows 2000 Pro & Ubuntu on one machine, it was eating up time and quite frankly my time is better spent. I bought a KVM switch which allows me to run more than one computer through the same keyboard, monitor and mouse… Probably the best purchase I have made in the last year!
2. I bought a copy of Getting Things Done by David Allen which is probably my second best purchase this year!
3. I bought myself 2 sets of paper processing trays, one for home, one for business. I am currently operating in a relatively small space so have had to choose my office components relatively carefully. These units contain 3 drawers each which I am using for incoming files, incubator files and outgoing files.
4. I have a filing cabinet for archiving once files leave my working trays.
5. I also bought a calander by week with days broken into segments of 5 which translates to 5 x 1.5hr slots which has allowed me to have a permanently visual representation of my week ahead.
6. Got a sketch pad for scribbling visual ideas.
7. Got a notepad for scribbling notes.
8. Got my faithful post it notes.
9. I have arranged getting my loft all floored with a purpose built work area complete with booby traps & good insulation for sound so noone can hassle me. This is probably the most important one for me as it will allow me to lock down into work mode and only come down the hole at lunch times and for 1 quick break in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.

What am I going to do next?

1. Put into practice a work flow model that works for me (Everyones mind works differently).
2. Look into getting a RAID enabled file server on the go.
3. Decide on my business backup model.
4. Get a Skype In number and buy a Skype Phone for my office instead of going down hiring an 0870 number and redirecting it.
5. I am toying with setting up a separate pay as you go mobile phone for my on the move business as well, this way everything is separate from my personal bills.
6. Send off all my info to get a P.O. Box for my business.
7. Buy a white board as it’ll mean less paper!
8. FINISH The books I am reading about Getting Things Done & Money being my friend.

What am I really gonna do when I get my office?

1. Buy an XBOX 360 & a Wii and call it a business expense.
2. I’m sure High Definition Television is compulsary for businesses in the UK.
3. 30″ Monitor sounds like it might be necessary.
4. Set up all my Starwars toys.
5. Make a dedicated Steel Batallion corner!
6. Make my own beer.
7. Increasing my toy collection is important for inspirational purposes…

Okay… That is some of the stuff I have been doing and plan to do, what do you do to make your day easier?