Why Systems Work on Tech Tips Tuesday
Hey everyone! Welcome back and Happy New Year to you all. Unfortunately I got a really bad cold over the holiday and lost my voice. The good thing is I do not need my voice to post today ☺ How was your holiday?
Anyway, have you ever had a hard time searching for things on your computer in a folder that was not properly labeled? I have! It all started when I was in high school and I had a paper to write. I forgot to save my paper as something specifically titled as “Research paper 1 by Joana P.” Instead, I ended up hitting save and it saved my work as “Document 1.”
I stayed up all night trying to write that paper and forgot to do the most important thing, which was save it specifically to what it is. You’re probably wondering, what does this have to do with real life? If I had a system to save my work with a title that was helpful before continuing, I would not have this problem to begin with!
Having a system is a really important part of tech life. While I was working in the IT department, I was in charge of ordering supplies for the company of over 4000 employees. The company was counting on me to place orders of laptops, desktop computers, monitors, keyboards, projectors, mice, Ethernet cables, and so forth. I also had to organize these items as they came in while I answered the phones and assisted walk-ins.
I was in a constant panic when my coworkers left me to repair a technological issue outside of the corporate office. The one thing I could rely on was my labeling system. After week 4 of my on the job training, I noticed that there was no system of organization in the company. I figured my predecessor had some type of organization system going on but unfortunately he didn’t.
Now at this point, I felt like a super hero trying to fight off the unorganized chaos of orders, walk-ins, and irate phone calls all at once. Here comes wonder girl to the rescue right? Lol! Not really. I had to make that up in my head to stay sane in the work place. One thing that kept me from walking out the door was looking at the entire picture and trying to figure out a way for the storage area to help my coworkers help themselves while I was tending to another task.
First, I had to separate the boxes of things that already existed into a neat pile and label it by either writing on the box or using a label maker. Although I do not have a picture of what I did, here is something similar to what I did:
Image source
After carefully stacking things and labeling each bin and box I was able to create a system for the team. My system consisted of grouping the common items in one area for my team to utilize in an organized manner. Once they noticed that something is running low, they will come over and let me know. The only problem with that is I would sometimes forget what is needed when they catch me at a busy moment. I alleviated the issue by making a weekly task of looking at the stock and creating a list of common items that the IT department used on a daily basis.
This helped me big time! I was able to stay on top of orders and get things on time especially when things were needed the most. My system worked so well for me.
Take a look at this infographic about how systems thinking skills work and all:
Image source
The funny thing is, I use a system doing daily tasks as well. An example of a system I use daily is while doing the dishes. I have a system where I separate the utensils from the plates, cups, and pots. I start this process by washing the smallest item to the biggest. The reason for this system is so that no small item is left unwashed and the obvious big items are washed properly without any distractions. Also, I do not use my dish washer unless necessary so my partner and I hand wash every dish as much as we can. It also saves us money on the water bill every month :)
You probably think I am crazy for making a chore work with a system. What are your ways of completing a task? Do you have a system that you would like to share? Everyone has a system that works for them or they do not and that is okay with me. If you liked this post I would appreciate any feedback on what system worked for you in the past, present, or future.
Once again, thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for more posts about some tech tips on Tuesday, some life hacks on Thursdays as well as other random posts every week.
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