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Your
desk is the most important part of your office. It is a work space, however
many people make the mistake of using the desk as a storage space! In order
for you to be focused on the task at hand, the desk should be clear and free
of distractions, such as piles of paper, books, notes, bills, etc. How can
you manage these items without losing them, find the information you need to
work on, and still have a clear work space?
Action files! Action files are merely temporary homes where papers live
until they either end up filed away permanently or thrown away. Your action
files may sit on the far corner of your desktop, they might be in your file
drawer, or in baskets on the credenza. Whichever method works for you is
fine. Label them according to what actions fit best with your industry. (ex:
CALL BACK, TO FILE, TO READ, TO MAIL, TO PAY, etc) Clearly label your files
so you will always know what is in them, and just as importantly, the labels
will remind you what not to put in them.
An important add-on to your action files is a HOLDING file. This will be a
key player in the organization of your office space, as it will hold all the
information that requires an action some time in the future, rather than
immediately. For example, if you get an invitation and map to a seminar you'd like to attend in a few months, how do you keep that information
without losing it or forgetting about the event entirely? This is precisely
where the 'Holding file' comes into play.
You simply mark in your calendar the date you wish to take action and what
the action will be (ex: September 5, Marketing Seminar at the Hilton) then
you make an 'H' next to what you've written, which is a visual indicator
that the information pertaining to this event is living in your Holding
file. The key to using your Holding file effectively is that you must use it
in conjunction with your calendar. It's a dual system: the note in the
calendar reminds you of the action you need to take, and the 'H' next to the
note reminds you of where the details of the information are being stored.
Once the action is taken, remove the physical information from the Holding
file and either file it or throw it away.
Some examples of what to keep in a Holding file:
·Airline tickets and itineraries
·Event or seminar invitations
·Directions to events
·Letters to follow-up on
·Auto tag registration
In short, your Holding file is a temporary home for anything with an action
deadline either in the near or distant future. The system gives you a way to
safely put things out of your mind until it's necessary to think of them
again, thereby freeing your mind up to focus on your immediate priorities.
About the Author: Monica Ricci has been an
organizing specialist since 1999, and her motivational presentations teach
effective organizing and simplifying techniques for home and work. She also
offers free email tips and ideas on how to make life simpler and more
organized. Her topics include clutter control, paper management, time
management, organizing space and procrastination.Contact Monica at
770-569-2642 or Monica@CatalystOrganizing.com. |