Sue Darby, MOS

I am a State of Alaska File Clerk and have found that my projects in the last  year has caused a HUGE backlog and for some things to get buried under the clutter and paper piles!

Clutter on your desk is a great distraction and time waster. It also buries the truly important items that might have to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Clearing your desk at least once a month or more and organizing your piles of papers and other items into some sort of folder system is a great way to increase productivity.

I’ve found over time that if it’s in a drawer it gets forgotten and the same goes for piles. Just today I cleared my desk and found some forgotten items that should have been taken care of and will be after lunch! In the meantime the piles of things to file or sort have been moved into some semblance of order and a basic plan to attack the months of back files that need to be made and placed in drawers has formed.

My basic plan….

Tackle part of the alphabet at a time so for this week and likely next I will be tackling A-L of the provider files that I handle. I have the simple to file paperwork already in alpha order in a nice rolling cart.  I have some new files I need to make and label to go with those and then I’ll spend the rest of the day, week and even month getting those files crammed into overstuffed drawers… although I have ideas for how to unstuff the drawers but that will be for another post.

The reason it’ll take so long to get everything into the drawers is that each drawer is so crammed that nothing more can fit and so files have to be repeatedly shifted to make space. This is a very slow process with only one clerk to do it all.

I’ll have to keep plugging away at this until all the files are in the drawer once more… the never ending battle except that about this time last year I had it nearly caught up and then various things started to blow up and my skills were needed for a lot of other projects. We shall see how well my plan works in the coming weeks!

Sue Darby, BS Business, MOS
Certificate in Fashion Design
Microsoft Office Master Certified
Alpha Beta Kappa Honors Society
Business Owner & Webmistress

Technically I am a Administrative Clerk or Office Assistant which says files and phones BUT I have many more skills and my supervisors and bosses tend to put those skill sets to good use. Over the last 6 months I’ve done a number of projects that are out of my scope of my job description and while riding the bus for my morning commute I was thinking about it all. When I got to work (early as usual now) I wrote down some of the ideas I’d had coming in. I’m going to add a number of these to my resumes, portfolio website and even add some of the specific projects in excerpts of course.

My latest in projects includes:

• Develop color coding systems to make reporting from various spreadsheets quicker and easier
• Analyze data to ensure accuracy in reports
• Suggest changes to format or content of reports, letters, charts and data systems
• Query databases to collect data for reports, graphs, charts or mail merges
• Format federal level reports, graphs and charts making continuous use easy for repetitive reports
• Develop draft policy & procedures for clerical duties including file plans and archive policy
• Develop tracking systems used for new processes until a formal solution is developed
• Beta test formal solutions providing feedback for improvement
• Provide technical assistance to co-workers only escalating problems that require admin permissions
• Maintain unit equipment clearing jams and replacing parts & supplies as needed
• Develop and maintain color coded e-mail system
• Reconcile multiple sources to create an accurate list for mail merges
• Data entry for CIRs & Training data
• Perform complex calculations to generate correct data for State & Federal reports

All of these projects or skills were used in the last 6 months. I’ve done things for senior management and my unit with kudos coming back to me directly from those I’ve helped. I was a well kept secret until the temporary unit manager became the division director… the cat’s out of the bag!

I’m going to keep thinking about what I do, what projects I’ve been involved in and new skills I’ve learned and keep an eye out for something that encompasses what I do well and enjoy!

Sue Darby, BS Business, MOS
Certificate in Fashion Design
Microsoft Office Master Certified
Alpha Beta Kappa Honors Society
Business Owner & Webmistress