Time to Conquer Your Chaos
Sherry Borsheim

Did you know that the average professional loses an hour a day due to disorganization? That might explain why so many of us feel that there are not enough hours in the day, or why we are working so much later these days. In fact, the average executive is now working the equivalent of an extra month each year just to stay on track!

To make matters worse, statistics state that more than 80 percent of the cost to maintain paper records is in the personnel time required to retrieve and replace documents in the filing system. And the personnel cost to handle these records averages over 20 times the cost of the records themselves.

According to Forbes ASAP, the typical executive today wastes 150 hours a year – (almost one month) - searching for lost information. For someone earning $50,000 a year, 150 wasted hours translates to a loss of $3,842! That could amount to a fairly nice and well deserved vacation – or more dollars in the red for someone’s Company. Most people don’t want to spend their day’s filing or searching through files – yet even on our computers we do it way more than we should.

For many people simply getting organized will cut down on this unnecessary loss. In fact being organized can also raise productivity levels, lower stress and increases a sense of overall well-being.

It goes without saying then, that even if you think you’re already organized, any time is still the optimum time to make even greater strides towards better organization in the home or workplace.

Below are some quick and easy tips to "conquering your paper chaos" that could be shaving wasted hours from your day too:

1. Take all of the paper clutter you have on your desk, counter or table and place it in a box
2. Pick up the first piece of paper and apply the FAST principle™ - are you going to File, Act, Schedule or Toss this piece of paper? If it’s file, then write the trigger word(s) in the top right hand corner of the paper. Put it in a pile called “File”. If you need to take action, write out all the action steps on the top right corner of the paper or use a post-it-note and put it in a pile labeled “Action”. If you need to schedule this into your calendar then write it into your calendar and toss the paper. When you’ve sorted the entire box you should have 3 piles – File, Act, Schedule and I’ll assume that your wastebasket is overflowing!
3. Once sorted, start with the action pile and begin to handle each piece of paper - filing it in your action files or scheduling the next action into your calendar. You can also use the Tickler system to file these into on the day you plan to take action.
4. Next go to the filing pile and file them into your appropriate filing cabinets using Paper Tiger or your traditional methods. Use the 2” rule – if a file is larger than 2”, break it down into smaller files.
5. Acquire a copy of the new "Conquer Your Chaos" workbook from Simply Productive so that you can keep a consistent handle on your paper chaos and learn additional tips on how to get organized in your office.

About the Author

Sherry Borsheim, owner of Simply Productive, has been helping people to work smarter, not harder for years. She specializes in resolving paper, time and information management issues. To learn more about eliminating the paper pile-up and in vastly improving your productively, contact Simply Productive at 604-233-7076.