PILES, FILES, LISTS—OH NO!By: Janet L. Hall Everyday our desks, floors, and credenza get ... with papers: memos, notes, phone ... reports, mail, and of course all the "stuff" we have to pr
PILES, FILES, LISTS—OH NO! By: Janet L. Hall
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!
I'd like to talk to you about how you can handle and organize all the paper that comes into your office space.
I've developed the 5 W's of Organizing, a Teaser, and a "Tickle?" that I'd like to share with you. This system has been proven to be an effective way to tackle ANYTHING in your life that you need to sort through, decide if it should be kept, and where to keep or store. It’s also a system of keeping up with your tasks, especially ones with deadlines.
How the System Works: To help you get started; I want you to take out your calendar, or whatever you use to keep track of appointments or meetings. Make a "TEASER" date with yourself, for an hour or all day to sort through your clutter. Write it in and don’t let ANYTHING or ANYBODY make you change that appointment. If you had a toothache you would make sure you made it to your dentist appointment, wouldn’t you? Well, isn’t your office a pain in your….. okay, back to the system.
Let me explain the TEASER first. TEASER is my acronym for toss, end, act, store, enter, and refer, recycle, read, and repair. You begin the sorting process by making MORE piles out of what you already have. Eek! I can hear you all now, "Is she crazy?" "I already have too many piles!" Not to worry; we will have them all put away in no time, the "Tickle" will explain how. I suggest you find a flat surface to sort on, I like to use the floor, and make a sign representing each action in TEASER (some of you might need boxes, that’s okay).
TEASER Actions: Toss it You can't answer the 5 W's, it's outdated, or broken. End it You don't want it, you want to cancel it, or you no longer read. Act on it Needs an action: such as your signature, phone call, or immediate attention. Store it You have answered the 5 W's and decided you need to keep. This will have three piles: Current, Reference, and Historical. Enter it Information you need to enter into your planner or computer. You know, the stuff you find written on napkins, scraps of paper, and the backs of envelopes! Refer/Recycle/Read it/Repair It belongs to someone else or you think they need it, or it belongs someplace else. You can use it again, SOON, or put into a recycling bin. Something you want/need to read. Something that is broken, you want to use it but needs repaired.
Helping You Decide What to Do: The 5 W's of Organizing is a set of 10 questions, using WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY, that you ask yourself for every piece of paper or item that you come across while sorting through all your "stuff." Answering these questions will help you determine what TEASER to use.
As you pick up each piece of paper or item you are sorting, ask yourself the following questions, and PLEASE, be honest with yourself:
WHO does this belong to? WHO needs this?
WHAT use is this? WHAT do I need it for?
WHEN will I need this? WHEN will I use it?
WHERE will I find this? WHERE does it belong?
WHY do I have this? WHY do I want this?
The TICKLER FILING SYSTEM (sorry, I don't know who developed this) is a dated filing system. The system consists of 43 folders: one for each month labeled January – December, and one for each day of the month, labeled 1 - 31. This is where you will put the "action" piles from the TEASER the last five minutes of your appointment with yourself. Don’t worry if the piles are too big to fit into your tickler file. We’ll deal with that in a minute. Take each pile and decide on a date and time you will work on that action. Place the pile in the tickler and write the corresponding date and a time in your calendar with a little t in a circle. Keep this and the following appointments! If other items come into your office that will need the same action, such as enter business cards into your database; put those cards with the bundle you already have in your tickler.
If the pile is too large, place in a box or container, make a note of where you are storing it and slip that note/location into your tickler.
You can make a tickler file or buy one already made at most office supply stores (see http://www.overhall.com ickler_file.htm ). As you can see, this is an action-dated system. The purpose of the system is to "tickle" you, and it's a place to store the information or work you have or need for a particular day and/or month. This is your one and only SAFE Place; where you would file such things as your dated follow up calls, airline tickets, vacation plans, meeting information, and bills. Its uses are endless!
Using the 5 W's of Organizing, a Teaser, and a "Tickle" daily will help you keep your desks, floors, and credenza free of paper clutter, and will give you more time to do the things that you want to do!
The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional Organizer, Speaker, and Author of 'Secrets of a Professional Organizer and How-To Become One.' She is the owner of OverHall Consulting and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com
