Self Improvement > Organizing > Paper Clutter - You Can Blitz It in Ten Easy Steps
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Bronwyn Ritchie
Are you having difficulty finding documents when you need them?
Are the stacks of paper getting out of hand?
Do you find yourself apologising for your untidy desk?
Then it’s time to cut through the paper clutter – blitz the problem.
Too busy, you say, to even think about it? Let me reassure you that the time we save by not attending to the problem right now is being wasted in looking for that document, shifting stacks of paper to make room for more and in explaining or maybe justifying, why things got out of hand.
So let’s start with these ten easy steps:
1. Visualise the rewards
* Time saved
* Feeling of wellbeing when we look at the tidy desk, shelves and cupboards
* No more lost documents
* The reassurance that accounts will be paid on time
* Always being in the right place for appointments and meetings
2. Choose a time. Avoid office hours if you can. It is an all-too-noticeable distraction from your work and you want neither an audience nor anyone else distracting you from your task.
3. You can choose to do the whole job at once or divide it into motivationally small tasks, but stay on track. Take the phone off the hook, do one thing at a time and say no to distractions no matter how urgent it may seem to water the garden, feed the dog or top up the pen supply. Remember that the more clutter there is, the faster the job will be. Visualise the rewards.
4. What to discard:
* Empty containers
* Damaged/broken
* Excess duplicates
* Souvenirs
* Extra copies
* Excess homey touches
* Outdated material
* Unused discs
* Piles of “to read someday”
* Decorations
* Parts
* Plants
* Seminar freebies
* Projects you don’t work on
* Unused things
* Rough drafts
5. Don’t forget the environment and economics – recycle
6. Don’t discard unopened mail. There may be important documents in it, and you may be creating greater problems by not opening them.
7. Sort. Short term categories might be
* Action – to check again later, to delegate
* To pay
* To read
* To file
File according to your filing system. (For help with creating a filing system, you can visit my article – “File it to find it.”)
8. Remove the marks left by the clutter.
9. Celebrate
10. Create a system to avoid ever again getting into such a mess!! (My article: “Six Simple systems to avoid paper clutter” will give you some ideas.)
Bronwyn Ritchie is a speaker, writer, librarian and trainer and she manages Pivotal Points - resources for the times in your life when you pivot - change direction - towards a better you, a better life. For more tips and articles on organising and improving yourself and your life, visit
http: http://www.consultpivotal.com/personal_management.htm
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