You are determined not to let the papers in your life pile up and out of control. You have just picked up the mail. Before you do anything else, go to your office area. If you don't have time to sort the mail now, put it in your "in" box and come back later. Do not sit in the living room and sift through it or you'll have to gather up all the torn envelopes and scattered pieces of paper and handle it twice. The key is to hand a piece of paper only once.
Now, you're sitting at your desk with a stack of mail and any other papers accumulated during the day. You need near you these two general places to put the papers:
First, a wastebasket or recycle bin. Do not put recycling with your used tissues! If you recycle, keep two baskets near your desk.
Second, you need a set of file folders, with the following labels:
Things to do for those things you will do in the next day or week.
To file for things you must save. Use the ten questions from yesterday to help you determine whether or not to save it.
Label one folder for each member of your household. Anything in their folder is their responsibility.
Now you have all the tools. You're ready to start sorting your papers. Look at each piece. If you can tell from the outside that it's junk mail, toss it without wasting your time opening the envelope. Any paper worth saving goes directly into one of the four categories of folders.
To save lots of frustration looking for that specific piece of paper later, it's worth taking time now to get your papers in order.
Judy Warmington, Woman Time Management (owner) -- Busy wife, mother of three adult/married children, grandmother of 10 (5 boys and 5 girls!), former high school teacher (M.A. from W.M.U.), Speaker, Author, Radio Personality, and Trainer of Professional Organizers.
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