Ecofriendly Labelling

While there is no doubt, many of us print as little as possible, sort only what we can't avoid and file what is left over, paper seems determined to be here for a long time. As a result, paper files are still an organizational structure that must be managed.

Here is a tip to limit the number of file folders that end up in the recycling. When labelling the folders, use a file label to write on. They are readily available from most stationary or business supply stores like Grand and Toy or Staples. If you put the file name right on the label, when that file is finished, the file folder can easily be reused by simply putting a new file label over the old one.

Purge Time!

How are those files? Full of material from 10 years ago. If you haven't already, now is a great ime to revisit the contents and get rid of anything that is a) not relevant, b) not legally required, c) not accurate.

Remember, not all legally required material has to be kept in your current, day to day files. In fact, material that is several years old and retained purely for legal reasons may be better suited in a long term storage area that is access seldom if ever.

When your done the paper files, start on the e-files.

Prepare for Tax Time 2010

Many of us have just come to the end of a fiscal year, matched up to the calendar year. Why not get a jump on tax time for the following year? Your box of receipts may still haunt you until you hire a book keeper for this year's tax, but next year could be a different story for you.

Pick up at your local office supply store an accordian folder with at least 12 tabs. They are often available as 6, 13, 31 (date) or 26 (alphabetical) tabs. Label the tabs by month.

Use this monthly organization to put all your receipts for 2009. Each time a receipt comes in, drop it in the relevant tab slot. If your business is big enough, you may wish to have one for revenue and one for expenses.

If you are using electronic files, consider the opportunity to convert your paper receipts into electronic documents using tools such as offered by The Neat Company.

Hot Spots - Where are They?

I have written a couple of times recently on the importance of establishing hot files in your office or work area, (see Hot, Hot, Hot, The Disappearing Desk). One question which consistently surfaces when working with clients, is "what is the optimal place for the hot files?"

The answer? There isn't one; the location of the hot files really depends on how you function in your office. The best location will depend on your organizing personality, the nature of your work and the space you have available. Here are some examples in no particular order:

1. In a vertical file holder on your desk. Works well if you have the space on your desk, your need to see the files right in front of you.
2. In the top drawer of your filing cabinet. Works well if you have the file space, you require visual calm in your office, you don't need the visual cues to remember what's there.
3. In a vertical file holder on your credenza (table). Works well if you have the space on a credenza or table, you need visual cues to remember what's in them.
4. In the file drawer on the right/left pedestal of your desk. Works well if you require visual calm, have the space in the drawer, are in and out of the files freqently during the day, don't need them right in front of you to remember what's in them.

Clearing out Files

The end of the year is an excellent time to purge out your files and make room for the next year's activities. Before starting, make sure you are familiar with your company's Document Retention policies and procedures. If you head up a company, make sure that you have document retention policies and that your employees know what they are so that they can also clear out some files. If you run a small business or home based business you may want to check with your accountant for the retention requirements of business and tax documentation.

With all the rules taken care up, try starting small. Purging files is not the most exciting thing to do no matter which way you look at them. Try committing just 30 minutes a day for each of the next ten work days before the holidays. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish in the total of 5 hours.

Fussing about Filing

Probably the number one item that clients want me to help them fix in either their home or their office is paper and filing. It seems that paper, and keeping track of the pieces we wish to keep, is a struggle even for the most organized.

Most people struggle over the structure of the filing system. "If I file something in here, I never know where it is and can never find it again."My advice to clients is that there is no perfect filing system. There are good commercial systems, (e.g. Paper Tiger), there are common systems (alphabetized) often used in corporate settings and then there are the rest of us.

It is important that you pick a structure that works for you. If you organize visually, try using coloured files. If you are tend to talk to yourself and are auditorily oriented, try using file headings like "Keep this for Income Tax Time" or "Things I keep to refer back to". Sound corny? Who cares? If it works for you, that's all that matter.

Hot, Hot, Hot - Keep Those Files Close

Do you have hot files in your office?

Hot files are the ones that either you are working on everyday because of their importance or contain the key To Do items because of their relevance.

Often when a hot file system has not been set up, people tend to keep the key files out on their desk. Eventually a whole bunch of files are on their desk and a few get moved to the credenza. Then there are a whole bunch on the credenza and a few get moved to the floor... you get the picture. You may be looking at that phenomena in your own office or that of your key director/manager. Try this strategy:

• Pick a separate colour file folder for your hot files. Pick a hot one that will grab your attention.


• Clear out of the things in/on and around your desk the key projects on which you are focussing.


• Find either a desk top file vertical file holder or pick one of the side drawers of your desk and empty it out.


• Put the files in the coloured folders and label them accordingly then file them in the spot you have chosen.


• This is the new home of your hot files and you will find them there, in prime real estate, each time you need them.
  

Managing Email 2

Congratulations - you turned off the email alert and scheduled yourself to clear email after 11:00 am - didn't you?

Messages are easily lost in the Inbox. To avoid forgetting about a message, learn to use your flag alerts. If you are visually oriented, chose a different colour for different types of alerts: e.g. follow up from your VP could be blue, follow up for you subordinates could be green. Your computer will keep track of the messages that are flagged.

Meanwhile, try and delete messages as soon as possible and file those messages that you need to keep but don't require any further action. The filing system in your email should mirror that of you paper files. That way, your brain only has to remember one system and is more likely to remember where items are located. Finally, in the worse case scenaria affectionately known as the "beer truck phenomena" (what happens if you don't show up tomorrow because you have been hit by a beer truck?) the risk to your company that something important is lost, is reduced, as the likelihood of finding material in your computer is increased.

The Disappearing Desk

Are you feeling hemmed in when sitting at your desk?

Take a quick inventory of what's on it: computer CPU, printer, screen, keyboard, telephone, several "In" piles, three projects in process (at least that's what you can see well enough to count).

Move all the hardware off your desk. Do a quick sort of your In piles into four file folders: read, call, write, decide. Put them into a vertical file holder on your desk, to the left if you are right handed, (vice versa) with the labels facing toward you. Make sure the three projects are in some form of file holder and add them to the vertical file holder.

Take a quick inventory of what's under it at your feet: computer CPU, printer, several pairs of shoes, gym bag, handbag, assorted brief cases or other business cases, recycling box.

Move the CPU and printer. Put the shoes, gym bag and any other clothes in the closet or in a bag hanging behing the door. Put the business cases in the closet. Use the recycling box for the sorting in the second paragraph above.

Enjoy your space.

Boundaries & Borders

For entrepreneurs, small business owners and those of us with home based businesses keeping work and personal life separate becomes a significant challenge. With only one filing cabinet, business and personal files have no choice but to co-habit. If your office is the corner of the family room, tax time may find you with receipts all over the dining room table while you sort, add and prepare for your annual tax submission. Even if you have a large corner office, you may find that there is some information that always gets handled from your office and therefore you keep those files stored at the office. When tax time is over, or the big project is complete, whichever is your reason for extending beyond your "office" boundaries, is it important to develop boundaries and borders that separate work life from personal life.

Working animals, such as sheep herding or seeing eye dogs, have defined cues that tell them when it is time to play and when it is time to work - the harness for example. Without these cues and without clear separation the animals become confused as when they are working and when they are just playing.

The same is true for the rest of us although thank goodness we don't have to wear a harness to tell us when we are at work. Wtihout this clear distinction, however, our lives become imbalanced, productivity decreases and destress time disappears. Here are some tips for home based workers to help maintain boundaries and borders:

• Start by designating an office. No matter how small or large, ensure that the space is preserved for your business work space.
• Separate your files by using a different colour label or file folder for personal and business files. Ideally, use different file drawers.
• Schedule your time so you know when you are "on the clock" and "off the clock". The timing of the work day is less important than the designation of the working hours.
• Use specific cues to tell you when you are at work. This could be a coffee mug that is reserved for work hours, a pair of shoes that you "go to work in".
• If you are working on a big project that requires spilling onto "non office" home space, try designating a large basket to house the project work during non work hours rather than allowing it to takeover the living room completely.

Go Vertical - Save on Bandages and Headaches

If you are struggling with paper on your desk - or anywhere in your office - the biggest contributing factor may be that you are still storing your active work files horizontally rather than vertically.

Paper likes to be stored horizontally, it won't argue with you. But you will end up with a lot of paper cuts, headaches and lost documents if you are housing files on your desk and credenza in piles. Everytime you go looking for something you have to sort through the whole pile because a document that is horizontal with something on top of it can not be identified. A file folder that is stacked horizontally in the middle of other folders is very hard to identify.

Instead, identify half a dozen files that represent the bulk of your day to day work. Organize the files vertically in a desk top file holder with the labels clearly identified. Using a file label on the file tab makes the label easier to read and easier to reuse. You might try using a specific coloured file folder for these half dozen or so files so that they can always be easily identified when lying around your office.

Sitting in their file holder either on your desk or credenza will make them easy to see, easy to access and reduce the need for sorting through lots of paper - paper cuts and bandages.

Colour Your World

Colour can be a quick and easy way to help with your paper issues. Many clients complain to me that they can get paper into files initially but when they start using the files (projects, meeting agendas etc) the files pile up and the paper starts getting lost. Eventually their desk or credenza becomes a messy pile of files and paper and those familiar feelings of overwhelm and frustration creep in.

Despite our best attempts at limiting the number of documents that are printed, it seems that paper is here to stay - at least for the meantime. Try using coloured files to help with high level decision making, storage and retrieval of paper. For example, if you run a home based business, consider using one colour for personal files and another for business. In a corporate environement, consider one colour for project files and another for operational day to day activities. If your company uses manila folders for environmental reasons, use coloured file labels to help with storage and retrieval.

It is helpful to limit the number of colours and use colour for high level sorting. Too many colour choices can increase organizing challenges especially for individuals who are easily distracted or have difficulty focussing.

Eliminating E-file/Paper File Confusion

I am often told by clients that they can manage to keep one but not both of their information filing systems up to date. Either the paper files are comprehensive and up to date or the e-files are organized and up to date. Often clients find they can't keep them both organized.

A good rule of thumb is to try and mirror your e-file structure to your paper file structure. Give your brain a break and make the sorting process as easy as possible for both electronic and paper files by using just one structure.

Then remember to schedule a regular if not frequent purge.