Being Organized With Your Time Can Improve Your Business and Help You Save Money.
At this point in history, time management plays a big part in our everyday lives. However, do we really manage our time as well as we could? This article will show you a few ways to improve management of your time and also save you money.
How many of us go inside the post office unnecessarily? Many of us, every time we mail something in a manila envelope, will go to the post office and wait in line to have that envelope weighed and stamped. If you find yourself in the post office three times a week waiting in line for five minutes or more and it takes five to ten minutes to drive to the post office, you could be spending up to three hours a week to mail your larger envelopes.
My suggestion is to invest in a postal scale and purchase some larger denomination postage stamps. That way you can weigh and stamp your own large envelopes. You might even discover there's a mail box closer to your home or office that you can drop the envelopes into. Be sure to check the pickup times on the mail box.
Some of you may have post office boxes and your thought is--I have to go to the post office, anyway. And that's true--you probably will go there every day. However, you don't have to wait in line, if your manila envelopes already have stamps. I know what going to the post office every day is like, since I, too, have a post office box. All I can say is, I'm grateful I invested in a postal scale and purchased the large denomination stamps.
Here's something else we tend to do--we go to the office supply store more than necessary. If we would write down the items needed instead of trusting our memory, we would save an extra trip back to the store. Every time we have to return for a forgotten item, it costs time and money.
And when you do make those trips to the post office or the office supply store, take care of some personal errands at the same time. Since I work from my home office, I go to the post office first, then to the dry cleaners. Then if I need milk or bread (do not take this time to do your grocery shopping), I stop for that. If it's around lunch time when I'm out, I may stop and pick up a sandwich or salad for lunch. Plan your route so you're not backtracking. Remember, just because you're working from home or a small office, do not take more than an hour out of your day for these errands.
I don't want you to misinterpret would I'm about to say. It's important to balance our bank statements monthly. However, I think we need to value our time and put a value on our time. If the bank statement is off 25 cents or less, is it worth spending more than ten minutes to find the error? This is something everyone must decide for themselves. My feeling is, if it takes an hour going through checks and figures to find that error, my time is worth more than 25, 15 or 10 cents an hour.
Most important, Stay Focused. Don't jump from one project to another.
Laura Shepherd is an office organizing consultant with 25 years of experience in the secretarial field. For information on every aspect of organizing your time and office space, contact her at:
Laura Shepherd PO Box 620006 Oviedo, FL 32762-0006
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