Clearing Office Paperwork

Mounds of paperwork piling up all around your work space can cause more than just stress. Today we want to tackle that clutter accumulating all around you and help you stay focused to get more done. We want you to be successful as a restaurant owner/operator so this is an important part of your job.

   Here are a few reasons you don't want to let clutter get the best of you or your office and some of our own ideas to keep it all neat and tidy!

      It's easier to lose track of bills that need paid on time in a messy office. We all know that late bills hurts your reputation with your vendors, suppliers and creditors and once you lose their trust it usually gets around to others too plus hurts your credit rating. Create a place in your work space for bills due so you'll see them and work on getting them paid on time.


     Clutter is chaos and adds to the stress of every day life. Get a handle on it before it gets out of control and you'll find that you'll like going to work, like being in that office and like knowing where everything is.

     You'll spend less time on busy work when you know where everything is. Just like your home, everything should have a place. If your Chef or managers use your office, make sure they know your office rules and put everything back where it belongs. Time is money so you don't want you or anyone else wasting time in the office simply to find what's needed, if it's a phone number, address, bill, file or whatever.  Use those file drawers, have plenty of extra file folders,  label them smartly so you can get in and get out!

     It's easier to keep track of your belongings in an organized work office. For example, all our cookbooks, management books, leadership and training books are lined up in the office. We have a large collection of books, they're expensive so we don't want them all scattered around, used and lost or stolen. When you keep everything organized, you'll recognize when something is missing so you won't need to replace it - saving you money. When someone borrows a book, you'll know it and you'll know when it's returned or who to track down if it's not:)

     Saving replacement costs. I remember a few times cleaning out our office, we'd often find duplicate things that we bought again only because we couldn't find them. Things like staplers, white out, calculators, extension cords, tools were notorious for disappearing. We'd repurchase them and then when the office got a good cleaning and other parts of our restaurant, we'd end up finding what was thought to be missing in a different area. Find a place to keep all your computer software, discs, office needs and supplies - a handy well organized supply cabinet saved us at less than $200 and could help you too! Lock it if need be.

     Get yourself an office on wheels that holds your laptop, files, reference books and more to carry back and forth to work from home for those important papers you need to work on - if you take work home with you. We love having as much time at home away from our business as possible, even if there's still some work to get done. Just getting home to hang out on the porch, deck to check a sunset is good for the soul and helps us a ton. Using our office on wheels makes it more likely that we can do work away from the restaurant.
 Try it if you don't already!

   Use these tips to get started cleaning your office and you'll no doubt feel better and get more work done in a faster amount of time. Best wishes to you and let us know any ideas or comments you have about cleaning your own space.
  Cheers until next time!