Thursday Tip Triad #9: Simple Organization Tips

After you get started in the legitimate work from home world one of the hardest things to master is organization.  I for one, have never been very organized... My desk is usually a pile of papers, notepads, writing utensils and so much more.  Luckily, there are a few simple things that can be done to help you keep organized and on top of your game without really requiring any sort of heavy time commitment or any sort of investment either.

1.  Make a special Gmail account.  I know this sounds annoying and silly, but honestly it's one of the best things you can do.  There have been one or two times where I've lost responses from legitimate work from home sites because they've gotten lost in the shuffle of my primary inbox.  Just last week I was trying to find my letter from a web site rating company that invited me to test with them, and couldn't.
This can easily be avoided by creating a separate account for all things work related.  Use your name, or an abbreviation of your name so that it will look more professional and clients or employers will be able to easily connect you to your email.

2.  Use Gmail labels and stars.  I know Gmail has a lot of neat features that allow you to do a lot with your inbox and your messages, but one of the simplest things you can do is to make a label for every client or employer that you have.  Using labels lets you pull up all your correspondence with one person or company at a time and if you star your most recent assignment from each employer, you'll easily be able to locate it, even if your client is chatty and sends you random messages that don't really apply to the task at hand.

To set up a label do the following:

1. Click the drop down button in the main portion of the Gmail page that says "Labels" and click "Manage Labels".
2. The second part of the box that loads up in the main portion of your page will have a text box, enter your desired label name there and hit create.
3. Click "Filters" from the top menu bar.
4. Click "Create New Filter".
5. Fill in the "From" box with the email associated with your label, do a test search if desired and then press "Next Step".
6. Click the button for "Apply Label" and select the appropriate label, click the "Also apply filter to # conversations below" if applicable then select "Create Filter". 
7. Repeat steps 4-6, but put the email address in the "To" box instead of the from box in step 5.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 for all clients or employers, and anything else you would like to filter.

3.  Take advantage of spreadsheets.  I have a lot of spreadsheets that I use to keep track of things with.  For example, I have one that I use to track all of my propagation projects including names, emails, passwords, websites, number of posts etc.  There is another one that tracks my ad postings with dates and locations so that I can ensure that the ads are spread out over time.

You can also use them to create schedules, to do lists and dozens of other things.  One stay at home mom, Melissa from SahmJob, even has one to help her stay on top of her housework!

While these may seem like small things, remember that small changes can lead to big improvements.  Staying organized will make your work from home life a lot less stressful and a lot more profitable.  Use free resources like Gmail and your current spreadsheet program to keep on top of things and you'll be ready for anything that your legitimate work from home jobs throw at you!