Ending the Paperwork Nightmare   By Maria Gracia   of Get Organized Now!

With all of the paperwork flowing into our lives day after day, it’s easy for it to get out-of-control. Forms, memos, letters, catalogs, mail, flyers and advertising are stacked in our In-Boxes day after day. Leave it untouched for a day, and you’ve got yourself a paperwork pile. Leave it untouched for a week or more, and you’ve got yourself a paperwork nightmare!

Here are a few simple ideas to help end the nightmare and get it under control:

1) Break the job, of reducing your paperwork, into smaller pieces. Instead of trying to organize ALL of your paperwork at once, set a series of mini goals instead. For example, Day 1, go through one pile; Day 2, go through your In-Box, and so on.

2) Over 80% of the paper most people have in their offices is either out-of-date or will be of no further use to them. The 4 D's of Effective Paper Management are: Do it, Delay it, Delegate it and Dump it. The Dump it solution should not be taken lightly. A large percentage of the papers in your office (except for legal or tax related documents), especially the ones in boxes that haven't been looked at for years or months, can probably be trashed.

3) If you hate filing, I'm guessing that one of the primary reasons is because you are overwhelmed with your current filing situation. If you only had 1 or 2 pieces of paper to file, you likely wouldn't see the task as so daunting. Once your office is organized and an effective filing system is in place, filing will become an easier task. That is, as long as you file on a daily or weekly basis

4) It often helps to get a friend or organizer to give you a hand. If a month goes by and you discover you haven't even started yet, I suggest you get some help.

5) Consider reading my new book, Finally Organized, Finally Free. It's filled with tips and ideas to help you get better organized. There's even a special section dedicated to getting your paperwork under control, and another specifically for setting up an effective filing system.

About the Author

Maria Gracia is President of Get Organized Now!.

Specializing in peak time and space management, she has over 12 years of organizational experience. Her broad range of skills covers planning, scheduling, peak productivity, records management, space planning, time and paper management, administrative services and computer oriented organizational systems.

Maria is the author of the book titled Finally Organized, Finally Free. In addition, she has written and published, T.A.S.O., the art of Time And Space Organization Newsletter, Better Business and a number of other informational products. Her works are enjoyed by individual consumers, small businesses and large companies such as the Walt Disney Company, Dell Computer Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and Metropolitan Life.

Maria provides solutions to help you organize your business, personal, home and family life with ease -- one solution at a time. You can contact her via e-mail : getorgnow@aol.com


Copyright © 1999 Get Organized Now.  All Rights Reserved. Re-Printed with permission.

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