Office Organizing Ideas to Get Holiday Ready!

So, it’s the holidays, and you’re going to be enjoying a little time off. That is, if you can get everything done at the office first!

The push to get everything finished before holiday vacation can be extremely challenging, and so as your NYC professional organizer my job is to make it a little bit less so. And maybe a lot less so!

First, write down what needs to be done. These are absolute, 100-percent must-complete tasks that you will have done before you turn off your computer on the last day before vacation.

Don’t avoid making this list, just because it’s a little intimidating. What’s more intimidating, by far, is carrying a constantly shifting list in your mind and then panicking three hours before you’re supposed to leave for vacation about that last four-hour project to get done!

Thus the first of my office organizing ideas for holiday vacation prep is the simplest: write it down. All of it!

Once you’ve done this, it is often a good idea to get a second opinion. Maybe two or three tasks on the 15-item list appear like musts to you, but your peers or boss might have information you don’t that would actually make it a better idea for these things to be done in the New Year. It happens.

So, do a quick consult. If you’ve forgotten anything that should have been on your list, your peer or boss will probably be happy to let you know that, too.

Now, be your own second pair of eyes. Meaning: read the list carefully. Could two or three things be combined into one? Did you list something twice? Is there one item that requires approval that you know won’t come before the break? Are there tasks that you can delegate to others? That is another of my office organizing ideas: refine your list once you’ve gotten everything written down.

Once you have truly completed your list, you are ready to start knocking things off the list by actually doing the tasks on it. As an NYC professional organizer I can tell you that this will be deeply rewarding! Leaving for vacation with the satisfaction of a job well done is the only way to go!

In addition to the things that should be attended to before your break, think a little bit, too, about what you can do now to make coming back to work after your vacation more comfortable and more efficient.

Should you leave yourself a printed list of priorities to have when you return? Should you clean your own work area as well as common work areas that could really use it? I like to remind my clients that being a team player when we’re leaving for and returning from vacation is also important. We work as part of a team, after all.

It’s never a bad idea to ask colleagues if they could use a hand with getting ready for vacation. Again, you’ve been working as a team, you’ll be on vacation as a team, and you’ll come back to work as a team.

My final office organizing idea for this holiday season is this: Enjoy every minute of rest you get. You absolutely deserve it!