Clutter Compounds Work-Place Stress for Canadians
18 October 2011 - 5:24AM
Marketwired
For 62 percent of working Canadians, work, was identified as the
primary culprit of stress in 2010 according to new numbers from
Statistics Canada release last week. A pressure-cooker to begin
with, the workplace is made even more stressful by being
disorganized. Small Business Week in Canada is the perfect time to
think about strategies to help employees be more productive and
less stressed - both of which will add to the bottom line of small
businesses.
"Canadians are in a constant time crunch and experience feelings
of stress, failure and frustration," says Clare Kumar, a
Toronto-based professional organizer. "Today's office workers must
take stock of both their work habits and their environment, and
take necessary action to alleviate the tremendous pressure
disorganization has on their productivity and work-life
balance."
To help Canadians make positive changes and take steps towards
improving their personal productivity, ACCO Brands Canada Inc., a
Canadian manufacturer of office products, is launching its
fourth-annual Organize Your Desk Day (www.organizeyourdeskday.com),
October 20th, in tandem with Small Business Week (October
16-22).
Organize Your Desk Day is a national program designed to assist
small to medium-sized businesses help their employees organize
their work spaces and become more efficient and effective every
day.
"By having the right tools in place, Canadian office workers can
save at least 15 minutes per day which works out to a week and a
half per year," adds Linda Chu, a professional organizer in
Vancouver. "This has a dramatic effect on the health of businesses
and their workers."
Professional organizers say desks in disarray causes a drop of
20 per cent in worker efficiency; costing the economy billions of
dollars in lost productivity. Studies show the average worker
spends at least 400 hours per year searching for paper
documents.
"It costs SMBs $120 in labour costs just to track down a
misplaced document or $250 in labour to re-create it," adds Chu.
"This places tremendous stress on the bottom line for many
businesses that need to return to profitability, especially coming
out of the economic downturn."
"Knowing where to begin is half the battle of getting
organized," says Chu. She recommends following the five-step CLEAR
method to become more efficient and productive in your
workplace.
C - Categorize. Sort through your possessions and group them
into similar categories of information & tasks. Stay on track
by identifying what things are, instead of getting sidetracked by
thinking of solutions.
L - Limit. If space is a premium you may have to choose between
what is important - your space or your stuff. Limit your
collections by scheduling regular sessions to review and let go of
information and resources collected.
E - Evaluate. Focusing on what matters most is the key to
prioritizing. Determine what goals are important for you to achieve
and choose the tasks and information/tools that will help to get
you there. Continually evaluating your information and tasks as
they relate to achieving your goals will help to increase your
efficiency and productivity.
A - Allocate. Finding a home and a method to store your
information & possessions is critical to your success in being
able to find what you need, when you need it. Ensure that your
workspace is clear for work, not for storage.
R - Remove. Items that are no longer of value or you no longer
need can be removed from your workspace. Focusing on what is
important will get you on track to become more efficient and
productive in your workplace.
For more information about Organize Your Desk Day, visit
www.organizeyourdeskday.com.
About ACCO Brands Canada Inc.
ACCO Brands Canada Inc. is a Trading Company of ACCO Brands
Corporation (NYSE:ABD), one of the world's largest suppliers of
branded office products. Its industry-leading brands include
Day-Timer®, Swingline®, Kensington®, Quartet®, GBC® and Wilson
Jones®, available from dealers of quality office supplies
participating in Organize your Desk Day, such as: Grand & Toy,
Staples, Basics Office Supply, Office Plus, Novexco / BuroPLUS, and
Lyreco.
Contacts: ACCO Brands Canada Inc. Kimberly Hughes 905 595 3100
ext. 2296Kimberly.hughes@acco.com
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