Drowning in paper!
I received the following email message from a dear friend and client as she was about to go on vacation. I had just visited her office and saw paper everywhere. I felt chaotic just walking in, I couldn’t imagine being there every day.
Here’s what she wrote: You are so right! I am drowning in little bits of paper. Thank you for your offer to help out! I’m ready anytime.
I am leaving for the beach Saturday morning, but even if you had some time today or tomorrow to give me a few tips that would be great. If I can gather all my bits of paper and put them in a usable form before I get back, that would be great. I tend to get a lot done on these beach vacations early morning while the kids sleep in.
Tips for your drowning – don’t drown!!
Gather up all your paper and put it in a box to process it while you are on vacation. Put everything in the box and take it with you. Also bring some files with you to sort your paper.
Process:
1. Pick up one piece of paper or sticky note. Put it in one of the following piles:
A. Current projects (these are pieces of paper that relate to current on-going projects)
B. Past projects (these are pieces of paper that relate to completed projects and you’ll want to keep for future reference)
C. Current to-dos (these are immediate or administrative things that you either have to calendar, record someone’s contact information, put on a to-do list, reminders, etc. that you want to keep front and center or you can get rid of right away)
D. Throw away (If you haven’t read it and it’s over a week old, pass it on or toss it; if you aren’t going to need it, toss it; if it is dated information that you’d google for current information, toss it.)
Pile things up in one of the four and don’t process them. This means don’t get stuck reading each item in detail. Scan and pile, scan and pile!
2. Now for the processing – when you’re done with #1.
A. Current projects. Make a file folder for each of the current projects that you’re working on. File the papers in the appropriate file folder.
B. Past projects. If you already have a file folder back in the office, wait till you get there and file this information when you return to work.
C. Current to-dos. Process all these pieces of paper – for to-dos – write these on your pad of paper or in your notebook. Record all calendar items and process all contact information. Once these are processed, throw them away.
D. Throw away – put in your garbage can.
The next blog will have tips on how to keep this from happening in the future.
Do you have any paper horror stories? Any tips that could help us out? Leave a comment below so we can benefit from your experience.
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Holly:
I visited the office of a potential business partner who specialized in paperless-office and paperless-workflow. Shortly after I arrived, I was escorted into the file room where the proud owner showed me one four drawer filing cabinet — two drawers of which were empty. The other two drawers contained the only paper in the office. He said when a piece of paper comes into the office it is either thrown away or scanned and thrown away. Available software allows them to define parameters such as retention, key words, etc. for later retrieval or processing. The only papers saved in the organization were signed documents which were legally required to be retained.
If an office can manage paper on that scale, I believe it is possible for some of us to consider implementing a similar approach for our desks. We all do this to some extent now since we save our pictures and other native documents electronically.
Fred –
I’d love to see that office! The paper flow sounds great and not so chaotic! I’m sure they are very productive.
Thanks so much for sharing – gives me some thoughts on what I might do differently!
Holly
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