• Stop scribbling notes on any stray scraps of paper. Use your handheld, a daily planner or even a simple spiral notebook to keep track of notes to yourself. While I’m a huge fan of sticky notes, those suckers are easy to lose, especially when they stick to the back of another piece of paper.

• Write a list of specific work goals each day and mark them off as you finish them. Keep the list realistic.

• Have a set place to keep everything from paper clips to pens.

• Take a few seconds to put things back when you’re finished. If you think about it, it takes a few minutes to put something away, but you’ll save time in the long run.

• Make your work area as compact as possible. You’ll save time if you can grab everything you need — your phone, printer and files — without getting out of your seat.

• Leave your desk for 5 minutes every 1 ½ hours to stretch your body and invigorate your mind. After you start following the tip above, you’ll welcome the time away from your chair.

• Use a supportive chair, ergonomic keyboard and a desk that’s the right height to keep you from straining your back and your wrists while you type.

• Store phone numbers electronically within your handheld or within a contact management program. Then you can toss all of those business cards that are cluttering your desk.

• Set a time to leave your home office each day — and stick to it. Have you ever noticed that the less time you have to work, the more you accomplish? And the more time you have, the more time it takes for you to finish?

• Always carry a handheld, a daily planner or even a small notepad to jot down ideas that come to you after hours.

What do you do to be more efficient?

Sometimes a subtle reminder can get you started.

• Use a to-do list, whether paper-based, computerized or in your handheld, to record everything you need to do. Making a list is easy. Remembering to look at your list is the hard part. If you feel yourself getting sidetracked, go back to your list.

• Give each task on your list a priority, by listing the more important tasks at the top. Or place a number 1 next to the tasks you need to complete that day, a number 2 next to less important tasks and so on.

• If after reviewing your list you feel you’re having trouble getting started, work on a quick number 3 or another easy task. After you complete a simple task, you’ll be ready to tackle bigger ones.

• Reward yourself when you complete different parts of a project. A reward may be as simple as taking a walk, going out to lunch, or shopping online for ten minutes.

Telecommuting can give you the best of both worlds.

• Are you computer literate? Telecommuters can work anywhere and at all hours, simply by having the right equipment. When you telecommute, you’ll need the basics: a computer; printer, voice mail system and a separate business line (or you can use your cell phone).

• Do you have space in your home for a home office? Think outside the home office box and use a spare bedroom, guest room, attic or any other space where you know you’ll work. Otherwise the refrigerator, television, and your family can distract you.

• Do you have children? If so, you’ll need to hire help. Working from home isn’t a substitute for childcare, especially when your boss expects you to be productive when you’re working from home.

• Do you have a clear job description and do you know what your boss expects from you? Depending on your boss, you won’t have the personal contact with him or her that you did before—which can be a good thing—so you need to set progress milestones and arrange monthly or weekly face-to-face meetings

• Are you a self-starter? Without the physical constraints of a corporate office, you’ll need to motivate yourself to start working each day and continue working throughout the day.

• Do you have basic organizing skills from time management to project management? When you start working naked and you’re disorganized, it’s up to you to bring order to your office. Learning new organizing habits could be a matter of survival.

At times I envy my clients, seminar attendees and people who send me e-mails telling me about their disorganized lives. When they miss a deadline, it’s expected and understood. If I were to miss a deadline, everyone would question my organizing skills.

Being disorganized is the next task on my to-do list.

When someone who is disorganizationally challenged locks his keys in his car, he’s absent-minded. When several years ago I locked my keys in the car with my kids inside—the air conditioner was on and in five minutes a friend arrived with a spare key—I heard the annoying phrase, “not too organized!”

If one of my associates were to drop the ball, the client would blame me for not doing a better job of screening my associates. The average disorganized person can do the same thing—quickly blame the associate in question—and everyone nods in agreement that you can’t find good help anymore.

While one of the highest rated New Year’s resolutions after losing weight and giving up smoking is getting organized, mine this year has been to be disorganized. I’ve decided to stop being so “Type A” and let a few things slip—just as soon as I finish two more columns, a proposal, and a few other pending projects. I’ll even note on my calendar the day I’m going to start my quest for disorganization. I just hope it fits into my schedule.

Add an attachment to your e-mail before you write your message. I’ve tried this several times and so far, so good. At least my friends and clients have stopped sending me e-mails—some of them in an annoying tone—asking about attachments I was supposed to include.

Set a timer one to two hours before you need to leave for an appointment. I enter appointments—personal and business—in my iPhone but sometimes I forget to check my schedule first thing in the morning. The timer on my iPhone reminds me to get ready early so I’m not scrambling to leave.

Give yourself a two-day cushion for deadlines. You know that sinking feeling when you realize a deadline is minutes away and you’re not finished with a project? If you plan ahead, you can do a better job of scheduling your time and avoiding missed deadlines. And you can keep your stress level down.

At the beginning of the year, enter birthdays and other special occasions in whatever planning system you use. You’ll be less likely to forget important dates and offend your friends and clients. Have you ever called someone who thanks you for remembering his or her birthday—that’s not why you called because you forgot—then you quickly enter the date in your calendar for next year? I have, but I’m not going to admit which friend I’ve done that to. Several greeting card companies including Blue Mountain offer free, online reminder programs so you can send e-cards at the last minute.

• Put your stuff away. No one (especially clients) wants to see laundry baskets overflowing with dirty clothes, toys all over the floor, and newspapers that haven’t made it to the recycling bin. If you’re in a hurry, shove stuff in closets until you can put everything away where it belongs. I’m not advocating disorganization, but last-minute client meetings require desperate measures.
  

  You may want to close off certain rooms before clients visit.

• Move your office to a space near your front door—a converted dining room or formal living room is ideal—to avoid dragging your clients all through your home. Before a client comes over, close the doors to any rooms you don’t want them to see. They may act like the mess doesn’t bother them, but it does.

• Create a space within or near your home office for client meetings. Make your dining room serve double duty as a conference room. If you followed the last tip and moved your office to the dining room, then problem solved. Within that space, consider adding a small kitchen area. A small cabinet stocked with a coffee maker, soft drinks, and water for meetings is all you need.

• Make sure your family knows when a client is coming over. It took me a week to get over seeing a sub-contractor’s husband in his Speedo as he was walking out to their pool. I was more disgusted than he was embarrassed!

Don't believe anything you hear and only believe half of what you see.

I credit my older sister for putting me over the organizing edge. When we were younger and shared a room, her side was a pit and mine was obsessively neat (but I’ve mellowed a bit).

Even though my sister’s still disorganized—she’s fine with it—she knows it’s possible for anyone to get organized. But some people are stubborn and refuse to get organized because they believe some misconceptions about organization. I want to set the record straight.

• MISCONCEPTION #1—Handle paper once. This is not only impossible, it’s unrealistic. Whenever I hear an organizing expert tell others to handle paper once, I cringe. Instead of pressuring yourself to handle paper once, get in the habit of doing something to move each piece forward. The point is to keep the paper in play until it lands in a file or the recycle bin. It’s a waste of time to pick up the same piece of paper and put it back repeatedly.

• MISCONCEPTION #2—Always keep papers stored out of sight. Some people work better when their desk is clear, while others swear they can’t work unless they’re surrounded by stacks of paper. A company I consulted with made their administrative assistants clear off their desks at the end of the day. In the morning, everyone wasted around 20 minutes setting up their desks. You don’t have to keep your desk clear. Instead set up systems so you can find the papers you need when you need them.

• MISCONCEPTION #3—Everyone should be organized to the same degree. Different people work differently (see my blog post on working styles). Just because a neighbor or friend works a certain way in his or her home office, you don’t have to work the same way. Find the level of organization that works for you.

• MISCONCEPTION #4—One planning system should fit everyone’s needs. Years ago companies hired me to “fix” the associates who became even more disorganized and confused after attending a two-day time management seminar (an oxymoron, don’t you think?). The company giving the seminar sold one type of planning system and expected everyone to use it. Keep in mind that planning systems (both paper-based and electronic) are designed by a few people, for everyone to use. Pick the system that fits your working style.

Could you share an office with your spouse?

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t work with your spouse – and I know many people who do so successfully. However, they say that their ability to work together in business is directly related to their separate home offices.

Consider these questions before you share a home office with your spouse.

• Do you have compatible work styles? Your spouse may like a messy desk while you like having a clear space to work. Use separate desks to solve or avoid that problem.

• Are your internal clocks synchronized? If you’re a morning person and your spouse likes to stay up late, you may run into problems – including being kept awake by a noisy printer or phone calls. Invest in earplugs, add a door to close off your office (if possible), or convince your spouse to print in the morning.

• Does your home office have to be quiet for you to be productive – while your spouse needs background noise to work? Get him or her a set of headphones. While he or she is enjoying music, you can enjoy a quiet office.

Sharing a home office with my spouse didn’t work for me, but everyone’s different. And what happens in the bedroom doesn’t necessarily dictate what happens in the boardroom – even if both rooms are in the same house.

Sure, there are days when I start writing early, get on a roll and look up to see it’s noon or later and I haven’t taken a shower. But most of the time, I try to get ready before I sit down to work. It’s too easy to spend the day in pajamas.

My old home office as seen through my (then) 5-year-old son's eyes. I've upgraded my equipment and updated my wardrobe since then.

It’s unfair, but when you work from home you have to be more organized, more disciplined and more professional than your corporate counterpart. If you answer the phone in a corporate office with co-workers talking in the background, it’s fine. If you answer the phone in your home office with the dog barking, the baby screaming and the doorbell ringing, your professionalism takes a nosedive.

Here are a few simple things you can do to maintain your professionalism:

• Check your voicemail message to make sure you are the only voice on it and that your message is clear. There shouldn’t be any background noises.

• Use a separate business line or your cell phone for your business. Forwarding your business line to your cell phone will minimize missed calls.

• Make sure that only the people associated with your business answer your business phone. I’ve found that toddlers and teenagers are the worst receptionists!

• Have you ever figured out what your time is worth? I mean really worth, not what you wish it was worth or what you tell people it’s worth. Calculate your hourly rate and then decide if you should handle a project or pay someone to do it.

• In business, before you agree to lower your fee for one project, determine if this project will lead to other projects from your client or your clients’ friends at your regular fee. If not, recommend someone else for the assignment. Keep in mind that clients talk and if you give one client a good price and his friend a higher price, your client will be offended and probably will fire you.

• If you drive from place to place looking for what you need (you’ll save time buying online), call ahead and ask for directions, get them on the Internet or get a GPS. My iphone gets me where I need to go but I’ve figured out I can’t talk on the phone AND look at the directions. Design flaw!