Creating Office System’s into 2010 Issue V
“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”
Edward E. Cummings
Happy New Year! I’ve been very busy helping business professionals, colleagues and friends meet their New Years Resolution of Finally Getting Organized! This is a win win because I get to meet my New Years resolution of helping people get their office organized and productive so they can focus on their personal and business goals. Needless to say; I have been blessed with a good start this year. This has all been done virtually from the comforts of my office, training and consulting via the Internet and telephone. To read further about this service, please go Virtual Services on this website.
The following is Step 5 of creating an Office System. To recap on Steps 1-4 please go to Archived Productivity Tips.
Step 5. The Magic 6: Tools 1 & 2 in detail.
Clutter is Postponed Decisions! It’s postponed because you have no place to put your items. Using an In/Out/To File Boxes or Trays are a great way to keep the clutter off your desktop along with the assistance of using your Wastebasket, Recycle or Shredder.
Tool 1) In, Out or File Box or Trays. Use only 3 stack-able trays on your desktop to handle all incoming and outgoing items.
Your In-Box is to physically separate items you haven’t looked at from those you have. Instead of putting the paper in the middle of your desk, leave them in the in-box until you’re prepared to do something with each piece that you remove. Once you’ve removed something from the in-box, remember the F.A.T. principal—file, act or toss–then handle it once to make one of these decisions. You can then put the item in a specific place, such as your Out Box, or To File box or an Action or Reference File.
Out Box is a temporary holding area for all items going OUT of your office. Great examples are, Outgoing Mail, Information/Documentation/Reports/Other People Requests and Notes to remind you to pick up something on your way to an appointment, a meeting or running errands, etc.
To File Box. Do you hate to file? A major corporation did an extensive survey on the most hated job in the office. You won’t be surprised to find that the result was filing. You can reduce stress by creating a place for all your items, such as your Out Box, Action or Reference File
Tool 2) Wastebasket, Recycle, Shredder. Whether you use one or all three make sure you have them close to perform the Art of Wastebasketry.
A great example of this is your mail. Next time you retrieve your mail from your mail box, stand over your Wastebasket, Recycle Bin or Shredder and make quick decisions for those items you know for SURE you don’t want to keep. If you don’t have time to go through it, place the mail in your In Box and follow the direction above. In fact, I highly advise that you retrieve your mail ONLY when you’re ready to go through it.
Step 6. Next issue: The Magic 6: Tools 2 & 3 in detail.
