Resource: The Cost of Being Disorganized

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The Cost of Being Disorganized

Around here, we talk a lot about being organized. Obviously it makes sense, it saves time, and it can be a lot easier than you think. That’s the focus of a lot of these blog posts; using simple supplies, easily attained, to make your life easier. But here’s something you may not have thought of: what does it cost you, literally cost, to be disorganized? There’s a site that recently came to my attention that helps you figure out just that.

Organize 4 Results, who preach the “GO System” (standing simply for, of course, Getting Organized) not only offer a comprehensive suite of resources for companies looking to get organized, but they provide a simple calculator to help you realize what it might be costing you to put off organizing. I plugged in some hypothetical numbers and got the following results:

Cost of Disorganization prepared for FakeCo, Ltd:

You entered this data:

Average cost per hour (including benefits) for an employee’s time:

$25.00

Time lost each day due to disorganization:

0.5 hour(s)

The number of employees in your team or organization:

500

Cost of Disorganization Results:

Disorganization is costing you about $1,500,000.00 each year. The real cost is even higher when you consider the cost of alienated and lost customers.

Yikes. As you can see, it’s not always about putting the right things in the right bins; organization is serious business. And if you’re serious about it, check out our friends over at Organize 4 Results. You’ll be glad you did!

Epsom Projector Beams Hologram at Office Supplies Fair

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More news from the International Stationery and Office Products Fair in Tokyo. This time it’s a holographic display being shown by Epson, and it could revolutionize the way we handle communications, computing and more. From the Dvice article:

Presented by Epson, the rear projector beams a video presentation onto a 0.3 millimeter thin slab of glass cut into the shape of a person. The result is an effect that almost matches the virtual reality of holographic displays, missing only the three-dimensional aspect.

You can check out video of the amazing display in action here.

Cool Office Supplies: Samurai USB Flash Memory Card

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At the Saudi Gazette of all places, there is a small article about the ongoing ISOT Office Products Trade Show in Tokyo. Highlighted here are USB Flash Memory cards shaped like Samurai Warriors.

With a lot of video games, movies, and television in Japan focusing more on the Edo period (1603 to 1868 AD), Samurai culture is once again on the rise in Japan.

Of course, when you’re making a samurai-themed USB device, and you’re in Japan, of course it’s going to end up being cute. Call me a sucker for these kind of novelties, but I’d take a teeny cartoon samurai USB stick over a plain ol’ black one any day. Of course, I’m sure the prices are outrageous. For most consumers, the regular kind will probably do just fine.

Article: Everything In Its Place

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From the Bend Bulletin comes an article about “Spacial Specialist” Dana Black, who helps clients get their messy lives on track. A particular place of interest for Black? The Home Office. From the article:

Whether you’re using boxes or cabinets that were gathering dust in your garage or buying cheap new plastic tubs, getting organized can help save you money in your home.

“The key is once you’ve set up a system, take the time to show the entire household how to use it,” says Black, who charges $55 per hour for her organizational work. “When I organize a house, I take sticky notes and write what goes in each drawer or cupboard, so the family gets used to it.”

You’ll find that with a clear system of organizational tools, you won’t waste money on buying items you already have stowed elsewhere or buying things that you’ll never use.

Black’s list of go-to gadgets and gear wouldn’t shock anyone (Filing cabinet or drawers with hanging files, drawer organizers, in-box/out-boxes, baskets or desk organizers, plastic storage tubs for extra supplies (also great for your kids’ school supplies), computer program for calendar- and address-book organizing, label-maker), but she puts them together in an innovative way and charges a pretty penny for her services. School yourself on some free tips by reading the article.

Video: The Disappearing Dining Table Office

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Always cool to see innovative office tricks making the mainstream news.

The CBS Early Show had a segment today featuring interior designer Kristan Cunningham, who shared some innovative tricks for turning one of the most-seen but least-used areas of your home, the dining room table, into a go-to disappearing home office.

The video is the star of the show here, but some excerpts from the accompanying article set the tone:

  • Fax Machine:
    The multifunction printer/fax/copier/phone ID can be covered with a bottomless basket that is simply lifted off when you need it. It rests on a serving table which can be used to store linens and also office supplies.
  • The Hutch:
    The hutch has part of the glass front covered with frosted contact paper, leaving the top part clear to display dishes and serving ware. Behind the glass door are files, books and all the desk top supplies. The desk supplies are on a tray and blotter and simply lifted out an put on the dining table. Cunningham suggests putting a desk blotter under it to protect the wood.

Click the link and check the video clips for more on this cool project.

Blurb: Office Depot now under investigation in Colorado

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From the Denver Post:

The Colorado Attorney General’s office is investigating Office Depot’s pricing practices through its U.S. Communities contract program, which allows public agencies to join already negotiated low-bid contracts, according to an Office Depot spokesman.

Colorado is the fourth state to launch an investigation into Office Depot’s pricing policies.

The Cherry Creek School District, which was contacted by the attorney general’s office, said it audited its purchases of 21,549 items over two years, finding that it was overcharged about $2,000.

Just another in the long line of investigations piling up behind our favorite big-box superstore. And by “favorite” I mean…well, you know.

How to set up a home office space

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article-create-your-own-office-space

The Indianapolis arm of Examiner.com has posted a neat little article that gives a crash course in designing a home office.

In addition to helpful tips like placing your office away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the house (avoid the kitchen or bedroom office; these are places you’re meant to be thinking about your home, not your work), there is one section I of course find particularly noteworthy:

Furniture:  Start with the basics, a desk, a small filing cabinet, a book shelf, and a comfortable computer chair, then personalize your space depending on your working needs.  Place the desk in an area where you can see the door.  Also, if you are easily distracted, avoid placing your desk directly in front of a window.

Add items to your office that compliments your work.  A reading corner, with a comfy chair and an end table, a conference or work table and chairs, a credenza, storage/supply cabinet, small table and chairs for your kids, a dog bed, anything that makes your space its own.

None of these tips are necessarily earth-shattering, but it’s nice to see them collected in one place. I think too often people setting up a home office take pieces from the existing house and rearrange them into a place where they feel they can get some work done. The flaw in this is that you feel like you’re “working from home”, and not owning “a home office.” There is, in fact, a difference.

A home office ought to feel like an entirely separate entity from your house itself. Sure, it’s nice that you can go to work in your PJs and slippers, but the fact is: you’re at work when you’re in your office, no matter where it is. Purchase office furniture and office supplies rather than co-opting things from the rest of the house. Make sure it’s comfortable, of course, but make sure it is distinctly “your office.” And as always, when you’re out constructing your perfect workplace-away-from-home, be sure you use a reputable office supplier who can help you meet your needs.

Punch the Clock…In the Mouth

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Over at Alibi.com’s blog, I found a really interesting piece about an artist’s collaboration in Houston called Sisyphus Office.

The goal was for local artists to visit offices and leave behind humorous and interesting art created entirely from office supplies.

On the whole, this is something I can completely get behind. No one likes a boring office, and all the paperclips in the world aren’t going to make a humdrum day any more fun, until you put some creativity behind them.

According to the project’s website and its organizer, David Fullarton:

Sisyphus Office is an exhibition organized by San Francisco based artist, curator, and co-founder of The Thing Quarterly, Jonn Herschend and based out of Skydive, a Houston, Texas gallery.

The artists involved in the project are collaborating with businesses and offices in and around Houston in order to highlight art as an integral and necessary distraction in our day to day life. The artists and offices involved in Sisyphus Office are working physically and conceptually with the notions of existentialism, capitalism, artistic romanticism and deadpan slapstickism as a means to examine the artifice that keeps us clinging to reality and distracted from the void.

Sisyphus Office is about punching the clock, and then punching it again…but harder the second time.

It’s about transcending the mundane through the beauty and absurdity of distraction. It’s about recognizing the comedy in the tragedy of the day to day… and then waking up again to do the same thing all over again the next morning.

I encourage more people to take a stab at making their office a little more surreal. Hopefully this project can be an inspiration.

Interior designer likes uplifting office spaces

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Found this interesting blurb over at the ArgusLeader. In it, Marcia Young, a commercial interior designer, talks about office design and what it means to have a well-designed workplace. When asked about some essentials that should be included in any office design, she had this to say:

The workplace is constantly changing, and one way to easily adapt is by designing with modularity in mind. This allows the customer to change the configuration with minimal cost and downtime. Other key essentials are good task lighting and ergonomic accessories, such as keyboard trays and storage solutions that fit the needs of the user.

Makes sense to me. The main reason I find this article interesting is that I personally had no idea there was such a thing as a commercial interior designer. I can certainly see the need for such an occupation; most of the offices I have worked in seem very much slapped together on a whim, cramming the furniture and items they already had into whatever space they could wrangle up.

Young also says that the trend seems to be going more toward open-plan design, with a tendency to shy away from the traditional “cubicle farm”. They want something that promotes collaboration while still offering some privacy. This means lower heights on cube panels, more modularity, and so on. Again, I find myself in agreement, and wonder why so many businesses lack the wherewithal to make these kinds of decisions on their own.

Still, if it means more work for Marcia Young, I’m all for it. Adding to the list of things I didn’t know existed, she’s a National Council for Interior Design Qualification Certified Designer. Quite a mouthful, but it’s great that there’s someone out there making sure standards are upheld in the design arena. Check out the NCIDQ here.