Article Archive
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Article Archive |
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Handling Paperwork for the Office Paperwork! Paperwork! Paperwork! According to Jay Davidson, Office Systems magazine, “paper consumption, per person, is twice as high in the US as in Britain or Japan, 9 times more than Russia and 23 times more than China.” Here are some tips for managing the paperwork in your office: It’s not the paper’s fault. It is usually not the paper itself that causes the problem. The problem is the decision of what to do with the paper. Be mindful of handling the same piece of paper over and over. Avoid piles by breaking the “I’ll just put it here for now” habit. Set up inboxes of your choice labeled: Bills, Delegate, To Read and Action. Sort your mail and incoming papers into one of those categories. Have a shredder nearby and a trash can or recycle bin. Bills – If you pay bills online, all you need to keep is the bill or invoice. If you write checks for your bills, clip the bill/invoice and return envelope together and place in your inbox marked “Bills”. Toss the outer envelope and non-essential pages immediately. Delegate – If there is mail that someone else in your organization or household can or needs to handle, put it in the inbox marked “Delegate” to route to the appropriate persons. To Read – Be ruthless in asking yourself the question, “Am I going to read this journal, magazine, etc?” If the answer is yes, then the inbox marked “To Read” is the place to park these items until you read them. This inbox can quickly get out of hand, so be sure and include for reading in your schedule. Action – Any mail that requires your attention or you to make a decision goes in the inbox marked “Action”. Make a point of dealing with these decisions on a weekly basis. Dealing with them on a daily basis is even better. Your inbox will never become too full and you will feel good about getting things decided and off your mind. Throw away previous drafts. They serve no purpose. Are all the reports required by your company really necessary? Are there articles in your reading pile that you keep shuffling to the bottom of the stack? Ask yourself how likely you are to read this article and is it really valuable information? If not, throw it out. Set up a hanging file folder for receipts and place manila file folders inside that coincide with the IRS categories. Set aside time once a week to file your receipts. Once your initial folders are set up, 15 minutes or less should keep filing up-to-date. The key to keeping paperwork under control is sorting it immediately and dealing with it on a consistent basis. Make a pact with yourself not to let your inboxes get stuffed. |
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