ORIGINALS: Tips From A Guru: Get Organized! (Part 1)

// ORIGINALS BY JON GLUCK //

This article was originally published on Microsoft’s Office Blog. It can be viewed there by clicking here.

Today we have a guest post from Jon Gluck; an entrepreneur, connector, and marketer extraordinaire I started reading on the web. I invited him to give us his take on what he does with technology. – Doug Thomas

Twelve-to-sixteen hour work days. 6-7 days a week. Dozens of emails and calls a day. Weekdays booked solid with coffees, lunches, and after work drinks. Not one, or two, but three businesses to run. Weekly articles to write for various blogs and news outlets. A daily blog and ten-plus social media channels to maintain. And organizing the largest small business group in Los Angeles with over 750 members.

A day in my shoes may not seem too appealing on paper, but I manage just fine. I manage in large part because of my intense passion for business but equally important are the organizational skills I’ve committed myself to mastering.

So, whether I’m at home in bed, at dinner with friends, or dutifully at my desk, my system never leaves my side. I never know when a grand idea will hit or when a time sensitive opportunity will infiltrate my inbox. I can’t fall victim to unpreparedness. What follows is my starter kit to discover your “inner administrator.” Here are three ways I keep myself organized; three more are coming next week.

1. Shortcuts

As tasks at work become more hurried, digital shortcuts become a businessperson’s best friend. Utilize the amazing shortcut functionality built into Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system, like pinning frequently used programs to the Taskbar and the Start Menu. You can get even more granular and pin frequently used documents and passwords, spreadsheets, favorite songs, etc., to the Jump Lists of programs pinned to the taskbar. You can also pin frequently used folders to the ever-present Favorites corner within Windows Explorer. And don’t forget to setup Quick Access Toolbar icons (Send/Receive, New Email, New Meeting, Print) right above your mail stream in Outlook.

2. Folders

Organizing your computer files and folders not only helps you locate things but also empowers you to file more, and the more you have on file, the more knowledge and resources are at your fingertips. Choosing perfectly practical wording for your folder names sometimes means going against conventional verbiage, like using “Writeups” instead of “Executive Summary.” Whatever comes to your mind first is what your folder should be named.

Since folders are auto-sorted alphabetically, you can add a simple “A –“ or “B –“ at the front of the names of your most frequently used folders so they don’t get lost in the alphabetical shuffle. Also, be consistent: if your Web bookmarks folder says “IMAGES”, don’t have your Windows folder read “PICS” and your physical filing system “PHOTOS”. Use “IMAGES” across the board, and feel free to add empty folders labeled “PHOTOS see IMAGES” and “PICS see IMAGES” for good measure.

3. Productivity Apps

Nifty tools like Techsmith’s Snagit and Microsoft’s Snipping Tool are the Computer Gods’ gifts to workhorses. Just as some people can’t imagine life before online reserved seating at movie theatres, I can’t imagine life before being able to point, drag and capture a specific area of a webpage or article. These snag tools have helped me snag so many on-the-fly images that I now have a powerful archive of hundreds of the most historical images in social media, including the Pope’s first tweet, major Facebook redesigns, Twitter’s Fail Whale, original iPad launch headlines, and much more. I can now simply pull the images into my PowerPoints for speaking engagements.

Other types of productivity tools like voice-to-text dictation apps – Dragon Dictation is the ultimate – and voice memos apps should be explored as well.

Jon Gluck operates the only business incubator in Beverly Hills, California and manages Iconic Digital, a leading social media marketing firm that helps businesses succeed in the brave new digital world. Visit www.JonGluck.com to check out more about his projects and to connect with Jon via email and his social media channels.

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