This Sunday the Austin American-Statesman’s Life Guide column, by Sarah Lindner, featured some of my tips on managing paper. Here are some snips from the article:
What makes paper so hard to deal with? "Every piece of paper represents a decision that hasn’t been made yet," she says. "And so when people see that large stack, they see all those decisions ahead."
"The first thing we do is pull out all of the reading material," Marrero says. Catalogs and magazines are bulky and make your stacks look "a lot more scary" than they really are. Another trick is to start with your most recent papers and work your way back.
Get electronic statements instead of paper ones when possible. But if you go the e-statement route, remember to back up your hard drive regularly. [See my previous post on backing up]
Get off marketers’ mailing lists. There are several services that will take care of this for you, including one from the Direct Marketing Association at www.dmachoice.org/MPS .
Pay attention to a company’s privacy policy when you sign up for a warranty. Sometimes your name can end up on junk-mail lists.
Process your mail quickly. If you live in a community with a trash can at its mail station, throw away the mail you don’t need before it even gets inside your home.
Click here to read the rest of the article. Enjoy!
Great info… I never get tired of hearing about how to control paper. It’s like a never ending task that always is in need of “grooming”. Wonderful advice Lorie!
Among the things that people find it difficult to organize is paper documents. They tend to pile up on desks – which include receipts, credit card billings, medical records and other personal files – and people tend to be overwhelemed that they get tired by simply looking at the paper clutter. There are various organizing solutions available to assist us in getting things done faster without wasting paper. Let us not also forget to dispose of personal documents properly to avoid getting victimized by ID theft.
The software “Taming The Paper Tiger” saved my life at work. Literally. I was getting buried in the paper of an exec I supported. I asked our office supply rep if they had anything to help to help organize his documents and she recommended Paper Tiger.
How it works is that the physical file folders in the desk are numbered. You keep the “folder tab” info in a spreadsheet in the computer with the corresponding file folder number noted. If you no longer need the info in the file, you can just discard the paper, clear the info from the spreadsheet and then use that numbered file over again. No need to make new tabs each time you use the physical file folder.
The best part for me is that I can set a date for a reminder to come up so I know that I need to do something with that piece of paper or the contents of the folder.
It allows me to not only name the folder, I can set up key words to search for the info and make notes on what I have to do with the info in the file on that date.
This simple program has made me much more efficient and able to find things quickly.
Best product ever recommended to me. And no, I don’t work for the company and no, they didn’t pay me to say that! 🙂
The statement: “Every piece of paper represents a decision that hasn’t been made yet,” is so true. Not only do stacks of paperwork clutter up things physically, but it can also really affect people emotionally. It represents all of the things that we need to do or work on and can start to take a real toll when it piles up.
I’m also a fan of having a shredder handy so that you can quickly deal with personal documents (bills, bank statements, etc) that come in the mail.
Thank you, Adam. Yes, shredders are so important!
Wow, Eva. That is so great to hear. I am really grateful that you shared your experience with all of us.