| Conquering Clutter |
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| By Cyndi Seidler |
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| Clutter can make a person feel cluttered (obviously!) and, therefore
less able to put things into proper perspective, or prioritize important
tasks. Stacks of paper are usually formed out of a person's indecision
on what to do with some piece of information, or out of fear to
put something away because they may want to act on it "later."
Also, they may fear that they would forget it if it was put away
(yet it often becomes a forgotten particle once it is buried in
a stack!). |
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| Accumulated paper piles can give one that "so much to do and
no time to do it all" feeling. It is difficult to focus on
anything when we feel overwhelmed and, with maybe a few exceptions,
it is practically impossible to manage your business affairs efficiently. |
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| Paper, which is "on the loose," is like trying to find
a pet mouse you allowed the freedom of getting out of its cage.
When its time to find the mouse, you now need to do a search. You
know you left him in the room, you just aren't quite sure WHERE
in the room he is. So, you several minutes, maybe several hours
or more looking for him. When you finally find him, you may not
have time left now to play with him. |
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| The comparison I'm trying to make here is that time was spent looking
for something that wasn't in its "home" or place where
it could be quickly and easily found. I feel our time is much too
valuable for this sort of thing. And, we've all heard that "time
is money." What do you think that means? |
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| Now that we understand how we get into a cluttered mess and why
its hard to operate under such conditions, let's take a look at
a simple approach to handling it. |
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| Every piece of paper and every item should have a "home"
in which it belongs. If not, then it can, most likely, be discarded
(thrown away). |
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| Piles of paper indicate may "homeless" pieces, waiting
to be stored in a proper place. As items sit in piles, they are
often neglected or forgotten about all together. |
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| If you have any piles or loose particles lying around, decide to
make the time to deal with it. The paper-sorting process can be
done in a relatively short period of time, once you start. You just
handle each piece one by one until the pile disappears! |
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| Here is a summary of steps to take to get rid of clutter : |
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| 1. Gather all paper lying around in stacks or alone and "homeless"
and put it in one (or two) piles. |
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| 2. Place a large trash can next to you. |
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| 3. Have a tray for paper to be filed, a tray for reading material,
and file folders. |
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| 4. Have a To Do List pad at your side and a vertical file holder
on your desktop area for Action and project files. |
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| 5. Pick up one piece of paper at a time and make a decision on what
to do with it. |
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| The sorting process involves that you make certain decisions on
step #5. Here is a break down of how to do this decision-making
process: |
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| 1. If you want to DO some action on it, note the task on the To
Do List and put the paper in an ACTION file folder. Place the folder
in a desktop vertical file holder. |
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| 2. If the paper involves an ACTIVE PROJECT, it may require some
action, maybe not. In either case, the paper will go in the project
file for the project, the task will be noted on the To Do List (which
can be broken down into categories and projects), and the file can
then be placed in the desktop vertical file holder. |
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| 3. If you want to READ it, put it in a designated reading pile placed
in a basket or tray. The reading basket (or tray) can be on a shelf
near your work area. |
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| 4. If you want to SAVE it for reference or document retrieval, put
it in a "to be filed" basket or tray. |
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| 5. If you have no use for it, THROW IT AWAY! |
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| Once you've cleared away all loose papers and items, here is a
simple technique to apply in controlling clutter: |
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| 1. When you retrieve a document or pull a file out, place
it in a temporary location (in an "Action" file or on
a vertical file holder on desk), unless you are ready to do something
with it immediately. |
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| 2. When you are finished with a file or retrieved document,
place it in an "Outgoing" or "To Be Filed" basket
to be stored away. |
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| 3. When you are done using something, put it back where you
got it right away. Don't let it sit around "homeless."
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| 4. When you do your mail, handle each piece of paper after
you pick it up. If you want to save the paper, place it in a "filing"
basket. Do not store it in your mail basket to decide later what
you're going to do with it. Make a decision right then and there!
Take action! |
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| To understand the rationale behind his thinking, Sullivan says
to ask yourself why, if we live in an age with more time-saving
devices than ever before, do we all have less and less time to accomplish
anything? |
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| To maintain your flow of paper, use tray baskets to receive incoming
and outgoing paper, use vertical file holders for Action and pending
projects, and schedule desk time to handle your Action. This "desk
time" should be scheduled into your routine as an administrative
function. |
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| This method will help simplify your workload and help maintain
a pleasant work area for you to enjoy being in. Even if you tend
to get papers scattered all over your desk while you work, take
a few moments to send those papers "home" before leaving
your desk at the end of the day and you'll be pleased when you return
to work the following day! |
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| Cyndi Seidler is an author, columnist and professional organizer.
She developed an online resource to help people get better organized
at www.organized-living.com.
Please feel free to contact her at Cyndi@orgnanized-living.com. |
