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CDS Member News and ArticlesProfessional News Articles : : ON PRACTICE MANAGEMENT by Janyce Hamilton : Cluttered office, storage overflowing with stuff? Author of ‘It’s All Too Much’ prescribes a clean sweep Cluttered office, storage overflowing with stuff? Author of ‘It’s All Too Much’ prescribes a clean sweepMarch 5, 2008 Unless you, your staff, family or a personal butler are going through your files and piles for 10 minutes a day to purge what is no longer necessary to hang onto, you need to read this. Most likely, you have magazines, clippings and bank receipts from the 1980s tucked away somewhere in your office, if not your home or a rented storage unit. And, out of sight is out of mind. You know you don’t even know what you have in those hidden stacks of paper anymore. Agreed? Then perhaps this is the year to get organized. Peter Walsh’s latest book, It’s All Too Much (Simon & Schuster, 2007) is a New York Times bestseller. He’s one of the organizational gurus of TLC’s show Clean Sweep and a regular on Oprah. After reading his book, many people realize that their boxes of stuff are emotional and psychological clutter. Once the junk is chucked, Mr. Walsh assures that the freed-up space results in “less stress, and more energy for living a happier, richer life everyday.” Here’s what he had to say to those in the dental profession. The InterviewJanyce Hamilton (JH): Why does the organization/disorganization of one’s personal residence affect one’s work life, even if their job is outside the home? Peter Walsh: In the work that I have done decluttering and organizing hundreds of families, it has become obvious that the home, the head, the heart and the hips are closely liked—one having a significant influence on the other. It is impossible to be living the best possible life you can in one area of your life—for example, at work—when another area of you life—your home—is in a shambles. JH: Can you give examples/stories of people whose homes were a mess and it created chaos for their business too?
Mr. Walsh: Cluttered and disorganized homes create a sense of paralysis and suffocation; in them, people feel overwhelmed, unmotivated and unfocused. Even though some people have felt that they were performing well in the workplace when their home was disorganized or not really functional, once their home was decluttered, the effects of that flowed into their worklife, improving their concentration, motivation and their attitude toward work in general. JH: Tell me a story of someone self-employed you worked with who turned his/her home mess around and how this changed what happened as a result with their professional life/business. Mr. Walsh: I worked with an artist who worked out of a home studio that was complete chaos. He claimed that the state of the studio was a reflection of his “creativity.” By decluttering and organizing his studio space, he was more able to concentrate on the creative process and the pieces he was working on. In an organized space he didn't have to worry about where to find the raw materials for his work or where he'd left important elements.
Immediately, his studio was organized, his productivity increased, his creativity exploded and he was able to produce work in a way that was less stressed. JH: Is it common for people who own their own businesses, such as dentists and chiropractors, to have neat offices and messy homes (and why is this, because they order their staff to abide by organizational systems at work and let their spouse and children and exhausted selves stay lax at home)?
Mr. Walsh: There is no hard and fast rule here. Some people are messy at home and neat and work, some are not. Some are messy in both locations and some have it nailed whether at home or at work. The one common element with professional people who are organized in one place and not in another is that the inconsistency in their personal and work lives always creates a sense of dissatisfaction and discord for them. JH: What message do we send our families/friends when our homes are messy? And to our clients/patients when our offices have piles of paper around the receptionist's desk and magazines from 2006 in the waiting area?
Mr. Walsh: How we live externally is a reflection of what is going on internally. Any disparity here causes friction and unease both within oneself and between you and those you live or work with. JH: What are the top 5 problematic areas at the workplace as far as clutter/disorganization is concerned? Mr. Walsh:
JH: How does a dental practice schedule time to purge old files off site and on site, and to revisit inventory systems and computer program systems for efficiency, and so on?
Mr. Walsh: The same way you schedule appointments or computer maintenance or machine repairs. You establish a routine, make the routine clearly and widely known, and follow though on the schedule at the appropriate time. JH: Any advice for timelines (when to throw away) and ongoing schedule (when to periodically go through and throw away/organize) for keeping those patient records (most of them haven't been patients for years!)?
Mr. Walsh: This is a legal issue; check with your professional association for guidelines for the retention and storage of patient records. JH: Does it matter if one’s car is dirty and cluttered but one’s residence and office are tidy?
Mr. Walsh: You can't have your life divided into cluttered/disorganized areas and decluttered/organized areas and not feel internally divided also. It's important to be consistent in how you live your life and how you physically manifest your priorities and values. JH: Any advice on organizing file folders for the self-employed, such as dentists (too general labels, "employee records," and too specific labels, "continuing education for employee B")?
Mr. Walsh: Ask around—don't reinvent the wheel. Speak to others in your profession who have successful practices and model your own on theirs. Learn from their successes and be warned by their failures. JH: Is it smarter to own or lease dental equipment (X-ray machines, computers, chairs, handpieces, etc)? If you have no opinion on this, does it make sense to keep the replaced (owned) equipment in storage “just in case” you would want to use it again or for when you get around to trying to sell it or donate it?
Mr. Walsh: Owning or leasing? I have no idea, ask your accountant. Keeping things “just in case?” If you have the space and it's a reasonable amount of stuff, sure. But if storing stuff for some imagined future takes precedence over running and efficient business today, then I think the right course of action is pretty obvious. JH: Finally, if a dentist has the space (a spare closet), what does it "hurt" that it is filled with boxes of old patient records and broken or outdated equipment and supplies that are unlikely to be used? (that is, hidden clutter can't do any harm, can it?)
Mr. Walsh: This is an individual thing. What kind of a business do you want? I think that any disorganized or cluttered area at home or at work says something about how you respect your space (or not) and the value you place on the space you have. It's not about “hurt” or “harm,” it's about conducting yourself in a way that says “I'm a professional person and my workspace reflects that.” JH: Lastly, final words for dentists who want to turn their sloppy home/office/car/closet/storage approach around this year and keep it that way? Mr. Walsh: Decide what you want for you and your business—what is the vision you have for how you want to conduct your professional life? Imagine how that vision might look in reality and then work systematically toward it. If you don't create the business you want, no one else will! Peter Walsh’s business office is in Los Angeles. To learn more about his organizational methods, visit www.peterwalshdesign.com or read one of his other books: Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?: An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More and How to Organize Just About Anything.
Janyce Hamilton is an award-winning Chicagoland freelance dental writer and editor. Send suggestions for topics to be covered, or any comments on this column, to review@cds.org. |
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