Paper Management Systems

Friday, January 22, 2010

Did you know the average executive spends 6 weeks a year looking for paperwork? The average woman spends 76 hours throughout her lifetime searching for items in her purse. Society did not adequately prepare people to keep up with the ever increasing demand of managing paperwork? leaving most of us feeling exhausted and unaccomplished at the end of the work day.

Believe it or not, your own brain is the culprit here. Your thoughts leading to procrastination, rebellious tendencies, perfectionism, depression, and fear culminate in the paper monster you encounter every day.

When it comes to paperwork clutter, there are a few things you can start now to make it better:

1. Keep your paperwork in one of two categories: Action and reference. Ex: You have a bill to pay, that requires action. Once it's paid, it gets filed as a reference.
2. Get an open file box to hold all of your actionable items, separated into categories within hanging file folders. Ex: Bills due, to read, events to attend. And don't forget to back it up on some sort of to do list whether it be your Blackberry, Outlook or just writing it down, otherwise it will become another dumping ground for paperwork. Remember, your action system is only meant to house papers temporarily.
3. In both your reference and action files use hanging file folders and create four main categories that will generally cover all the paperwork are: Financial, Personal, Lifestyle, Taxes and Insurance. Then use manila folders within the hanging file folders to subdivide the categories, for example, Auto, Life, Home, Health.
4. If you ever feel yourself getting stressed while sitting at your desk, remember this mantra: "Stressed? Stop and sort." Having a clear space will do wonders for your focus and productivity.

The key to staying on top of your paperwork is systems. Take some time to invest in setting up a paper management system that works for you. Once you feel more in control, become more efficient, reduced your stress and gain confidence that you can find things when you need to, you will be happy you spent the time to do it.