Tag Archives: File folder

Productivity

10 Tips to Help Keep Your Desk Clean

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This is one of the more popular posts at Ian’s Messy Desk. I’m reposting with some update information.

How much stuff do you have sitting on your desk or in your work area? A while back, Coopers & Lybrand (nowPrice Waterhouse Coopers) released data from a poll on personal organization. One statistic found that, “The average desk worker has 36 hours worth of work on their desk and wastes up to 3 hours a week just “looking” for STUFF!” Finding stuff on my messy desk bears out that statistic. Being disorganized is responsible for a lot of wasted time.

While there is a challenge in the initial cleaning of the messy desk, the regular maintenance often poses the bigger challenge. Here are some tips to help keep the desk clean:

  1. Sort your mail and toss junk as it arrives. Even with an in-basket, you need to process your mail dailyto avoid accumulating a stack of paper. Sort where you have places to put each category of mail: 1) garbage, 2) recycling, 3) bills, 4) etc.
  2. Get rid of sticky notes and scraps of paper. Round them all up and transfer their information tosomething a little more permanent, efficient, and user-friendly. Get a single notebook and use it torecord notes, phone numbers, web addresses, ideas, to-dos, etc.
  3. Create a list or binder of regularly referenced material, such as phone numbers, and keep it accessible in a desk drawer.
  4. Schedule filing time at least once per week. To be more productive, allocate 15 minutes each week. Initially it may take you longer to catch up if you have a large pile, but 15 minutes is manageable. We all can find this much time in our schedules.
  5. Add dated or calendar items to a tickler file system or a diary as soon as they arrive. anything you need reminded of on some future date goes into your tickler file. Every morning, pull out the folder for the day and place the contents into your inbox. Then it is right at hand when you need it.
  6. When you stop working on something, put it away until the next time you need it. Don’t leave half-completed projects sitting on your desktop.
  7. Keep nothing on your desk unless you absolutely need them. If you aren’t joining sheets of paper with tape, move the dispenser off the desk. If you want personal photos in the office, have only one on thedesk or better yet, hang them on the wall.
  8. Keep a reading folder for material you need to read. Put non–urgent “to read” items in file folder; use multiple folders if you have different to-read categories. As you receive new items, place them in the front of the folder. If the folder gets too full, toss the old stuff without looking at it. That way you always have current stuff that might go back a month or two. Schedule regular reading time to clear the material.
  9. Create a “waiting for” or pending file to hold items dependent on outside action. This is not the same as a tickler file. This is for actions waiting on an external response. I.e., you’re waiting on quotes before you can go ahead a get the office repaintied.
  10. Create a weekly appointment to clean your desk and this includes dusting or polishing. You might be less inclined to mess up a shiny desk. ;)

It doesn’t take much “neglect” for your workspace to fill up with things that eat at your productivity. A few simple and regular good habits can free up a bunch of extra time for getting things done.

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Productivity

Eight Ways to Keep Your Office Clutter-Free

Working at an organizations’ head office, we see a lot of paper. We recently were involved in a capital project to build a new program facility in our region. When the HVAC system was installed, someone thought we might want the user manual for the system: a 400 page PDF document. Instead of filing the PDF on the network, the document was printed and placed in a filing cabinet, where it will sit until doomsday.

We really didn’t need the manual. We will never troubleshoot the system; we will never program the system; and we will never maintain the system. The next time we will be concerned with the HVAC in this building is when it stops working and needs to be replaced.

Despite the improvements in document handling technology, despite the the convenience of a PDF, we still produce a lot of paper. Keeping your desk and files clutter–free in a paper–filled environment isn’t easy, but a little planning and a little technology can help.

Start with the 4 D’s of Effective Paper Management:

  • DO IT. This means that you perform the necessary items on this piece of paper today. Once you’ve completed these items, the paper should be filed, re-routed to someone else or discarded.
  • DELAY IT. This means that further action needs to be taken on this paper, but not right now. File it in a Reminder file or in your file cabinet. If necessary, write a date and time on your calendar when you’ll be retrieving this paper for further action.
  • DELEGATE IT. This means that you immediately give this paper to someone else, whether this person is someone in your company, a client, vendor or someone else you outsource to.
  • DUMP IT. This is the greatest one of them all. It’s probably safe to say that a huge percentage of the paper that enters your office can be immediately discarded.

Manage your “to read” pile

The paper littering desks and files is mostly mail or things colleagues send, stuff that you mean to read, but never get to. Have a plan to eliminating the paper as soon as you get it. That doesn’t mean throwing it in the recycle bin as soon as you receive it, but you need to know where things will end up after they hit your desk.

Put non–urgent “to read” items in file folder; use multiple folders if you have different to-read categories. As you receive new items, place them in the front of the folder. If the folder gets too full, toss the old stuff without looking at it. That way you always have current stuff that might go back a month or two. Don’t worry you’ll throw away something vital, if it’s vital, it shouldn’t be in a general reading file.

Think before you print

We also create a lot of the paper piles, without giving it much thought. It can be tempting to print every interesting thing we find on the web or print a 400 page PDF “just in case.” It adds up. Stop and think before hitting the print button. Is there a better way to store the material.

Here’s a place where technology can be put to good use. The cost of storage media keeps getting less and less. I just bought a 1 terabyte (that’s 1,000 gigabytes) hard drive for $120.00. I can print any web page to pdf and store it on the drive. Combine that with a search tool such as Google Desktop and I can quickly find material previously saved.

Create a record retention policy

Despite technological advances, there are certain files, such as personnel records and corporate documents, that you’ll need to keep for extended periods of time. To manage this process, you’ll need a record retention plan. How this policy reads will vary depending on local laws. However, these are the kinds of documents controlled by such policies:

  • Annual financial statements, corporate documents (including corporate charter, deeds and easements, stock, minutes of board of directors’ meetings, labor contracts, trademark and registration applications), and income tax paperwork and payment checks.
  • Bank statements, voided checks, purchase records (purchase orders, payment vouchers, vendor invoices), and sales records (invoices, monthly statements, shipping papers and customers’ purchase orders).
  • Personnel and payroll records.
  • Monthly financial statements.

Archive off site

Use off–site storage for those files that you don’t use everyday, but can’t discard immediately. This allows you to keep your office space free of the files, but the information is still available if you need. Assign a destroy date to each box that you store. This forces you to make a decision about a set of documents that you might not do if the files are on–site.

Before sending your files away, cull them and discard duplicates, non–essential files, or those past retention dates according to your policy. You’re paying by the box, you don’t want to send unnecessary bulk.

Invest in equipment and software

Technology lets you toss more than ever before. New information is constantly accessible to via the Internet, there’s less need to maintain all types of files.

  • If you have documents that you need to keep, but you don’t use everyday or don’t have the room to store, use a scanner to create an electronic copy.
  • If discarding confidential documents makes you resistant to purging files, shred sensitive documents before recycling.
  • Business cards can be filed in a book, or scanned to keep electronic copies of the cards, which can later be searched by name or keyword.
  • To file effectively and quickly, you need to have the essentials: plenty of file folders, file labels, cardboard boxes and bins, plastic crates and carts, and file cabinets.
  • And don’t forget wastebaskets and recycling bins for the items that you choose not to file.

Organize your office heart

You may have business documents items which have more of a sentimental or morale value: photos, letters from clients, awards, etc. Have a memento box or album when and collect those gems — pictures of the first office party, thank you letters from their first few clients. Keep the box or album in a designated area in your office.

Keep it clean

Once your office is organized, keep it that way! A major part of maintaining order is your approach to the task. To prevent future accumulation, treat paper in your office as if it’s perishable. Don’t pile it up, telling yourself that you’ll deal with it when you have time. Make decisions on the paper immediately. Keep a recycle bin and a wastebasket next to your desk and use them frequently.

Continue filtering, filing and tossing and you’ll maintain a clutter–free environment.

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Productivity

How to Organize Your Files With Cross Referencing

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of cross-referenced file systems. Specifically, I’m not a fan of systems which require you to keep a secondary index of things you’ve already filed. Whether in a card system, a notebook or a

English: Wooden File Cabinet with drawer open....
Image via Wikipedia

computer file, the more places you have to keep files organized, the more places for things to get out of control.

That being said, cross referencing works for some people and certain fixed types of cross references are easy for anybody to use. Also, the development of tags as metadata for electronic data serves as a type of cross reference.

What is cross referencing?

When organizing documents or records you will have those which could belong under more than one category or file name. To manage this, file the records in one category and place a cross-reference note in the other. It is important to be consistent in deciding where to file records. Cross referencing can also trigger the mind into remembering information.

One of the most common examples of a cross reference is the index of a book. A cookbook might have a single recipe listed in several places in the index. For example, chicken pot pie could be listed under both pie and chicken categories.

There are Three Basic Ways to Cross References

1. SEE – used:

  • When a subject heading can be referred to by more than one term. E.g., pets/dogs, anxiety/worry, auto/car
  • When a subject can be a sub-file of a broader subject heading. E.g., Tokyo/Japan, scarves/winter clothing, chicken pot pie/pies
  • When an obscure subject can be a sub-file and there is potential that it might be forgotten. E.g., asefetida/spices

2. SEE ALSO – used:

  • When additional information about a subject can be found under related subjects. E.g., a Household folder may contain a renovation file with information on redoing a room. However, other files such as wallpaper, paint, carpeting, contractors might all contain related information.

3. REMINDER –  used:

  • When an item needed is on the back of or within an article filed under another subject. E.g., you clip an article from a photo magazine on how to take low-light pictures; the back of the first page has ten quick tips for Photoshop users.
  • When an item needed is in a book. E.g., you have two shelves full of cook books. As you read and use them, you note the great chicken pot pie recipe that you want to take to the next pot-luck dinner you attend.
  • When items are too big to fit into a file folder. E.g., we have a traditional family Christmas Eve dinner. I have a sheet filed in a binder with what we serve, what needs to be bought from where and when, and the time line for preparations.

All three cross-reference types can serve to: trigger the mind into remembering and direct to information in a file. In addition, it eliminates the need to file duplicates keeping the system clean.

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