the one-touch-rule

If you are the person who has to shuffle through a slurry of papers every time you need to find something...you are not in the minority! It is actually not that unusual considering the amount of paperwork that crosses your eyes on a daily basis. Between the mail, the junk mail, bills, receipts, advertisements, magazines, catalogs, business cards, school papers and all the daily paperwork required for you to do your job, it's no wonder your drowning in paper.

Although cluttered desks and counter tops have become the norm, that does not mean they are acceptable and it surely does not mean you should have one! If you are committed to clearing the clutter from you're work space and improving your productivity, we have several tips that will help.

This is DAY 2 of our Week-Long Paper Management Marathon. Each day we will give you one more tip to get your paper clutter under control. Keep reading to learn more!

one-touch rule:
each time a piece of paper crosses your desk, do your best to deal with it the first time you pick it up instead of putting it down to deal with later. This will take some practice but once you get in the habit of dealing with it (either filing it, taking appropriate action or tossing it) immediately, you will save ample desk and counter space and tons of your very valuable time.

Ask yourself, "what do I need to do with this piece of paper?" You answer should fall into one of the 5 categories below:
1. something to do (date to mark on calendar, appointment to schedule, meeting to arrange)
2. something that is pending for later
3. something to file (bill, statement, tax info, medical record)
4. something to give to someone else (school papers, a recipe, article)
5. trash

Some other questions you might ask yourself are:
- do i really NEED it?
- do I really WANT it?
- will it BENEFIT me?
- do i see a USE for it?
- is it QUALITY?
- is it ACCURATE / RELIABLE?
- is it RELEVANT to today's culture?
- is it EASY TO UNDERSTAND?

create a place to file or store each of the above categories and your paper problems will be solved in no time!


For more tips on how to manage your paper clutter, visit my website at: http://www.andreadekker.com/