About a month ago, one of my weekly projects was to file the stack of papers that had built up on my desk over the course of several months. It took less than an hour, but it was tedious.
Ever since then, I've been filing papers as they've come in. Which means that I don't have a month's worth of papers to file right now, and that feels like a gift to myself. It helps that we've cleared away some clutter so it's easier than ever to access the filing cabinet.
It only takes a few seconds to file each sheet of paper as it crosses my desk. It takes nearly the same amount of effort to add the paper to my filing box, but this keeps the paper clutter from accumulating.
The one exception I make to this rule is papers that don't have a home. There are a few files I need to create, but I'm not quite sure how I want to organize them yet, and some papers I just need to keep for a short time and then can toss. So those pages have been added to my filing box but the pile is so much smaller than what it used to be!
2 comments:
Thought of a paperless office? I've considered it, but not quite sure how to do it. I have scanned a big stack of papers and 'filed' it on Evernote.
The thought has crossed my mind, but the lawyer in me can't quite bring myself to go paperless on all statements, etc. Someday . . .
Post a Comment