Five Sure Fire Ways to End Your Year of Filing

As we’re approaching the end of the year, it’s time to take a day and do what is called “the file clean out day”. Once you know what you have, you can make decisions on what to purge, save, and possibly scan or archive.

Are you asking yourself, “what’s going on here?”. Consider what shape your filing system is in? Are your filing drawers stuffed so full that it’s nearly impossible to get another piece of paper into – or out of them? Are you hurting your knuckles every time you pull a file out? This time of year is a great time to review your files and purge as much as possible, creating space for next year’s papers.

If you’re using The Paper Tiger software, it’s pretty easy, as all you need to do is run a “file clean out report” and review it to assist you in the process. Don’t use Paper Tiger? Here’s what you can do to get through all your old papers and prepare yourself for the new year.

1. Determine what to keep. As you sort through papers, ask yourself, “What’s the value of keeping this piece of paper?”, “Can I find it somewhere online?” and “Are there any financial or legal concerns if I did not have the original?”. If the answers to these questions have minimal value, let the file go. Statistics indicate that 80% of the things you file will never get referred to again!

2. If you don’t have corporate records retention guidelines, create guidelines and use them as you purge your documents. Your accountant, attorney, or productivity consultant can advise you which documents you should keep for non-proprietary papers.

3. Keep only day-to-day paperwork at your fingertips. For rarely-used files that must be kept, I call these reference files. Store them in an out-of-the-way area. For rarely accessed but critical to keep files, store them ideally at an off-site storage facility or consider streamlining those types of papers to an electronic filing system. Scanning these documents upfront will minimize the need to keep moving them from one area to the next.

4. Toss the obvious. Instruction manuals for products you no longer own, research materials for no longer active ideas, drafts of letters, out-of-date magazines and articles, and receipts for items not needed for reimbursement or tax purposes.

5. File important documents in a fire safe filing cabinet. For your home office, consider a safety deposit box. The contents of your safety deposit box or home safe would include: passports; birth, death, and marriage certificates; deeds; divorce decrees; adoption and citizenship papers, insurance policy papers; lease agreements and loan documents; mortgage papers; personal property appraisals (jewelry, collectibles); Social Security cards; stock and bond certificates; vehicle titles; copies of wills; and powers of attorney papers. You get the picture. We still need the originals of a lot of these documents, so protect yourself and your assets. Remember to protect your combinations.

While you’re in the mood to be cleaning out files, don’t forget your PC. It also has files that you no longer need, slowing down your processing of work.

You can run maintenance programs which can ‘defrag’ your files– in other words clean up and arrange them in a way which makes it easier for your PC to find and the speed for running programs will be improved.

Empty your recycle bin. When you delete a file, you are only moving it to the Recycle Bin. If you do not regularly empty your Bin, the files inside may take up valuable disk space. Oftentimes, people overlook this task. You should empty your Recycle Bin regularly, at least once a week. So if you haven’t been doing it, add it to your file clean out day.

Remove Temporary Files. Temporary or junk files are left over by programs and are usually no longer needed. Internet Explorer stores many of the files used on the web pages you visit so that next time you go to a site it doesn’t have to download the same files again. However, this can build up over time and take up a lot of disk space. They waste space and that may eventually slow your PC down.

Another benefit of getting your papers organized is that you will feel more confident to go paperless. When you go paperless, you can store your files in the cloud with Google Drive.  You'll have the best of both worlds being organized with paper and digitally.  

Work in the Cloud Using Google Drive

Post by Strategize and Organize.

Tips How to Maximize Productivity

As you think about getting organized in your office, here are some tips to get you going. 


1.        Do the hardest thing first.  When you arrive at the office, you may be tempted to first check your messages, rifle through the day’s mail, or plow through some easy administrative tasks. Instead, try doing the hardest, most challenging (or least enjoyable) thing earlier in the day. You’ll be attacking it when your energy level is high and your mind is clear.

2.       Plan for tomorrow at the end of today. Take 15 minutes at the end of every day to create tomorrow’s to-do list. This habit of planning will give you the gift of focus, allowing you to get a jump-start the next morning. In a sense, you’re creating a map for the following day.

3.        Download all ideas, actions, and goals onto paper.  Clear the clutter out of your brain by taking pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and allow to-dos and brilliant ideas to become more concrete.

4.        Use your email effectively. Stop scanning emails and leaving them to deal with “later.” Instead, schedule time just twice each day to check and manage emails. Read each email message thoroughly, then act, file, delete, or pass along.

5.        Take a lunch break every day. You may not think you have time for one, but make the time. Poor diet on the job is costing countries (and their businesses) up to 20% in lost productivity!

6.        Become an expert time estimator. Most unpleasant tasks don’t take as long as you think they will. And most pleasant things tend to drag out a bit longer than you'd expect. Use a timer to get an accurate gauge of the real time it takes to accomplish a variety of routine responsibilities.

7.        Create an effective work area. The average office worker spends 2,000 hours per year at her desk. Make that space easy to use by gathering items that you use most frequently and storing them within easy reach of your usual seated position.

8.         Manage paper effectively. Resolve to deal with your papers on a regular basis. Whether first thing in the morning, at the end of the day, or somewhere in between, set aside 30 minutes each day so you don't end up with overwhelming piles.

9.         Be more productive by avoiding interruptions. Use your lower-energy hours as your open office hours so you don’t waste peak productivity periods with interruptions.

10.     Know the benefits of being organized. Getting organized goes way beyond having a neat and tidy space. By becoming more organized, you’ll not only help your business run better, but you’ll reap multiple personal rewards as well.

11.     Stop procrastinating.  Break tasks down into realistic-sized chunks and jot them. Each day’s successes will give you the drive to keep going.

12.     Learn to say “no” and delegate. Take control of your time and tasks by making a list of all your responsibilities, both daily and special projects. Even if it takes a little more time on the front end to train someone else, it may pay off by giving you more time to focus on larger responsibilities. 

My Source:

Anne McGurty
www.AnneMcGurty.com
Strategize & Organize
10401 North 52nd Street, #114
Paradise Valley, AZ  85253
(480) 442-2014

Anne is available as a consultant to help you improve your efficiencies in your office whether it is a home office or in a commercial environment.  She is also available virtually on Skype for coaching sessions.  If your human resources department is looking to implement an employee training program, Anne can customize a program for your organization.

How to Work with a Business Coach

In a recent interview, I was asked about how I deal with clients who are super busy, bouncing all over the place multi-tasking. The question was asked, "How do you decide what will work for them? How do you help people get focused?"

My recommendation as a consultant of personal productivity is that I have to really quiet down the client and start to look at what is going on in their world. What is their vision? It’s up to them to set up the systems by defining how they want to communicate and have people reach them.

We all need to take responsibility for how the world communicates to us, and we need to have the appropriate tools so that we can synchronize incoming information. In that way, we can be as efficient and productive as possible, maximizing all the benefits of these technologies and not getting ourselves overwhelmed in the process. Every day, there is something new that comes out—something bright and shiny. People don’t want to get behind the eight ball, so they grab it. I just have to tell them to pull in the reigns—tame them down a little bit and tame their technology. 

I also use the example in my webinars of using a day planner or a calendar. Some people still carry around a planner because they like to see their calendar, and it often makes sense. If however they also use an electronic calendar and don’t synchronize the two systems, there will be havoc. And it can get even worse if they have a family calendar on the refrigerator. You see where this is going. The solution is to get one system and stick to it. Consolidate all the information in one place—one container, so to speak. You’ll always know where to go when you need to make an appointment.

It’s the same with all the new devices out there. You need to stop and look at what you need to stay on track and make sure that all your technology talks to each other and can be accessible in one container. Document management systems are all about keeping your information in one place and being able to collaborate with others so they can find it. Too many businesses spend too much time resending emails, redoing documents, or using outdated documents because they don’t have synchronized systems. I took a huge turn in my business this past year educating people on how to organize their electronic information. I’ve known about it for years, having been an information system major in college. I’m just happy that my clients are finally open to hearing about how to use them.  

This interview is an except from my book, Concrete Jungle, Survival Secrets for the Real World.  Co-authored by Bob Proctor.  Available at www.simplifyyourlifeblog.com.  

How to Declutter a Collection

Collections can look like works of art, or they can look like piles of junk -- it's all in the presentation and preservation.  Having a display is great if you have the room and your items can remain safe while on display.

Here are a few tips to organize your collection.

1.  Make a decision that you love what you want to keep.
2.  Ask yourself how you want to see the collection, ie., accessible, locked up, with back lighting.
3.  Decide on a space to display the collection.  You may want to invest in a separate unit, a specialty cabinet or shelving.
4.  Accessorize or as they do in retail, merchandise it.  Use props, display stands,to , and by confining it to that area, you'l prevent overload.

With these few steps to organizing your collection, you will be on your way to organizing your office and decluttering your space.

Sources:
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