Summer “To Do” list for the Office

August, and summer in general, is a time when many employees take vacation, or take a day off here and there. While some offices may be gearing up for the fall, others may be experiencing some downtime.

If you are in one of the above categories, here are a few productive things you can do before things get really busy:

1. Prioritize emails. How many of those emails do we really need to hold onto? Sometimes you may not be sure if you need to hold on to it or delete that old mail.
2. Create a folder for emails that you aren’t sure if you’ll need for the future or not. That way, you won’t regret deleting it if you ever need it again.
3. Emails that have been responded to: delete. If you think you might need to look at it again, go to your “sent” emails.
4. Clean your desk drawers. Enough said.
5. Clean or rearrange your desk or cubicle.
6. Clean off your desktop. If you have old documents and outdated folders that you no longer need, delete them and empty the trash.
7. Check your office to see if you need any office supplies. If things are slow in the office, now might be a good time to get the supplies caught up.

We think this is enough to get you started. What are your favorite things to do during this time?

Joan C. Smith is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.