101: Getting Organized
One of the most difficult things to keep up with in the office is paper. It has a way of piling up at an impossible-to-manage pace. Without a system, paper can soon overwhelm and decrease efficiency. Here are a few ways to keep papers at bay:
File action items. This is a key part of keeping your desk free of paper, says an article on the website HouseCleaningCentral.com, run by the Mrs. Clean housecleaning company. Mrs. Clean advises items that need attention be put into a “to do” file until completed.
“Don’t leave loose papers on your desk at night,” the site recommends as a rule of thumb. Everything should be in a category folder (invoices, vendors, etc.) or in the to-do folder.
Schedule purges. “It is absolutely necessary to set up a retention schedule specifying how long the material will be kept before purging,” says an article by Sally Allen — a professional organizer — on WomensMedia.com.
The dates for purging should go on a calendar and be the same every year so the task becomes habit.
Purging is a time to consider if the information can be obtained elsewhere, how you will use the files in the future, and if it’s time for the action files to go into archival files that you save but don’t use.
Sound the alarm. Amber Kostelny-Cussen on her website AmbersOrganizing.com recommends setting an audible computer reminder every day that will remind you to take 10 minutes or so to file the day’s paper clutter.
“Listen to it and act on it, by putting things away, throwing paper out, and filing,” she writes.
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