3 Ways To Control Your Office Clutter

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  Andre Kibbe06/04/08 Report as spam
  1

  Set up a general reference filing system

  The Lifehacker article was a great read.
  
  One of the key to containing clutter is defining what it is in the context of your work. Most people pile paperwork on their desk to remind themselves that action is required on it. The best practice is to systematically go through each piece of paper, extract any actions required on it onto an action list, then file it alphabetically by the name you designate to it; then do the same for non-actionable reference-only reading.
  
  Setting up an A-to-Z general reference filing system (I've blogged about this in the past) gives you real place to put things. Paperwork is often kept above desk simply because there's no alternative, so people give up trying to place it for lack of a permanent repository. Once you have a reference filing system in place, it's fine to keep the all the paperwork related to the one project you're actively working on on your desk, but since you now have a home for everything not related to what you're doing at that moment, you have the freedom to clear away those distractions.
  
  Andre Kibbe
  Tools for Thought

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  CC Holland06/05/08 Report as spam
  2

  Great idea

  That's a great suggestion and an important step in keeping clutter conquered. So here's my issue: I have an A to Z system and a spiffy filing cabinet to boot; the problem is, I end up with these "to file" piles of paper after I've taken my action. Somehow, I just can't bring myself to take action and file the paper immediately, so I just leave it "for later." Then later shows up around two months down the road, when I end up having to spend two hours filing all my stuff!
  
  Any insights, Andre? Thanks!

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  lisahendey06/07/08 Report as spam
  3

  RE: 3 Ways To Control Your Office Clutter

  Hey, thanks for the link! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who is a "stacker" - here's to clean workspaces and productive days! Lisa