Conquer Your Paper Piles with These 6 Critical Questions and Stay Organized
Like you, I thought computers were supposed to reduce the amount of paper that we produce, keep and file. Not so! I think we produce more paper today than we ever have. When I work with clients to organize their home office paper is the number one issue.
Let’s review the paper that is produced in the average office and find out what you should be asking yourself about it.
Do I need to print it?
A very obvious question but a lot of people print everything! Some people just have to have a paper copy of everything and some would rather read from paper than a computer screen. Ask yourself this question every time you go to print something and save time as well as paper.
Do I need to keep it?
I mean do you really need to keep it? If you have a copy on your computer and you are backed up to an external drive or the cloud you don’t really need to keep a document unless it is for expense, legal or government requirements.
However, here are seven key additional questions to ask yourself when you are deciding to keep or toss paper:
• Do I want to keep this and why?
• Do I need to keep this and why?
• Under what circumstances would I want this?
• Is this current enough to be useful?
• Would it be difficult to obtain again?
• Does it exist in another place or format?
• If I wanted to find this information what word would enter my mind?
Don’t forget to ensure your electronic folders and sub folders are in shape so you can access the document or print it later if required.
How long do I need to keep it?
Unless it is needed for legal reasons or for government requirements you should toss paper if you have not looked at it in over one year. Check your own requirements with your lawyer, accountant or tax agency and any paper that is required to be saved should be done so and archived with a date for disposition.
Where do I file it?
Let’s face it, filing is a pretty mundane (but needed) chore. There are many different ways of filing that can make this chore go a little easier. Rather than a straight A to Z filing system try breaking it down to category titles like “contracts”, “utilities”, “customers” and the like. Now set up a sub file within each for the pertinent customer name or contract number, etc. This will allow you to zero in to a smaller area faster rather than an entire drawer.
Is it confidential?
In today’s world of fraud everyone should have a shredder available or have a locked box where sensitive documents get placed. You can have a shredding company come in periodically to shred your documents on the premises or many office supply stores will now shred documents for you for a small fee.
File, Act or Toss (FAT)?
Lastly, keep this acronym in mind. When you touch a piece of paper you should either file it, act on it or toss it. If you follow this your paper mountain will always be manageable.
Did you know that the average person spends 19 days a year looking for things and many of those are on paper like warranties, reports or articles?
Get that time back and stay ahead of the paper mountain. At ClutterBGone we have helped a lot of small businesses get organized. Contact us here to learn more about how we can assist you.