TORONTO, October 17, 2011. For 62 percent of working Canadians, work was identified as the primary culprit of stress in 2010. This is according to new numbers from Statistics Canada released last week. A pressure-cooker to begin with, the workplace stress is made even more intense by being disorganized.

“Canadians are in a constant time crunch and experience feelings of stress, failure and frustration,” says Clare Kumar, a Toronto-based professional organizer. “Today’s office workers must take stock of both their work habits and their environment, and take necessary action to alleviate the tremendous pressure disorganization has on their productivity and work-life balance.”

To help Canadians make positive changes and take steps toward improving their personal productivity, ACCO Brands Canada Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of office products, is launching its fourth annual Organize Your Desk Day, October 20th, in tandem with Small Business Week (October 16-22). It is a national program to assist small and medium-sized businesses in organizing their workspaces to become more efficient and effective.

“By having the right tools in place, Canadian office workers can save at least 15 minutes per day which works out to a week and a half per year,” adds Linda Chu, a professional organizer in Vancouver. “This has a dramatic effect on the health of businesses and their workers.”

Professional organizers say desks in disarray cause a drop of 20 percent in worker efficiency, costing the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity. Studies show the average worker spends at least 400 hours per year searching for paper documents.

“It costs small and medium businesses $120 in labour costs just to track down a misplaced document or $250 in labour to re-create it,” adds Chu. “This places tremendous stress on the bottom line for many businesses that need to return to profitability, especially coming out of the economic downturn.”

“Knowing where to begin is half the battle of getting organized,” says Chu. She recommends following the five-step C.L.E.A.R. method to become more productive and reduce workplace stress.

The C.L.E.A.R. Method

C – Categorize. Sort through your possessions and group them into similar categories of information & tasks. Stay on track by identifying what things are, instead of getting sidetracked by thinking of solutions.

L – Limit. If space is a premium you may have to choose between what is important – your space or your stuff. Limit your collections by scheduling regular sessions to review and let go of information and resources collected.

E – Evaluate. Focusing on what matters most is the key to prioritizing. Determine what goals are important for you to achieve and choose the tasks and tools to get you there. Continually evaluating your information and tasks as they relate to achieving your goals will help to increase your efficiency and productivity.

A – Allocate. Finding a home and a method to store your information & possessions is critical to your success in being able to find what you need when you need it. Ensure that your workspace is clear for work, not for storage.

R – Remove. Remove items from your workspace that you no longer need or value. Focusing on what is important will get you on track to become more efficient and productive in your workplace.

Learn more about Small Business Week in Canada. For hand’s-on help in reducing workplace stress, contact the Out of Chaos team.

About ACCO Brands Canada Inc.
ACCO Brands Canada Inc. is a Trading Company of ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ABD), one of the world’s largest suppliers of branded office products. Its industry-leading brands include Day-Timer^®, Swingline^®, Kensington^®, Quartet^®, GBC^® and Wilson Jones^®, available from dealers of quality office supplies participating in Organize your Desk Day, such as Grand & Toy, Staples, Basics Office Supply, Office Plus, Novexco/BuroPLUS, and Lyreco.

Image by McKinsey on rawpixel.