Press Release

client: Office Depot

Office Depot Helps Business Professionals Get Organized For The New Year

Updated Five-Day Office Makeover Plan Helps Boost Productivity and Organization

Delray Beach, Fla., January 2, 2006 - A recent survey conducted by Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, revealed that most business people (53 percent) function in a state of “controlled chaos.” In order to combat this problem, Office Depot is releasing an updated version of its popular Five-Day Office Makeover Plan.  This simple and effective program is designed to help business professionals strengthen their organizational skills - and the overall health of their businesses - by reclaiming time lost to disorder.  In fact, according to the Office Depot survey, about 34 percent of professionals surveyed stated that they lose almost two hours every week - or a full workday every month - to lost productivity caused by everyday disarray.

Anyone can get their professional life organized and into tip-top shape this new year by following the new version of the Office Depot Five-Day Office Makeover Plan.  Featuring advice from organizing expert Stephanie Winston, who has aided thousands of executives in her 20-year career, this plan will help business people transform their office environment in 30 minutes a day by trimming overflowing in-boxes, strengthening file-finding capabilities, and toning-up overall organizational skills.  Plus, the new Office Depot Five-Day Office Makeover Plan features valuable advice to help simplify tax return preparation.

“Many people resolve to get better organized in the new year. Yet, more than two thirds of business professionals cannot bring order to their work lives because they don’t know where to start, how to maintain new systems or they simply get frustrated,” said Stephanie Winston, Office Depot’s organizing advisor and The New York Times bestselling author of Getting Organized.

“This plan gives professionals what they need - a more organized work environment for greater productivity every day,” added Winston.

The Five-Day Office Makeover Plan makes it simple to take control of workplace disorganization by using a few basic products and tips.  With the help of Winston’s coaching, you will be able to find any piece of paper in less than 60 seconds, combat tiresome business travel and even make tax preparation less “taxing.” To get started, Winston advises business professionals spend a few minutes getting organized each day using the following approach:

  • Slim Down the Piles: A slimmed down waist line is wonderful, but what can you do about that huge stack of papers on the desk that has grown into multiple piles?  Winston suggests the TRAF system.  Toss things of no interest, but use a shredder, like the Ativa shredders ($24.99 - $149.99) from Office Depot, to avoid identity theft.  Refer paperwork to a colleague who might need it.  Act on the task and make sure to finalize the activity.  File the paper if it could be used in the future.
  • Tone-Up To-Do Lists: Create a master list categorized by priority and divide and conquer by breaking down large projects into manageable portions.  The best way to organize is to use a planner, not your memory.  However, the Office Depot study found that while 57 percent of men surveyed prefer to use electronic tools, such as PCs and PDAs, to stay organized, 34 percent of women stated that they prefer to use paper materials such as Day Planners. Winston recommends finding the product that works best for you, such as a Palm® LifeDrive PDA ($449.99), FranklinCovey® planner ($69.99) or a product that combines the best of both worlds like the At-A-Glance® Outlink Planner ($58.99) that holds Outlook® calendar printouts.
  • Increase File-Finding Flexibility: Staying on top of filing paperwork can prevent clutter and help you find needed files quickly.  Beyond revamping your filing system, make it easy to find what you need by using the Smead® SuperTab File Folders ($15.99) that have a 90 percent larger label area than traditional file folders.
  • Train for a Less “Taxing” Tax Season: Instead of stuffing receipts into shoeboxes, prepare an expanding file at the beginning of the year with tabs for all of your receipts.  Then look for tax software like TurboTax® ($19.99 - 99.99) with its new “Deduction Maximizer Center,” which helps anyone find and track more than 350 deductions and credits.

Additional tips and solutions to get organized in less than 30 minutes a day can be found in the Office Depot Five-Day Office Makeover, which is available for free download at http://www.officedepot.com/getorganized.

About the Survey

The Office Depot Organization Study, conducted by TNS NFO, was designed to gain insights into consumers’ organizational behaviors and challenges.  The poll of 2,500 people (representative of the U.S. household population, 18+ on age, gender, geographic division, income and household size, household designation and market size) was conducted November 8-13, 2006.  To view a full listing of survey results, please visit http://mediarelations.officedepot.com

About Office Depot

Office Depot provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company.  Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., Office Depot has annual sales of nearly $15 billion, and employs approximately 50,000 associates around the world.  Currently, the Company sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 42 countries.

Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel - from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce.  As of September 30, 2006, Office Depot had 1,121 retail stores in North America and another 323 stores, either company-owned,
licensed or franchised, in other parts of the world.  Office Depot serves a wide range of customers through a dedicated sales force, telephone account managers, direct mail offerings, and multiple web sites.  With $4.2 billion in online sales during the last twelve months, the Company is also one of the world’s largest e-commerce retailers.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index.  Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.