Starting your first job can be overwhelming and intimidating. You’re eager to prove yourself, produce quality work and stay on top of things — which you can do by mastering the art of staying organised at work.
1. Create a routine
On your first day of work, start an organisational system. Before you receive a significant workload, you’ll have an established routine to keep you on track. Ask employees who do similar work what their organisational method is and any advice they can give.
If your company uses a specific software, adapt to its various uses and organisational properties.
2. Actually use your email calendar
A great way to stay on top of meetings, deadlines and tasks is to use the existing calendar on your email account. Whether you choose your work email calendar or a Gmail account, it’s helpful to mark all events on the calendar. Since you’ll constantly be using your email, you’ll have easy and consistent access to this calendar.
You can also use the calendar to add alerts, particularly for recurring events. If you have a weekly meeting, set up your calendar to automatically remind you. Similarly, you can use your work calendar to invite and set up meetings with coworkers.
3. Have a to-do list
You may prefer to write tasks down on paper or use websites designed to keep you on track, these websites allows you to see all of your assignments, update their status and cross them off when finished.
Organise your to-do list by creating a colour-coding system to distinguish priority level or related subjects. If you keep your to-do list electronically, cross items off rather than deleting them. This way, you’ll still be able to keep track of finished assignments and feel a sense of accomplishment.
4. Don’t drop the ball on email
As your position develops, you’ll start to receive countless emails each day. Learning early how to prioritise and organise them will benefit you greatly throughout your career.
Most email providers come with tabs and filters to organise emails into categories, including the ability to “flag” emails as important. This will also help you to quickly decipher which emails hold precedence, although you should generally reply to every email as soon as possible.
Find a system that best works for you and for achieving your tasks.
5. Make your workspace work for you
You’re going to spend the majority of your day in your office, your car or wherever your work space is. Remember to keep this space clean and organised. If you primarily do work at a desk, it’s essential to your organisation and sanity to keep it from getting out of control. In fact, a messy desk can be dangerous. Keeping your physical space clean and your virtual workspace organised will help you stay focused and on-task at work. The only way to stay on top of all your assignments while delivering quality work is to learn to prioritise tasks with extreme organisation. Using these tips, you’ll find that organisation is not the daring feat you might have once viewed it as.