Help’s Available For Messy Desks Books, Office Supply Stores Has Solution For ‘Paper Tiger’

If your goal is to see your desk again, there are plenty of tools available.

The best place to start is with one of the dozens of self-help manuals cramming bookstore shelves. Among the most popular are Susan Silver’s “Organized To Be the Best” (Adams-Hall), “Taming the Paper Tiger” by Barbara Hemphill (Kiplinger Books), “The Organized Executive - A Program for Productivity” by Stephanie Winston (Warner Books) and Jeffery Mayer’s “Time Management for Dummies” (IDG Books).

The next step is to visit an office supply store, which carries a lot more than bond paper and fountain pens these days.

The aisles are stuffed with Filofaxes, tickler files, calendars, Rolodexes and personal organizers, as well as electronic versions of the same products.

If you want to spend even more time in front of your computer, software manufacturers can also help. Programs like Act! (Symantec, $279.95) and Ascend (Franklin Quest, $149.95) allow you to conduct almost all of your business from your hard drive.

Still need help? There are plenty of professional organizers around. The National Association of Professional Organizers, a trade group in Austin, Texas, has 700 members, according to Paulette Ensign, the president.

To get a list of organizers in your area, just call the group at (512) 206-0151. (People interested in becoming professional organizers can call the same number.)