Organize by pre-bussing

Today's organizational thoughts have grown out of the restaurant industry. Being a restaurant manager, I have learned a lot about how people work, or try to get out of work.

Pre-bus: When people are eating at a restaurant, the servers are supposed to remove dishes that are no longer needed while the customer is still there. That is referred to as pre-bussing. When the main dish is brought out, the salad plates and soup bowls should be removed provided the customer is finished with them. When dessert is served, the plates used for the meal are to be removed, again as long as the customer is finished. That gives the customers more room as they talk and finish their drinks and get the kids ready to go. Plus it means most of the work of cleaning off the table is already done, saving valuable time later when we need the table for the next customers.

Here's the problem. Most of the servers will try to avoid this part of their job by saying they don't have time to pre-bus. At the same time, they will walk past their tables to the kitchen ten times with empty trays. If they just picked up one item on each trip, the job would be done with no extra steps or effort. They are already going that way anyway.

So, I'm going to apply this pre-bus option to staying organized at work or at home. When leaving your desk, check to see if there is a pop can, coffee cup, or book that you will no longer be using. Take it along with you and you will be one step closer to a cleaner desk without any extra effort. Heading out to the garage? Grab the tool that is out of place and take it along. Coming in from the car? Bring along anything that shouldn't stay in the car and you won't have to wonder where it is later. Going to the kitchen after eating a "couch potato" snack? Put the dishes or glasses in the dish washer rather than on the counter where it constitutes clutter. These are restaurant pre-bussing techniques which can help keep us organized at home or at the office. As we say at the restaurant, "It is easier to keep up than to catch up!"

It wasn't my table! Another way servers will try to avoid work is to say, "That wasn't my table." Their section doesn't have any clean tables, so they can't get sat to make more money. Yet they don't want to clean off a table that is available because it wasn't theirs originally. Meanwhile, the original server is busy in a new section and can't get it cleaned off. As I look at it, they are being lazy and losing money. It doesn't make any difference whose table it was. It needs to be cleaned. The sooner the better. It is called turnover. The quicker the turnover, the more money they make.

So at home or at the office. It doesn't make any difference who put it there. If it doesn't belong there it should be moved, put away, or tossed in the trash. It's your office, your home, your car, your desk. It doesn't matter who put something there, you can take care of it.

Don't wait for the bus! As managers, one of our responsibilities is to watch labor. We are allowed so many labor hours for so many customers. When the customer count begins to die down, we have to start cutting workers to keep the labor hours in line with the customer count. We are constantly being told, "You cannot wait for the bus." In other words, don't keep a lot of workers on the clock just in case a bus load of people show up.

In our case at home, or at the office, don't wait until it will take a bus to cart off all the mess. Keep at it continually and it will never build up to an unsightly mess. It takes a little ongoing effort, but in the long run will save time. It takes a while to fill the bus when it gets that messy. It takes a while to find something when you have to sort through a bunch of things that shouldn't be there. Don't wait until you need a bus.

Don't put it where it doesn't belong! The best clutter-prevention is don't put something where it doesn't belong in the first place. Of course, when you are having a cup of coffee, you need the coffee cup there. But when you are done, don't leave it where it shouldn't be. Don't put it on the counter where it doesn't belong. Put it in the dishwasher, or wash it and hang it up, or whatever you need to do at the office.

You'll be glad you did! In the long run, you'll appreciate the little extra effort you put in along the way. When you come back to your desk, or back to the kitchen, you'll like the way it looks. You'll be able to get at your next task without having to clean up first. You won't have to worry about someone seeing it looking like a mess.

It is not that I am a neat freak. That would be closer to a description for my wife. But I appreciate that about her. I have loved her that way for 38 years next month. She's not going to change now, and I wouldn't want her to.

We used to play golf with some other couples. Afterwards we would go to one of our houses for cards. We usually took turns, but often the others would say, "We have to go home and clean up first." We would have to wait and come later, or volunteer our house. People could/can walk into our house any time and find it neat and clean. That is a good feeling. It is simply because my wife follows the procedures I'm talking about. She wants everything put back where it belongs, picked up as we go, and put away when we're done. I like the end result.

Organize by downsizing

Organizing usually results in added space. It may be a cleaner desk or workbench, or more space in a closet. It looks better when you are done. Sometimes that can be accomplished by downsizing equipment without losing functionality.

I thought I had a good desktop computer monitor. Although it was one of the older huge models, it served me well and I was satisfied with it. However, this Christmas, my son decided I needed to get up to date, so he gave me a 17 inch LCD flat panel monitor. He said it would save so much space it would be worth taking before and after pictures. Boy, was he right. I can't believe all the extra space on my desktop while still having the same amount of viewing size on the screen. Plus I can move the desk closer to the wall because the screen is only about an inch deep compared to the 16 inch depth of the old one. So it added space to the whole room. The viewing screen is just as large. But the smaller overall size makes a huge difference. And the resolution is much better as well, making the colors brighter, the pictures clearer. This was a good addition to my home office. The keyboard now seems bigger than my monitor, so I am going back to a previous keyboard which will be smaller and fit in better. I also have space to add a shelf back in above the monitor which I had to take out when I added the last monitor. Then I can put my speakers back on the shelves rather than on top of the shelf unit.

My desktop computer area seems much more organized and spacious. All it took was a little downsizing.

17-inch SyncMaster 713BM Black LCD Monitor

Reorganize after Christmas

There is a lot of planning and preparation that goes into the celebration of Christmas. It is almost like a wedding -- weeks and weeks of planning and poof, it's all over. People can get really stressed out doing all the shopping, planning for the parties, attending the children's programs, and putting the family gatherings together. Then suddenly it's all over. When Christmas is over and done, a little time spent getting reorganized will help lessen the after Christmas stress.

Get rid of all the boxes. Get rid of the clutter. Toss the boxes. There are some boxes you may want to keep until you decide that the gift is working properly and won't have to be returned. Put those boxes somewhere out of the way where you won't be seeing them all the time. A spare room or closet will work. After you have decided you won't need them, they can be tossed. They don't need to clutter up your living space in the meantime. Those you don't need to keep should be broken down and put in the garbage or recycled.

Put the instruction manuals away. After you have completed all the "some assembly required," put the instruction booklets in your instruction manual file. See my previous post Organize your instruction manuals. That way they will be handy if you need to refer to them again, and they won't be laying around cluttering up your desk or counter space, or getting lost or tossed out with the trash.

Send in the registration cards. If there are warranty cards or registration cards you want to send in or complete online, do it right away. If you put it off, it will only add to your pile of "to do" tasks and will end up becoming a frustration. Or you will lose the information and you won't get the task done at all. It only takes a minute or two per item. Why let that couple of minutes become a stress maker. Complete them right away and you will feel good having accomplished the task.

Take some time to play. Christmas is a time for fun. That's what the family gatherings are all about, although they don't always end up that way. That's what all the toys are about, once the assembly is completed. Play with the kids. Play a game you haven't tried for a while. Do something to relax. It will help keep you in the holiday spirit and ward off those after Christmas blues. Christmas is a time of joy. Do what you can to keep the joy in your life throughout the new year!

Organize by looking at the small picture

Getting organized can seem to be an overwhelming task. It is no fun looking at a cluttered room like that pictured on the right, or a desk that needs to be cleaned up. Looking at that large stack of papers that has built up on the "To do" pile can destroy one's motivation. Thinking "I need to clean up my whole house" or "I need to get this office straightened up" can seem like an endless task. We feel defeated before we even begin. Getting started can be the hardest step.

It helps to begin by dividing the task into small parts, looking at the small picture. Divide the house into rooms, then the room into sections and decide to get one of those small sections organized first. Do that entire small section until you are satisfied rather than doing a little here and there in the whole room. When that small section looks good, you will feel better. Then take a break and pat yourself on the back for a good start. When you are ready to tackle some more, do another small section.

Do the same with the office, desk or workbench. Start with the small picture -- a drawer or tool chest that needs to be cleaned out. Get that done first and you will have room to put some of the other things that you need to save but have just piled on top. Or begin with a corner of the desk or workbench. Tell yourself you'll get that done first. Then do another small section another time. In the mean time, be sure to keep the original small section clean.

If you have decided to take on the "to do" pile, take a small stack off the top. Actually the bottom portion of the pile is probably the oldest and needs to be done first. Do a quick sort to get at the smaller picture. Some items will be out of date and can be tossed in the waste basket. Toss them fast. Don't hesitate and think maybe you will look at them some other day. Some items will be important and should be taken care of immediately. Some can wait. Deal with the urgent stack of items immediately. Take care of them by dealing with them once. Don't allow yourself to put them back on the "To do" pile or you'll end up having to start all over. See my previous post in this blog on "Organize by dealing with it once." When you get that small stack done, take a short break, then do another stack. Or promise yourself you will do another small stack first thing in the morning. Get a small stack done each day. As long as you take more off the pile than you put on that day, you'll soon catch up and have that mess of a "To do" pile conquered. Then do your best to keep up with it each day so the pile doesn't grow again.

Break any organizational job into smaller tasks and look at the small picture only. Then the project won't be so overwhelming. Don't try to take on the entire house, or office, or utility shed, or garage. Break it up into a smaller picture. You'll get more done, and can be satisfied with each step accomplished. Soon you will feel good about being organized and it will be much easier to stay organized.

Organize by dealing with it once!

Keeping ahead of the pile takes a little organizational effort. But getting rid of the pile takes a lot of effort. It is better to stay organized by "dealing with it once!" Some examples:

When you are looking through your mail or e-mail, do what needs to be done with it immediately -- respond to it, file it, forward it, delegate it, or toss it. Then you can put it out of your mind and be satisified that you took care of it. Otherwise it is easy to forget about it until it is too late or forget it is there and never get to it.

If you run across a magazine or newspaper article you want to keep, tear it out and file it where you'll be able to find it when you need it again. Then go back to reading. When you would like to refer to it again, you will know where it is, rather than trying to remember which magzine it was in, where you put the magazine, and which earmark it was.

When you get a phone call requiring follow-up, do it right then. If you are busy at the time, jot down a note. Then take care of it as soon as you have time and deal with the note just once. Then when it is time to leave work, or do something fun you'll thank yourself when you don't have to make a bunch of phone calls first.

If you are finished with a tool or a piece of garden equipment, deal with it once by putting it back where you always keep it. That way you won't have to try to remember to put it away later, or where you left it when you need it the next time. And it won't get left out in the rain.

By dealing with things once, you will be able to avoid the proverbial "To do pile." The pile just keeps getting higher with the things you should take care of first on the bottom "out of sight, out of mind." You'll notice that by the time you get to the pile, many of the items are out of date and it is too late to do anything about it. Being too late has some advantages. Now you can toss it. However, it may have been an important task which needed to be taken care of days ago. Now it is too late. But if it didn't matter enough deal with it right away, you should have tossed it then.

Taking the extra few moments now to deal with it once will save you a lot of time later and prevent missing some important tasks before it is too late. Try it and see how much time and frustration you save yourself. Then give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done and the feeling of being much more organized!