Understanding the Function of Order and Organization in Your Home Business

Sunday, October 17th, 2010 at 6:26 pm

If you feel like your home office, business structure, schedule, or even your entire home business is out of control, then you are going to get stressed. One of the best ways to avoid this is by ensuring that your business has a set order and that everything is organized effectively. However, it is important to recognize that there is also a risk of over-organization to keep in mind as well. Business will always be as unpredictable as ever, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t create an environment that can absorb the inherent chaos of running your own home business.

The first thing that you need to know is what organization and order actually is. Organization does not mean having a clean desktop or having a small little box for everything to be placed into. Organization means that you can find anything that you need, when you need. If it takes you more than a few minutes to find something, then you might want to organize a little better. Some people thrive on chaos and if walked into their office, it would look totally disorganized, but they could find anything that you asked for within seconds. If they can do that, then it is organized to fit their needs. The purpose of organization is to create a system or process of arranging your life and your work. This will ensure that you can get all of the important things done.

The second thing think that you need to understand is that good enough really is good enough. A problem that a lot people run into is getting caught up in what “should” be done. For example, a lot of people think everything should have a label on it so that you can see what everything is and where it goes. In reality, most people simply don’t need to do this. You may want a few labels in areas that you will benefit from having them, but that doesn’t mean that they should be everywhere. If you think that it is organized enough for you, then it is.

The final thing you need to understand is that organization and order should not be a detriment There are a variety of ways that organization can become a detriment to you and your home business. Obviously, the first detriment is a lack of order. If you wasting 5 minutes searching for something, that is 5 minutes you won’t get back. When you start wasting 5 minutes 12 times a day, you are wasting a full hour being unproductive. On the other hand, some people organized to a fault. These are people that are so concerned about being organized that it detracts from their actual tasks. Being too concerned with organization will cause people to waste a lot time fine-tune a system that already works. Remember, good enough is good enough.

Organization seems like a pretty straight forward concept that serves a fairly basic function. However, some people take it too far, which ends up stifling their work, while others ignore it completely which causes them to waste an hour or more a day, just looking for stuff. To understand the function of order and organization within your home business, there are some basic concepts that are important to note. The first is that organization is simply a process which ensures that you can always find what you need, when you need it, thus saving time and frustration. Second, when it comes to organization, good enough really is good enough. Finally, if the way you organization makes you feel stifled, then you are probably over-organizing. By understanding these 3 core concepts, organization and order can play a critical role in the overall functioning of your home business.

To your success,