This is a short post, a list really, meant to spur your thinking, “Do I have these basic tools?” and “Could having these in place save me time, money and frustration?” Here goes! The 7 tools that are must haves for effective paper management are:
- Extra Large Waste Basket (round file), emptied frequently to keep the mindset of “must fill it up” working for you.
- Cross-cut Shredder where you open your mail.
- Calendar, paper or electronic, to capture appointments, master and daily to-do lists
- Tickler File for date specific action reminders and ongoing permanent actions like “to call, to write, to pay”, etc.
- Action File system for current projects that have a beginning and an end.
- Contact Storage System to easily find personal and business contacts.
- Reference File system for long term storage of completed action files and legal/tax forms.
A last suggestion to keep paper piles to a minimum – take steps to reduce the influx of paper, especially via mail. Two websites to start:
www.catalogchoice.com – end unwanted mail order catalogs
www.optoutscreen.com – stop unwanted credit offers
Less of anything is easier to organize. Go forth and reduce!
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