Paper Management
The Four D's of Effective Paper Management -- A recent article that I came across in the Wall Street Journal reported that the average U.S. executive loses six weeks per year retrieving misplaced information from messy desks and files.
3 Simple Filing Guidelines -- One of the most basic ways to find papers when you need them is to retrieve them from an effective filing system. A good filing system will allow you to find what you're looking for in 10 seconds or less.
How Long Do I Really Need To Keep This? -- Every year April 15 rolls around, and so many people ask me the infamous question, How long do I need to keep all this stuff??!! And the answer generally is that if it has anything to do with your taxes, probably for a long time.
Towards a Paperless Environment -- Don't you find it interesting that we are going wireless before we go paperless? Especially since paper has been around so much longer than wires and wires are mostly invisible to us anyway. I don't feel encumbered by wires, but I certainly do by paper.
Paper Management 101 -- As an organizational consultant, the most common question I hear from clients is: How Do I Get My Papers Organized? I’d like to help you create a working system for your home or office. A basic filing method can be set up with three easy steps: sort it, file it, or follow up on it.
Piles, Files, Lists - Oh No! -- Everyday our desks, floors, and credenza get bombarded with papers: memos, notes, phone messages, reports, mail, and of course all the "stuff" we have to print out from our computers!
Uncle Sam is Ready...Are You? Organizing Tips for Tax Time -- Anyone who is closely related to an accountant knows that there are not four, but five seasons in a year: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and 'Tax Season.' During the other seasons, we accumulate leaves, snow, and mosquito bites. During 'Tax Season' we accumulate paper. And more paper. And if you have a small business or investments--even more paper.
A Space of Your Own -- When setting up your home office, there are a few basic ways to keep yourself organized. Begin by defining your space, then utilize whatever storage solutions are necessary to keep your papers and products together.
Ten Tips for Cleaning Off Your Desk and Keeping it Clean! -- On July 15, 1993 Walter S. Mossberg, the author and creator of the weekly "Personal Technology" column in The Wall Street Journal, was quoted as saying: “The promise of the ‘paperless office,’ [and home] where documents are entirely created, distributed, read and stored on computers, has been about as reliable as the promise of a check in the mail.”
Ending the Paperwork Nightmare -- With all of the paperwork flowing into our lives day after day, it’s easy for it to get out-of-control. Forms, memos, letters, catalogs, mail, flyers and advertising offers are stacked in our In Box. Leave that In Box untouched for a day, and you’ve got yourself a paperwork pile. Leave it untouched for a week or more, and you’ve got yourself a paperwork nightmare!
Organize Your Home Office the Easy Way -- We are inundated by paper these days -- some of us feel like we are drowning in it -- but there are some simple steps you can take to keep your head above water.