Do you have a paper monster living in your office? Mail? Filing? Stacks of it on your desk? Yikes! Would you like to stop feeling overwhelmed by not knowing where to start? Are you being stopped by the uncertainty of what to keep and what to toss? I have so been THERE!
Being confident that you are keeping what is important, that you will be able to find it again, and then be able to toss it worry-free when it is not needed is critical for your sanity. So to get started, just download my guideline HERE.
The next step is to have a simple management structure (see the tips and strategies I have organized for you below). Missed dates and lost papers cost us TIME and MONEY. Office organization strategies save time and money!
Many people believe that successful businesses have complex structures to manage their records. Not at all true. It is too expensive to have complicated, time consuming procedures that don’t add to the bottom line. What they do use are simple, easy to do, and save tons of time. Also, they don’t require expensive filing or storage materials. Business owners are FRUGAL!
So how can you quickly sort and manage it once you have more clarity on what to keep and what to toss and when? How can you rapidly and efficiently organize and store it while still keeping what you need accessible?
For your MAIL, have a place for it to land when it comes into the office and…. DO IT NOW! You will actually process it right away. It is pretty much one of the 3 things: Keep, pay or toss. For magazines (and I KNOW you have them, put them where you will read them and if they get to be more than a few months old TOSS them because the likelihood of you reading them is now VERY SLIM).
If you do not have a formal bill pay station, your life will be FOREVER easier if you set one up. A small basket with a few supplies (stamps and return labels) is perfect. My favorite is a vintage napkin holder I picked up at a thrift store. If your business gets a lot of bills, you will need a system with more bells and whistles, but the basics will remain simple and you WILL HAVE a PROCEDURE!
For the rest of it, no fancy supplies are needed. The basics of what you need to first tame a clutter monster are:
- 4 baskets for sorting. They should be large enough to manage standard letter-sized papers. Larger gift bags will do in a pinch.
- Marker pen. Any color will do (but dark works best).
- Zipper food bags (1 gal. work fine but 2 gal. are better if you can find them. I get mine from the Dollar Store).
- Pocket folders (I like those with a 2” expansion capacity. These you can get from any office supply store and they should cost about $20 for a package of 10).
- Post-Its or sheets of scrap paper (bet you can find some of THAT) with the following written on them:
- TEMPORARY
- TAXES
- BUSINESS
- FOREVER and
- TOSS
Tame Your Paper Monster With My Free Guide
Carve out a few hours if your task is big but sort it quickly. Use the guidelines to help you when you have a question. I guarantee with a little practice you will figure it out and you will be able to manage your paper monster with ease and confidence.
My ABZ’s of TAMING A PAPER MONSTER TO HAVE A BUSINESS YOU LOVE will help you to manage your paperwork and important records.
This skill development is an essential one for business owners. Taming your paper monster and keeping important documents safe brings so much peace of mind, saves tons of time and creates so much space (both physical and emotional) to do other things.
