How to organize your office easily?
In April, I did my accounting and it took me ages! Over an hour! Not only did I waste time, but I also lost my nerves in the process and it bugged me the rest of the day. Then I figured out how to organize my office easily.
Do you know the feeling, the frustration of feeling like things are all over the place and that one document has to be....somewhere! But where?!
That was unacceptable.
But what happened? Why did I end up in that place?
Containment happened
My wife and I were both working only from home. Our shared office desk became a real mess. I needed to an easy solution to organize the office.
That means when I tried to do my accounting:
However, I remember that before the containment, I was doing my accounting work in barely 20 minutes. It went like a breeze and it didn’t feel like a pain. My numbers were up-to-date and I was feeling relaxed with my accounting. It was all sorted out. 
It’s OK not to be always perfect. Now it was time to go back to saving time.
So I got back to my notes. During the years, I met with more than 1’000 freelancers and entrepreneurs and gathered a list of the most interesting advices and tips I saw working. Not theoretical ones - for that there are plenty of books - but real practical ones.
The stuff used by the real freelancers to save time every single day so that they can spend more time to grow their business or with their family. And save their nerves at the same time.
At the end of the article, I have a downloadable PDF with specific advices I've gathered from freelancers to help you go even further in being efficient. It is the perfect complement to this article. Make sure to take it.
I’ve been doing this for years (you can even see one of my former videos from 4 years ago where I shared what I was learning.
But today, I want to share just one piece of advice: how to organize your office easily to save TONS of time.
Results of an easily organized office in pictures
My son is on the first picture working on my chair. 
Before organising my desk
After organising my desk
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Foundation - The Clean Desk System
In general I'm using a simple system to organize and plan my accounting work: the clean desk system.
Since I have been using this system, I only need one-fifth of the time I needed before to do my accounting. That means making sure my books are up to date and my financial information available. I’m able to check how my business is running and where I stand.
It is not something complicated and you don’t need a lot of knowledge to do it. It is at the reach of every single person.
It is a foundation stone for efficient accounting work.
STEP 1 - get the tools
First thing first, you need to get the tools to order all your documents properly.
So go get four open boxes and five binders.
STEP 2 - place the items
Put all the documents lying on your desk in the first box.
It should look like this:
STEP 3 - label
Label all the boxes:
STEP 4 - make the order
With this in mind organize your binders. They should reflect your activity but the minimum is:
STEP 5 - do the weekly check up
Once a week, take all the documents in the “to do” box.
Read them and
- Do what needs to be done
- Put them in one of the other boxes
- Put them in the trash
- Put them in a binder
- Answer the letter
- etc….
Tip: Add a weekly recurring event in your calendar to not forget it.
STEP 6 - complete payments
Once a week, take all invoices to be paid.
Look at the one you want to pay => make the payment.
The one you want to put back in the box => put them back in the box for next week.
Tip: Add a weekly recurring event in your calendar.
STEP 7 - close the month
Once a month, take all the documents in the third box and do your accounting.
Every time one supporting document is inputted in your accounting - put it directly in a binder.
Take also all invoices that were paid from your customers and put them in a binder.
Tip: Add a monthly recurring event in your calendar.
STEP 8 - enjoy the results of an easily organized office
Once you have done all the weekly or monthly tasks, reward yourself!
I personally like to go fetch a square of chocolate in the kitchen 
The Clean Desk System in video
I even made a video to recap these steps - the video is in French it's fully subtitled in English:
Advice from Vivien
At this point, your desk should be tidy and you should feel relaxed about your admin tasks being under control.
To go further I would advise you to complete my go-to techniques to simplify your admin tasks so that you can have more time for what matters to you. It’s easy to get caught in your daily routine and don’t realize all the admin work that is pilling up.
Certainly this guide makes sure you manage them quickly and effectively.
Guide - 5 step guide to simplify your admin tasks
Above all if you want to get even faster with your accounting, have a look at EZYcount - It’s a tool I developed with my team based on a patent to fully automate your accounting.
Because of the level of automation depends on your activity and we are working hard to make it available for all activities. If it’s automated, you don’t need to do it 😉 https://www.ezycount.ch