ADD: Office Organization In A Nutshell

Is your office no longer recognizable? Is the clutter somean and it will be much easier to toss something into
bad that it engulfs every surface? Is seeing thethem.
computer screen getting harder and harder becauseThings you use all the time should be readily at hand.
there's so much dust on it? If you answered yes toGet yourself a 3-inch loose leaf binder and a set of
these questions, I wouldn't be surprised to learn thatsheet protectors. Put everything into those, including
you have ADD.disks, papers, booklets, etc. Then, set it somewhere
Attention deficit causes these things to happen, andthat you can grab it easily.
what's worse, though everyone around you notices,After you've cleaned out that one drawer, stop for the
you probably don't. Yet, if you're in a structured officeday. Take another space and do the same thing with it
environment, your boss may look at the mess and rulethe following day and the day after that, clean another.
out any potential promotions because you can't keepKeep this system moving, until your entire office is
things together. Or, if you work out of your home, howcleared up. But you'll need to stop yourself from the
uncomfortable is it making the other people who liveADD-clutter during this process, too.
with you? Look around and think about what you see.Set aside a large space where you can just toss
Finding that perfect mess isn't reason for falling intothings during the day. It might be a desk drawer, a file
depression, throwing up your hands and saying, "Ohbin or whatever. Just be sure it's large enough to
well, it's my ADD." Though that's true, it's no excuse forhandle the stuff that comes flying at your throughout
not at least trying to keep things straightened. You canthe day, and toss everything that you don't know what
do it in ways that are easier for your ADD brain, if youto do with into it.
think of cleaning the mess in "chunks."Then, at the beginning or at the end of every day, take
First, choose a small spot, like a desk drawer. Take5 minutes and go through your "everything" space. File
everything out and pile it in front of you. If it's somethingthings into the folders in your desk drawer or into the
you haven't looked at in 7 days and it's unimportant,binder, or throw things away that you know you'll
pitch it into the trash. For the things you don't neednever read. If you keep this ADD-friendly system
immediately, but can't throw away, set up angoing, the clutter that comes from attention deficit will
ADD-friendly filing system in one of your deskno longer be an issue.
drawers, if you can. Buy a set of colored hangingSystems like this one that your ADD can get behind
folders, and then label them. Maybe make red forare often the best kinds of systems. Stick with this
urgent, blue for reference, or whatever. After usingone for a while, and see if it can't work for you.
them a while, you'll automatically know what the colors