The average employee today has about thirty-seven hours of unfinished work on his/her desk at any one time. The average American will spend one year searching through desk clutter for misplaced objects. It costs $120 in labor to track down a misplaced document or $250 in labor to recreate it. In a recession it is important to get organized to save time and money.

I have seen my clients suffer from the effects of disorganization. Some of those effects are:

• Fees charged on late bills
• Buying something that has already been purchased because they couldn’t find it
• Time wasted looking for things
• Not being able to find an important document
• Costs for a storage unit because they have so much stuff or storing another person’s stuff for them
• Spending more time to create a misplaced document

The effects of disorganization can be especially costly to a business. Here are some suggestions to save time and money.

• Make sure you have a trusted filing system so that you can access documents quickly and easily.
• File daily to get rid of paper clutter.
• Use a calendar or daily planner to schedule appointments and tasks.
• Have supplies organized in labeled containers in a nearby closet or other storage area that is easily accessible to all employees.
• Have a bill paying system such as a tickler file.
• Sort and purge on a regular basis to cut down on clutter.
• Have a system for tackling email and social media websites