calendar

...now browsing by tag

 
accountable benefits book review charitable donations closets clothes clutter declutter disorganization donate downsize efficiency efficiency. organizing encourage family home focus get organized get started goals howto inspiration L.I.F.E. learning styles linens motivation organizing Paper Management personality photos planning priorities procrastinate productivity quotes recycle reference files reuse simplify small spaces sorting storage strategy stress stuff time
 

7 Tools for Paper Management

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

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:

  1. Extra Large Waste Basket (round file), emptied frequently to keep the mindset of “must fill it up” working for you.
  2. Cross-cut Shredder where you open your mail.
  3. Calendar, paper or electronic, to capture appointments, master and daily to-do lists
  4. Tickler File for date specific action reminders and ongoing permanent actions like “to call, to write, to pay”, etc.
  5. Action File system for current projects that have a beginning and an end.
  6. Contact Storage System to easily find personal and business contacts.
  7. 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!

Posted in SOHO Small Office/Home Office, Tips and Tricks | Comments Off
Tags: , , ,

Time Management Tip: Brains Leak, Write it Down

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Do you remember the line from the movie The Navigator? Aliens  abducted a pre-teen boy and tried to imprint maps of the universe in his brain. The plan backfired.  The talking spaceship told him he was being returned because, “Your brain leaked.”  I resemble that remark.  You, too?

I have to write things down.  It started as a memory device for the visual learner I am.  If I wrote it, I could throw away the piece of paper; it was in there.  Now if I lose the paper, I’m a goner. I also like to write things down because that act makes abstract goals and ideas more real.

Thankfully, I am not alone.  Leading efficiency and time management writers agree that writing tasks and goals is key. Here are some tricks to make this work for you.

What? Write to-do’s, facts, appointments  down as you think of them.  Keep a pad next to your computer and  in your purse/briefcase/backpack. Then you won’t have to keep repeating it to remind yourself.  Less brain chatter and leakage.

When? Now, especially when you are in the middle of a priority task. After you write it down, you can dismiss that thought and focus completely on the task at hand.

Where? Write directly in your day planner/computer calendar, if at all possible.  If not, transfer the info to your main data collection tool as soon as you have a chance. Then you will be able find it and act on it. Otherwise, the napkin or post-it note might disappear along with that thought.

Why? So you can live out and share your unique brilliance. We want to hear from you, meet with you for lunch, learn from your experience.

Make it easy on yourself. Don’t trust your leaky brain.  Write it down.  Then share it with us.

Posted in Home Life, SOHO Small Office/Home Office, Time Management, Tips and Tricks | 2 Responses »
Tags: , , , ,