The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has launched BusinesSafe, a new anti-terror initiative designed to provide Florida businesses with domestic security information to protect assets and safeguard local communities.
The first of its kind in the nation, BusinesSafe allows members of the private sector to register for free electronic alerts from FDLE’s Office of Domestic Security. These notifications will provide breaking news, important safety tips and opportunities to learn about specific preparedness techniques. The alerts can be sent to email accounts, cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
BusinesSafe also provides access to industry-specific fact sheets that will help businesses identify suspicious activities or potential threats. Participants can register with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to access information on protection from security breaches.
Security is a top priority for us and this new tool will help connect our company with important and relevant safety information.
I encourage you to access the program at www.fdle.state.fl.us and to sign up to receive the alerts.
Thank you,
Monday, May 12, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Tips for Organizing Your Office
Tips for Organizing Your Office
Using these tips for organizing your office you will become:
• more organized
• more focused
• more productive.
The reasons are simple. When things are organized you can find what you need. When you can find what you need you waste less time. When you stop wasting time you become more productive.
Whether you work from home or not, you can benefit from these tips for organizing your office.
Tips for Organizing Your Office
At Home
Organizing your home office presents a unique set of challenges. Clutter from the rest of your house can sneak into your office and you can become distracted by other household activities.
If you work from home, you need to set some ground rules.
1. Establish your working hours. Choose a time frame during which you will work each day. Try to keep this consistent, the way it would be if you worked away from home. By creating a schedule, you will make it easier for the rest of your family to respect your working hours.
2. Encourage respect of your schedule. Once you have established your work schedule, discourage interruptions while you are working. Develop a code to help remind younger children when you are not to be disturbed. Choose something easy for them to recognize like shutting the office door or setting an alarm clock.
If you are the only parent home with young children and need to work while your children are awake, establish quiet time while you are working.
o Put some chairs and a bookshelf in your office and allow your kids to sit in there with you and read quietly while you work.
o Provide puzzles or board games for them to play.
o Make work time for you fun for them. Make your kids some popcorn and pop in one of their favorite movies as a special treat.
o Spend lots of time interacting with your children prior to quiet. Encourage them to respect quiet time and make sure they understand that you would love to give them lots of attention, but only when quiet time is over.
3. Nothing goes in the office that doesn't belong in the office. Your home office is not a catch-all. Everything in your house needs a home and, when not being used, should be in it's home not in your office.
Next, determine what you will use your home office for and follow these tips for organizing your office accordingly.
• Do you run a business out of your home?
• Do you need to be able to meet with clients?
• Do you use your home office to maintain the family's records and finances?
• Will other family members need to use your office?
Once you have answered these questions, decide what kind of furniture you will need in the room to accomplish each task. A desk and chair are obvious, but will you need bookshelves, filing cabinets, or extra seating? Once you have the required furniture, find the best placement for it in your office.
Now determine the equipment you will need, such as a computer, telephone, fax machine and copy machine. Determine the best home for each piece of equipment based upon frequency of use.
Be sure you have storage space for supplies and merchandise. These items should be stored neatly and clearly labeled for ease of recognition. Again, keep frequency of use in mind when you are finding a home for your supplies and merchandise.
Finally, get your files organized. Whether your files are limited to your family's important papers or include extensive work-related documentation, they should be maintained in an orderly manner. A file cabinet with labeled folders kept in alphabetically order is usually a safe bet to keep all of your paperwork organized. Following these tips for organizing your office will help to ensure that you are as efficient as possible in your home office.
Tips for Organizing Your Office
At Work
If you work away from home, chances are that you will have to make do with the furniture, file space and storage that is provided for you. With these tips for organizing your office you can make any situation work.
Your system will depend upon the type of work you do.
• Do you need an in box?
• Do you need an out box?
• Do you need storage space for reference materials?
• Do you need space to spread out large projects?
Based upon the answers to these kinds of questions, determine what supplies you will need to do your job efficiently.
Next, think about the tasks that you regularly perform at work. Routine tasks require a system.
To follow up on outstanding items, use an accordion file with slots numbered 1 through 31. Make a photocopy of anything requiring follow up. Put the copy in the slot for the date that you will follow up on it. Each day, simply pull all of your copies from the current date slot and follow up. Make any necessary notes on the follow up copy and, if the item requires additional follow-up, place the copy back into the accordion for the appropriate date.
If you are receive verbal instructions, keep a note pad on your desk. Any time a verbal request is made, write it down. When a task is accomplished, cross it off. Take ten minutes at the end of every day to re-write your to-do list. The next morning you will have a neat and orderly list to start with. This will also help to clear your head so that when you leave work for the day, you can leave all of your worries behind, knowing that nothing will be forgotten.
Finally, create an ideal daily schedule. For example:
DAILY WORK SCHEDULE
TIME TASK
9:00-
10:00 Daily follow-up
10:00-
11:00 Return telephone calls and answer emails
11:00-
12:00 Prepare daily reports
12:00-
1:00 Lunch
1:00-
2:00 Return telephone calls and answer emails received during lunch
2:00-
3:30 Miscellaneous daily tasks
3:30-
4:30 Filing
4:30-
5:00 Reorganize to-do list
Post this schedule where it will be visible to you. Don't expect to strictly adhere to it, but having it as a guideline will help keep you focused. Following these tips for organizing your office will help to ensure that you are as efficient as possible at work.
Using these tips for organizing your office you will become:
• more organized
• more focused
• more productive.
The reasons are simple. When things are organized you can find what you need. When you can find what you need you waste less time. When you stop wasting time you become more productive.
Whether you work from home or not, you can benefit from these tips for organizing your office.
Tips for Organizing Your Office
At Home
Organizing your home office presents a unique set of challenges. Clutter from the rest of your house can sneak into your office and you can become distracted by other household activities.
If you work from home, you need to set some ground rules.
1. Establish your working hours. Choose a time frame during which you will work each day. Try to keep this consistent, the way it would be if you worked away from home. By creating a schedule, you will make it easier for the rest of your family to respect your working hours.
2. Encourage respect of your schedule. Once you have established your work schedule, discourage interruptions while you are working. Develop a code to help remind younger children when you are not to be disturbed. Choose something easy for them to recognize like shutting the office door or setting an alarm clock.
If you are the only parent home with young children and need to work while your children are awake, establish quiet time while you are working.
o Put some chairs and a bookshelf in your office and allow your kids to sit in there with you and read quietly while you work.
o Provide puzzles or board games for them to play.
o Make work time for you fun for them. Make your kids some popcorn and pop in one of their favorite movies as a special treat.
o Spend lots of time interacting with your children prior to quiet. Encourage them to respect quiet time and make sure they understand that you would love to give them lots of attention, but only when quiet time is over.
3. Nothing goes in the office that doesn't belong in the office. Your home office is not a catch-all. Everything in your house needs a home and, when not being used, should be in it's home not in your office.
Next, determine what you will use your home office for and follow these tips for organizing your office accordingly.
• Do you run a business out of your home?
• Do you need to be able to meet with clients?
• Do you use your home office to maintain the family's records and finances?
• Will other family members need to use your office?
Once you have answered these questions, decide what kind of furniture you will need in the room to accomplish each task. A desk and chair are obvious, but will you need bookshelves, filing cabinets, or extra seating? Once you have the required furniture, find the best placement for it in your office.
Now determine the equipment you will need, such as a computer, telephone, fax machine and copy machine. Determine the best home for each piece of equipment based upon frequency of use.
Be sure you have storage space for supplies and merchandise. These items should be stored neatly and clearly labeled for ease of recognition. Again, keep frequency of use in mind when you are finding a home for your supplies and merchandise.
Finally, get your files organized. Whether your files are limited to your family's important papers or include extensive work-related documentation, they should be maintained in an orderly manner. A file cabinet with labeled folders kept in alphabetically order is usually a safe bet to keep all of your paperwork organized. Following these tips for organizing your office will help to ensure that you are as efficient as possible in your home office.
Tips for Organizing Your Office
At Work
If you work away from home, chances are that you will have to make do with the furniture, file space and storage that is provided for you. With these tips for organizing your office you can make any situation work.
Your system will depend upon the type of work you do.
• Do you need an in box?
• Do you need an out box?
• Do you need storage space for reference materials?
• Do you need space to spread out large projects?
Based upon the answers to these kinds of questions, determine what supplies you will need to do your job efficiently.
Next, think about the tasks that you regularly perform at work. Routine tasks require a system.
To follow up on outstanding items, use an accordion file with slots numbered 1 through 31. Make a photocopy of anything requiring follow up. Put the copy in the slot for the date that you will follow up on it. Each day, simply pull all of your copies from the current date slot and follow up. Make any necessary notes on the follow up copy and, if the item requires additional follow-up, place the copy back into the accordion for the appropriate date.
If you are receive verbal instructions, keep a note pad on your desk. Any time a verbal request is made, write it down. When a task is accomplished, cross it off. Take ten minutes at the end of every day to re-write your to-do list. The next morning you will have a neat and orderly list to start with. This will also help to clear your head so that when you leave work for the day, you can leave all of your worries behind, knowing that nothing will be forgotten.
Finally, create an ideal daily schedule. For example:
DAILY WORK SCHEDULE
TIME TASK
9:00-
10:00 Daily follow-up
10:00-
11:00 Return telephone calls and answer emails
11:00-
12:00 Prepare daily reports
12:00-
1:00 Lunch
1:00-
2:00 Return telephone calls and answer emails received during lunch
2:00-
3:30 Miscellaneous daily tasks
3:30-
4:30 Filing
4:30-
5:00 Reorganize to-do list
Post this schedule where it will be visible to you. Don't expect to strictly adhere to it, but having it as a guideline will help keep you focused. Following these tips for organizing your office will help to ensure that you are as efficient as possible at work.
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