• Stop scribbling notes on any stray scraps of paper. Use your handheld, a daily planner or even a simple spiral notebook to keep track of notes to yourself. While I’m a huge fan of sticky notes, those suckers are easy to lose, especially when they stick to the back of another piece of paper.

• Write a list of specific work goals each day and mark them off as you finish them. Keep the list realistic.

• Have a set place to keep everything from paper clips to pens.

• Take a few seconds to put things back when you’re finished. If you think about it, it takes a few minutes to put something away, but you’ll save time in the long run.

• Make your work area as compact as possible. You’ll save time if you can grab everything you need — your phone, printer and files — without getting out of your seat.

• Leave your desk for 5 minutes every 1 ½ hours to stretch your body and invigorate your mind. After you start following the tip above, you’ll welcome the time away from your chair.

• Use a supportive chair, ergonomic keyboard and a desk that’s the right height to keep you from straining your back and your wrists while you type.

• Store phone numbers electronically within your handheld or within a contact management program. Then you can toss all of those business cards that are cluttering your desk.

• Set a time to leave your home office each day — and stick to it. Have you ever noticed that the less time you have to work, the more you accomplish? And the more time you have, the more time it takes for you to finish?

• Always carry a handheld, a daily planner or even a small notepad to jot down ideas that come to you after hours.

What do you do to be more efficient?

There's "what not to wear." This is "how not to file."

Forgetting where you’ve filed something. Give your files names that you’ll remember by using word association. Whatever word will help you find a piece of paper when you need it is what you should name a file.

Using manila (interior) folders without hanging folders. Label hanging folders with a general category and use interior folders inside as subcategories. When you have four or more interior folders within a hanging folder, create another main category.

Creating too many categories for papers. The hanging/interior file system will work if you create specific files instead of too many general categories. The more specific you are when you name your files, the better.

Filing papers between hanging folders. When you’re in a hurry and you want to clear your desk or at least reduce the stacks of paper on your desk, it’s easy to misfile something. Hanging folders are invaluable to a good filing system but if you’re not paying attention, you can accidentally file papers between two hanging folders. I’ve done that and it’s incredibly frustrating!

Shuffling through interior folders to find recent papers. When you file a piece of paper, put it in the front of the interior folder instead of dropping it randomly into the file. You’ll save time flipping through older papers that you probably don’t need anymore.

Yes is easier to say than no.

How many times have you said yes when you meant no? Face it, there are only so many hours in a day and if at some point you don’t say no, you’ll never get ahead (or get any sleep!).

When my sons were younger, I was at the top of the volunteer list (translation: sucker). Whenever someone called me to help with an event, class project or anything else to do with school, I said yes. I did the same thing with two professional associations I was in.

One day I had a revelation. I was spending more time volunteering my time than growing my business. I’m all for helping others but eventually you have to say no. Before you say yes, consider a few things I finally learned:

• Be selfish with your time. When you say yes to one thing, often you’ll have to say no to something more enjoyable. Look at your schedule and determine if you really have time to tackle one more project. If not, be honest, be direct and say no. Something I’ve finally started telling people is that I could say yes and do the job halfway or say no and let someone do it right. That always works.

• When there’s no more room left on your plate, let the person know that you’re too busy to meet his or her request, then recommend someone else for the task. But keep in mind that whomever you recommend is a reflection on you. Don’t suggest someone unless you have first-hand knowledge of his or her capabilities.

• If you know you won’t be able to meet your client’s deadline, discuss a more realistic date. If you can’t compromise, be diplomatic and turn down the project. Some clients will gladly wait for you to begin working on their project.

Ten-Minutes—Promise yourself that you’ll work on a project for ten minutes and then quit if you’re tired or bored. Chances are that at least 30 minutes will go by and you’ll have made progress.

Best For Last—This is a slight form of a reward system. Handle a few tasks first and as a reward, handle the easiest task or the one you want to do more, last. It’s kind of like eating the stuff that’s good for you first and then digging into the dessert (something I haven’t quite mastered).

Game Playing—Challenge yourself to handle one task in less than half an hour. Then move on to another task and shorten the amount of time you give yourself. Make it a game to see how quickly you can tackle the tasks you’ve been putting off. Games can make working naked a bit more interesting.

Public Announcement—Tell others about your plans (if you’re brave enough). When you commit to doing something that everyone knows about and you fail, not only do you have to face yourself, you have to face others. Friends can be brutally honest.

When you’re working naked, a bad experience could be losing an account, missing an important deadline, or double-booking appointments with two important clients. Bad days are part of life, but you’re a lot less likely to experience these types of setbacks if you take steps to get organized.

• Be ruthless with your time. If you waste one hour each day, at the end of the year (subtracting two weeks for vacation—you deserve a vacation when you’re working naked), you will waste over 32, eight-hour days.

• Develop false deadlines. If you have a deadline at the end of the month, record the deadline one week earlier. You’ll eliminate the last minute rush to complete the project because you’ll have given yourself ample padding.

• Store items near the place they’ll be used. For example, keep printing supplies in one place and office supplies together rather than stashed throughout your home.

Don’t wait for something bad to happen to trigger you to get organized. Instead, do something now to change your bad habits. Although it’s easier to continue to do things the way you’ve always done them, there’s probably a better way.

Work schedules intimidate some folks, while others function well within certain time constraints. Follow a work schedule as much as possible to keep your productivity high and your motivation strong. You may feel more productive in the morning, so schedule your important tasks during that time. If you feel inspired after lunch to tackle big projects, schedule those tasks in the afternoon. Common sense, right? Then why doesn’t everyone do it?

Think of a schedule as a way to keep you focused without feeling confined. After all, the beauty of working naked is that you can set your own hours.

Freedom from the corporate world means you can work anywhere.

Find a good place for your home office. If you’ve read through some of my posts you know that I’m not a big fan of setting up your home office in your kitchen or bedroom. Find a place that’s not in a high traffic area but not too isolated.

Remove anything from your home office that’s not related to your business. Clothing and sports equipment don’t belong in your home office unless you’re selling that stuff on eBay or Craigslist. And you can’t take a home office deduction if you have anything personal in your office.

Envision a workable arrangement. Where should you put your desk, file cabinet and extra work surface? Make sure you have enough room for existing furniture, equipment and supplies you know you’ll add to your home office at some point.

Establish home office workstations. Mentally break your home office down into various parts. One workstation may be your printing station with your printer, paper and extra ink cartridges. Another area could be your reading station with a comfy chair, end table and bookcase nearby.

Dump, sort and store items. This is your chance to declutter. Toss or donate anything you don’t need and use boxes (clearly labeled) to store what you know you’ll use again.

Organize like items. All of your extra office supplies should be stored in one place and other similar items should be stored together. When you need to find something, you’ll limit the number of places you have to look.

Maintain your office. When your office is set up and organized, it’s up to you to maintain it. If you spend only 15 minutes a day putting files away, updating your to-do list and planning for the next day, you’ll save four times that amount of time the next day.

The less you have in your home office, the easier it is to focus.

Borrowing that advice, before you bring one more thing into your home office, stop, look and rethink. Without realizing it, the physical clutter in your home office could be keeping you from being productive.

Some people justify their messy office by telling me they’re worried about stifling their creativity. They know that if their office is organized, they won’t be able to work. The thought that an organized office stifles their creativity doesn’t have to be true. By changing only a few things in your office, you’ll save time looking for what you need and you’ll have a space that works for you.

When you finally take the time to declutter your office, try to avoid over-organizing the space. It’s tempting to stock up on the coolest-looking organizing gadgets that actually have the opposite effect: they create disorganization. Your office should have all of the electronic equipment you need to keep it running smoothly, but don’t get carried away with oversized desktop organizers, storage containers and desk accessories. Less is more.

Sometimes a subtle reminder can get you started.

• Use a to-do list, whether paper-based, computerized or in your handheld, to record everything you need to do. Making a list is easy. Remembering to look at your list is the hard part. If you feel yourself getting sidetracked, go back to your list.

• Give each task on your list a priority, by listing the more important tasks at the top. Or place a number 1 next to the tasks you need to complete that day, a number 2 next to less important tasks and so on.

• If after reviewing your list you feel you’re having trouble getting started, work on a quick number 3 or another easy task. After you complete a simple task, you’ll be ready to tackle bigger ones.

• Reward yourself when you complete different parts of a project. A reward may be as simple as taking a walk, going out to lunch, or shopping online for ten minutes.

Telecommuting can give you the best of both worlds.

• Are you computer literate? Telecommuters can work anywhere and at all hours, simply by having the right equipment. When you telecommute, you’ll need the basics: a computer; printer, voice mail system and a separate business line (or you can use your cell phone).

• Do you have space in your home for a home office? Think outside the home office box and use a spare bedroom, guest room, attic or any other space where you know you’ll work. Otherwise the refrigerator, television, and your family can distract you.

• Do you have children? If so, you’ll need to hire help. Working from home isn’t a substitute for childcare, especially when your boss expects you to be productive when you’re working from home.

• Do you have a clear job description and do you know what your boss expects from you? Depending on your boss, you won’t have the personal contact with him or her that you did before—which can be a good thing—so you need to set progress milestones and arrange monthly or weekly face-to-face meetings

• Are you a self-starter? Without the physical constraints of a corporate office, you’ll need to motivate yourself to start working each day and continue working throughout the day.

• Do you have basic organizing skills from time management to project management? When you start working naked and you’re disorganized, it’s up to you to bring order to your office. Learning new organizing habits could be a matter of survival.