Wondering where to begin in organizing an efficient home office? Start by thinking of your home office as a real office. At the minimum (and with New York apartments, that’s often all you’ve got), make sure you have a comfortable desk and chair, a filing space, good lighting, and a telephone, along with your computer and printer. A high-speed Internet connection can save you time, so if you can afford it, it’s often worth the investment.
The first step in setting up your home office is organizing what’s already there. Most of us have huge numbers of papers in our lives that we can toss. Go through all the papers on your desk, one piece at a time. If a paper is important, put it in a keeper pile for the time being. If it belongs to someone else, create a pile of things to give to colleagues. If you don’t need it, recycle!
Next, go through your keeper pile one piece of paper at a time. Don’t allow yourself the indulgence of reminiscing about that audition, and don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked by that note about a phone call from your coach that you were supposed to have returned last week. As tempting as it is, don’t drop everything to make that call. Just note it on a master list of things to do and keep going.
We’ve all heard the adage: “Handle a piece of paper only once.” I don’t know about you, but for me this simply doesn’t work! I’ve found that rather than worrying about the number of times I handle a piece of paper, it’s more important to make a decision about what I’m going to do with that piece of paper. When a piece of paper crosses your desk, make an immediate decision: 1) If there is work to do, note it on your master list. 2) If you need to keep it, file it. 3) If you don’t need it any more, recycle it.
Reduce your “to read” pile as well. As an alternative to having stacks of newspapers and journals lying around, create a reading file. Rip out any pertinent pages, save them in your file, and throw the rest away. If you don’t want to rip up the magazine, circle the article you wish to read in the table of contents, or put a sticky note on the cover (otherwise you won’t remember why you were saving it in the first place). If you find something particularly helpful, write it on a sticky note so that when you pick up the material a month (or a year) later, you’ll know in an instant what caught your eye. Remember that nowadays a lot of this written material is available online, where it is easily searchable and accessible, so you can let that magazine from last year go.
Do the same type of excavation work for the drawers and files inside your desk. Since you probably haven’t looked at most of the papers in these drawers in quite a while, it should be easy for you to go through them and toss the papers you don’t need. During your cleanout, don’t forget your briefcase!
It bears repeating:
• If there is work to do, note it on your master list.
• If you have materials you intend to read, decide what to do with them.
• If you make a note and no longer need that paper, recycle it.
• If you need to keep that note, put it in a properly labeled file folder and file it away.
If a folder doesn’t exist, create one, and it’s best to use folders instead of leaving easily misplaced letters and memos floating on top of your desk. I personally find that colored folders help me locate things I need even faster. Don’t waste your time trying to type a gummed label. Just keep a supply of file folders in your desk drawer, so that you can grab one and write on it whenever you need one. Fine-tipped pens work best for this—pencils smudge easily and markers are more prone to water damage. When you write labels for conductors or coaches you are in contact with, make them just like you would see them in a phone directory, with their last name first, so you can alphabetize more easily.
Another helpful idea: Consider getting rid of hanging folders. Use expandable file pockets instead. This way you can keep all the files for a certain project together. (For example, “CD Project” could be one three-inch expandable file pocket.) You can alphabetize these file pockets and put them into your file drawers. File pockets take up less space, and they stand up all by themselves. You can also have one file for conductors, one for coaches, one for agents and so forth. That way you won’t be caught without the name of that great conductor you met two years ago.
Place files you use all the time in the front of the drawer so they are easy to get to; place files you use less frequently behind them. Place other files you need but won’t look at often (such as programs from recitals you’ve completed) in the drawers of your credenza, or other filing cabinets in the office.
After you set up your filing system, get into the habit of working from files, so that you can have the facts at your fingertips.
If you can, try to get in the habit of dating your papers. Every time you write something down, you should always put a date on it. Records of what, and for whom you sang become useless if you can’t remember when the audition took place. Notes of conversations or auditions with agents, conductors and coaches are much more useful when you date them and keep them for chronological reference. And when you can find them when you need them, it’s even better!
Stay tuned for next month’s article on how to use your home office to communicate more effectively with the folks who have the power to hire you—and think about organizing your home office as your goal for the month.
