The famed humorist Margo Kaufman once said, “One person’s mess is merely another person’s filing system.” While many professionals can probably relate to this saying, nowhere does it ring more true than in in the world of Public Relations. Throughout my career, I have been fascinated by the creative organizational systems my colleagues have invented – everything from color-coded notebooks and matching highlighters for each client to spreadsheets tracking every single reporter interaction. 
A self-confessed Type A, I have been known to write a To-Do list (or 500). For those with New Year’s resolutions to become better organized at the office, here are some of my top tips:
- Create an email filing system. On an average day, those of us who work in PR can receive upwards of 100 or more emails. No one can keep up with an overflowing Inbox and get work done at the same time. My tips? First, create sub-folders for each client, and further divide those into various categories, such as “Media,” “Client Correspondence,” “Tradeshows and Conferences,” and so forth. This way, you have an at-a-glance reference when filing and later searching for specific emails.
- Try to maintain a daily schedule. A lot of PR pros I know complain that client demands and last-minute reporter requests routinely interrupt their best efforts to maintain any kind of workday schedule. While I can certainly attest to this, I also know how important it is to try and establish some order to my day. The easy things? Getting to work at the same time each morning; monitoring for client and industry news as soon as I fire up my computer; taking time to eat lunch and get out of the office at least once a day (a major advantage of working in a dog-friendly office!); and keeping To-Do lists – let’s face it, for PR pros, is there anything that beats the look of check marks on a page?
- Prioritize response times. This one is tricky. Urgency and efficiency are the hallmarks of any successful PR professional, and this includes swift response to any kind of correspondence – whether it be phone, email, text or social media. But you can get so sidetracked reading and responding to email, monitoring social media feeds and returning calls that there is practically no time left over in the day for actual writing, research and strategic planning, the hallmarks of what we are paid to do! The trick is to prioritize response times. You can choose a block (or two) of time every day to respond to correspondence, or flag those items that require urgent replies, leaving the rest for the end of the day. While it’s not easy to get used to this system, you’d be amazed at how much it helps improve daily efficiency.
I hope these tips help you get started on the path to a happy and productive 2014. What are some other tricks you use to help organize your day?