Moderator: Welcome to tonight's special event: "Organizing Your Business - Part 1 -- Clutter and Desktop Management" with Connie Bechtel
Alan: Welcome to tonight's special event.
Alan: Tonight's special event will start with a 30 minute interview, then we will open it up for questions from the audience for the second half hour.
Alan: We have some images to show everyone, via your web browsers. When this happens, be sure to adjust your screen so your web browser is visible to you.
Alan: Throughout the event all questions submitted to the stage, will go to an off screen moderator, to allow for grouping of questions.
Alan: Our guest tonight Connie Bechtel with Wyvern Productions
Alan: Tonight we are going to discuss:
"Organizing Your Business - Part 1 of our 4 part series on organizing." "Clutter and Desktop Management"
Alan: Welcome Connie
Connie: I'm glad to be here.
Alan: Glad you could join us
Alan: From your bio, I see you're new to embroidery, but not organization
Alan: or should I say organizing
Connie: That's correct. I've been organizing engineers for about 8 years.
Connie: In addition to embroidery, I'm a sometime caregiver to my in-laws, the webmaster and communications officer for our 16th Century German Landsknecht reenactment group, costumer, member of a non-fiction book club, and a member of a fiction book club.
Connie: My day starts at 5:30 a.m. and ends at midnight most days. Between the months of May and October, we travel to Renaissance festivals and reenactment events most weekends. During the winter I repair outfits and make new ones for the upcoming year.
Alan: oh.. not busy then!
Connie: Add a growing embroidery business and you can see why I need as much organization and I can muster.
Alan: So how do we... I get organized then
Connie: Let me say that I'm either the worst or the best person to talk about organizing.
Alan: let me know when you're ready for the slides
Connie: In business, organizing other people's stuff comes naturally to me. At home, it is a constant battle for me to fight my inner slob and practice being a responsible adult.
Connie: First one is good now.
http://www.thecommercejournal.com/archives/messing-around.asp
Connie: The fact is, I'm a clutter collector, and I'm married to a clutter collector. Clutter begets disorganization and disorganization wastes time.
Alan: Oh that looks like me desk!!!!
Connie: Did you know the average person loses two full years of their life searching for lost or misplaced items?
Alan: Then I'm above average for sure ;-)
Connie: How many of you have a junk drawer, closet, or room(s)?
Alan: ROOMS!!!!!
Connie: Have you run out of space on your desk, bookshelves, file cabinets and floor?
Connie: There is no secret to organization, and none of my ideas are original. Only the way the ideas are applied in a given situation is original.
Connie: The most important step for me is to set my mind to the task - I have to ask myself, why can I clean and organize other people so easily but have to work so hard on myself?
Connie: The answer is that I form a personal attachment to everything that "belongs" to me - Even the faxes with the weekly apparel specials become a clutter hazard.
Connie: To clear my own space, I have to remove myself from that personal attachment. If I concentrate on every task as if it was for someone else, I can more easily remove that attachment to items that really have no value to me.
Connie: Next.
http://www.flylady.com
Connie: There is only one way to organize. The only difference is in the timing - either in short bursts or long and methodical. (Dumping things into bags or boxes and hiding them in another room is NOT organizing - it's just postponing the inevitable.
Connie: There is only one way to organize. The only difference is in the timing - either in short bursts or long and methodical. (Dumping things into bags or The Flylady method is my weapon of choice.
Connie: . For anyone who is easily distracted (in my case, by a potty-training 2-year-old and/or a 14-year-old dog with a weakening bladder), a schedule of 15-minute intervals for each task can be used.
Connie: While the Flylady is geared more toward stay-at-home mom's - anyone that falls into the "easily sidetracked" category can benefit.
Connie: You'll need three boxes, a supply of garbage bags, and a timer with an alarm. Label the boxes Keep, Donate/Sell, and Trash.
Connie: Line the Trash box with a garbage bag. Select a small section (something you can complete in a 15 minute interval). Set the timer for 15 minutes and start sorting.
Connie: When the timer goes off, stop and put everything in the boxes in their respective places. If there are items that end up in a place that you haven't organized yet - don't sweat it.
Connie: You'll get there soon enough. As the commercial says, "Take HUUMAN bites." That way you don't burn out on clearing the clutter before you finish.
Connie: While the long and methodical doesn't work for me, it is my husband's preferred method. It is also the method most professional organizers use.
Connie: It's the same process, just larger pieces of time. The do it until it's done approach.
Connie: The number of boxes and how you label them is up to you. Just remember that after you've sorted everything, you have to put all the items in the boxes in their respective homes before the job is complete (hiding boxes in your spare room doesn't solve it)
Connie: Choose where you're going to apply your de-cluttering skills today. Focus only on that location. Okay, now, get a camera and take a picture (hey, all the television shows do before and after shots, so why can't we?)
Connie: Work clockwise, and don't leave anything undone. If you leave the tough stuff until later, you've already lost the battle against clutter.
Connie: Let's take a look at your desks, now.
Connie: I'm assuming that everyone has a desk. If you are working off of your kitchen table or stacks of paper in front of your computer - you need to get a desk.
Connie: Make sure that you like it, and it fits your needs (and space). A desk isn't just a piece of office furniture - it is the essential piece of office furniture.
Connie: For those of you with a desk, let's talk about desk maintenance. The excuse that your desk is too small is not acceptable. If you're disorganized, the larger the desk is the more mess you'll have on it.
Connie: Take a look at your desk - is it clear? Are the things you need on a daily or hourly basis within reach? I'm guessing that you wouldn't be here if everything were kosher with your desktop.
Connie: Next
http://tinyurl.com/27kpj
Connie: Next, you'll need supplies for your desk:
Connie: 1 pkg. of manila envelopes or color coded file folders (I use the plastic, see-thru, colored folders
Connie: magic marker -- color optional, Rolodex, pencil sharpener, stapler, sharpened pencils, vacuum , trash basket, desk drawer organizer,
Connie: your favorite mug or holder, calendar (desk or wall), halogen desk lamp, diskette/CD organizer, magazine rack/holders, personal items making your desk "Home Sweet Home"
Connie: Set your boxes out and begin sorting (Hint: for quick and dirty, do one of these at a sitting).
Connie: 1. Get rid of any food stuff (or anything that used to be food) into the trash box - you might want a separate box just for dirty dishes).
Connie: 2. Magazines - we all get them. Let's evaluate. Are you keeping the magazine as reference material?
Connie: Yes - then is it over six months old? No? -put it into your magazine rack. Yes? - scan the index (don't read the magazine now - that's not what we're here for).
Connie: If there's only a useful article or two, rip it out, staple it together and put it into a folder labeled "to read". Put the rest into the trash.
Connie: 3. Business Cards - Do you really want them? Will you ever utilize their services? Will you really refer them to someone else? Are they reputable? Do you even remember who they are?
Connie: When you get a new card, write the date, location and any pertinent information on the back. Get a Rolodex that is designed to hold cards, staple them to a Rolodex card, or get a punch to add them.
Connie: For the more technically inclined cards can be scanned into your PDA.
Connie: 4. Rolodex - Toss any cards you haven't referenced in the last 1-1/2 years. File cards in a way that you'll remember them. Color code if possible.
Connie: 5. If you're doing all this in one sitting - take a break.
Connie: 6. Paper Piles - This is the toughest step and the final organization will be covered next session. If you're following the quick and dirty process, this may take several sessions but don't get discouraged.
Connie: Sort papers by To Do, To Read, To File, Today, and Trash.
Connie: · Set up a "To Be Paid" file and put in it all the bills, as they arrive. Use a bright colored folder and label it in large letters, so it doesn't get lost
Connie: · Every time you begin a new project, start a new file folder, label it, and keep all related materials in it
Connie: · If there's room, use a step file on top of your desk for current projects
Connie: · Process each piece of paper as you receive it, don't let it pile up
Connie: · Set up a basket for outgoing mail and materials. If there is no room on your desk, why not hang it on the wall?
Connie: 7. Designate a specific location for each tool. Pens, stapler, disks, paper, etc. Arrange all the things you use every day so that you can reach them from where you sit.
Connie: Keep all extra supplies together, so you can see at a glance where they are and if something is running out.
Connie: 8. CDs and disks scattered between here and your machine? Not labeled? Put floppies in the disk case (used with the slide to the bottom, new with the slide to the top).
Connie: Either schedule a day to go through them, or do them in 15 minute increments - review, label, format or discard).
Connie: Any design on a disk that has not been referenced in one year should be burned to a CD if possible (more on this when I discuss file systems)
Connie: Next
http://mobilegear.com/catalog.php?category=Mobile%20Desk
Connie: Do you do most of your work on the road? You might want to look into a mobile desk.
Connie: 9. Clear your desk space every night.
Connie: Sounds simple, right?
Connie: Any questions?
Alan: Connie.... how do you know me so well?
Connie: I think we're all in this together.
Alan: What happens if there is more than one pack-rat in the group?
Connie: You're only responsible for yourself.
Alan: and things sort of just grow out of control
Connie: I try to do by example.
Connie: Remember, my husband is a pack rat, too. So we both battle it in our own way.
Connie: We can't clean the same room at the same time - we are too different in our approach.
Moderator: Audience member says: "What do you suggest for those us that have either a p/t or f/t job besides embroidery? Their desks at p/t or f/t is completely organized, but their embroidery desk is a disaster?"
Connie: 15 minutes a day.
Connie: That's really all the time I have to do any one job. Remember, it didn't take a day to get the clutter there in the first place.
Connie: Schedule a time each day.
Connie: lock the door, turn off the phone - whatever it takes.
Moderator: Audience member says: "I don't have any drawers on my desk, what is your suggestion for this?"
Connie: Neither do I.
Connie: I have a 2-drawer file cabinet on wheels.
Connie: It moves where I move.
Moderator: Audience member says: "Sorry, I was looking for something. LOL...lost track of time...I find that my garbage can (Tall) isn't even enough to keep up with all the paper I throw away each week....Any suggestions on how to eliminate so much "junk" mail?"
Connie: There are ways to get off the lists that send you that stuff.
Moderator: Audience member says: "The one thing I have found helps with the paper clutter is to sort the mail over the garbage can."
Connie: Many of the credit card ones are based on lists at the credit bureaus.
Connie: I have a shredder and a garbage can beside each other.
Connie: Take the trash out every day.
Moderator: Audience member says: "What if it comes in faster than you can through it out? My desk is for all the stuff others can't deal with... so it mounds up constantly?"
Connie: Same principle - To Do, To Read, To File, Today, and Trash
Moderator: Audience member says: "Yeah but my TO DO is the problem!!!!"
Connie: That's a timing issue. How many of those items are things that only you can do?
Connie: Even if someone else delegated them to you, you can delegate right back.
Connie: Number them by priority. You can deal with priority 1 & 2. Delegate priorities 3-5.
Connie: Unless of course you're a one person show.
Moderator: Audience member says: "I'm the only full timer"
Moderator: Audience member says: "What if you're the chief cook and bottlewasher?"
Connie: If you're alone in the business (as I am), it can get pretty daunting. Do you have a place for everything?
Connie: And is everything making it to that place?
Connie: Do you spend a lot of time answering emails and telephones?
Connie: Schedule times in the day to deal with them, and ignore them otherwise.
Moderator: Audience member says: "Pretty hard to turn off the phone, or lock the door on the retail shop!"
Connie: A good answering machine message and a promise to return all calls within a business day is sometimes a necessity.
Connie: Walk in customers are a different story.
Connie: They do become #1 priority.
Moderator: Audience member says: "they can kill me time wise, and cannot be predicted or planned for"
Connie: What are your shop hours?
Connie: And how much time do you spend there before and after work?
Question submitted : Usually 2 hours before and 3-4 after hours
Connie: Could you afford to hire a co-op student (one that is subsidized by the school)?
Moderator: Audience member says: "Usually 2 hours before and 3-4 after hours"
Question submitted : can't afford me at the moment
Moderator: Audience member says: "can't afford me at the moment"
Question submitted : struggling startup
Moderator: Audience member says: "struggling startup"
Connie: Talk to the schools in your area. You may be able to get a student to come in as a work study.
Moderator: Audience member says: "Maybe I'll invest in a shredder, it will compact the garbage more."
Connie: Shredders are terrific, but get a cross-cut model.
Question submitted : why cross cut?
Moderator: Audience member says: "why cross cut?"
Connie: Any sensitive information is cut twice, making it difficult to put back together.
Connie: I picked one up at Odd Lots for around $20.
Connie: Any other questions?
Moderator: Audience member says: "What is your opinion of making a database file for those business cards you suggest throwing away? Sometimes the information may only be needed on very RARE occasion."
Connie: Not a bad idea. I scan all my business cards, and they're in my PDA address book.
Connie: Comes in handy at the oddest times.
Connie: It's good to purge old ones, though. If only to make sure the data is still correct.
Moderator: Audience member says: "Okay, you and your hubby work together to keep things tiddy... what about the kids additional stuff!"
Connie: My 2-year-old makes a mess, but every night before bed she has to pick it up, too. If they can walk and talk, they can manage simple chores.
Connie: Of course, they get a lot more help when they're younger.
Moderator: Audience member says: "There's not a flat surface in our place that isn't covered with something!"
Moderator: Audience member says: "Is it to late to train a teenager?"
Connie: Clean your sink - that's what helps me (direct from the Flylady).
Connie: It's never too late to try - even with teenagers. If they've got something they like, take it away if they don't cooperate - or reward them if they do.
Alan: Well once again that time has arrived to bring this portion of the event to a close.
Alan: If you would like to contact Connie,
her email is:
Alan: admin@wyvernproductions.com
Alan: Or through her website at:
Alan: http://www.wyvernproductions.com
http://www.wyvernproductions.com
Alan: Connie, thanks for being with us tonight.
Connie: Thank you. It's been fun.
Alan: That is the conclusion of tonight's event, a transcript will be posted to the Embroidery Industry Calendar within the hour.
Alan: Hope to see everyone next week for part 2 of this series on "Organizing Your Business" - "File Systems, Storage and Supply Management".
Alan: Thank you for your support of the EmbroideryMall.
Alan: Now everyone back to Latte's
The PalacePresents event "Organizing Your Business - Part 1 -- Clutter and Desktop Management" is over.
Thank you for attending.

Closing Log (April 13, 2004 10:35:56PM)

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