Currently, my work desk is populated by mugs of tea that have accumulated over the previous week. All of my weekend plans are made approximately 30 minutes in advance. If I do happen to be taking a trip, the final details will be ironed out the day before while I pack one hour before I’m supposed to leave. Early flight check-ins are an alien concept to me alongside colour coordinated closets.
To summarize, I'm a disorganized person. In fact, traveling the organized path is a daily challenge that turns into a downright struggle when I try to organize others. Fortunately for the Kelowna community and business sector, there are people who aren’t like me. These people live organized lives and, by extension, run great businesses that help our community. They’ve taken some time out of their busy, yet rigorously structured, day to offer some tips for how we can stay on top of life.
Title: CEO of Csek Creative
Accomplishments: CEO of one of Kelowna’s longest standing, premier marketing companies. Recipient of Business Excellence Awards, 2016 Marketer of the Year Award.
“My tip for organization? I have an all-consuming disdain for mess. As such, I tackle every possible source of mess immediately. Dishes in the sink last a couple of minutes and my closet is organized to perfection. Yes, I’m a proud colour coordinator.
“As for the office, the largest source of mess is my email. I receive approximately 200 emails a day but refuse to have more than 20 in my inbox. I use a CMS software called Highrise that allows me to filter all of these emails into tasks.”
Title: Owner of local videography company “Truly Blessed Productions”
Accomplishments: Produced various film work for a variety of individuals and corporations in addition to fostering a vivacious youtube channel. He’s also only 22 years old.
“Organization is key in the videography industry. Just think about it. We have hours upon hours of footage. For one single shoot, I could have one hundred hours of footage. If I add up all of the clients I’ve created content for, that’s thousands of hours. If this gets lost in a mess, I’m screwed.
My tip is to create a space for everything. On my computer, all of my files are rigorously organized. I’m talking about folders with subfolders upon subfolders. In the home, I make sure everything has its space. So, in my closet, I have a space for every item that serves a particular function. For example, all my athletic gear is in a drawer and all of my shirts are hung up in an order that reflects their relevance and function.
Title: Content Director for KelownaNow
Accomplishments: Manages the content that goes onto Kelowna’s best website. She also coordinates and approves awesome articles like ‘four leading locals reveal how they stay organized’ while nagging employees who leave mugs of tea lying around. In other words, it’s a pretty tricky job.
“My tip? I focus on getting one task finished so that I can tick it off and move onto the next. This means locking myself away in an empty room and staying there until the job gets done. I remove myself from distractions, a.k.a my writers asking me for organization tips…
In the home, I always focus on one task at a time to ensure that it’s fully completed. So the dishes are left until I can fully focus on them and do them. I’m not the type to leave soapy suds on dishes and I’m a big fan of hand drying."
Title: Project Manager at Caron Business Solutions
Accomplishments: As Project Manager of an accounting, HR and CRM software firm, Ingunn manages the specific needs of multiple clients in various industries.
“Caron has many clients across multiple industries, time zones, and continents. We have to be organized in order to support them all. As Caron’s project manager, I get to work with all of our clients and all projects that we are engaged in at any given time. I am able to do it thanks to a project software called Wrike. For every project we do, small or big, we use Wrike to track all the tasks that are required to bring a project from start to finish. Without this software, I would have a lot more gray hairs than I do. Having access to all projects at my fingertips helps me immensely. For me the key is to “Wrike it down"!!"
However, software is only useful if you know how to use it! We provide training seminars on various software to make sure our clients are fully versed in how to use technology in a way that ensures they’re as organized as possible."
With the wisdom imparted to us by these organization genius’, I’m inspired to step it up. Perhaps I’ll start making weekend plans on Wednesday or even clean my tea mug after I’m done using it. Well, everything is pretty straight forward - with the exception of the software advice.
Finding the best software for your business and using it to its full potential is a learning curve. If you’d like a helping hand, Caron Business Solutions offers training courses on Sage software. The training courses offer a comprehensive run-down of everything you need to know about Sage. Learn more by visiting the Classroom Training page or contacting Caron Business Solutions.
Caron Business Solutions helps clients to implement Accounting, CRM and HR software. Their core software, created by Sage, is world-class business management software designed to help clients run their companies effectively. Their services include needs assessment, solution design, user training, go-live assistance, and support.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
