How to keep paperwork from accumulating
Does your desk sometimes look like a cluttered mailroom? Do you then go on a neatness spree - only to watch the untidy stacks of paper mount up again so that, in the following week or two, you have to clean up all over again? Some managers have a constant swirl of paper on their desks and assume that somehow the most important documents will float to the top. If you are being smothered by the paper avalanche, here are some useful ideas that may prove to be your salvation...
1. Adopt a system to process your paperwork.
The key to managing the paper war is to develop an effective processing strategy. It is essential to find a structured system that will work for you - and stick with it.
For example, the DRAFT system could be considered. Here, all incoming papers are sorted into one of the following five categories:
Delegation pile. Use routing or action slips to refer these items to staff members better equipped than you are to respond.
Reading pile. Put the journals, articles, and updates into a pile ready to grab when going to a dental appointment, or catching a bus, or taking off for the weekend.
Action pile. These items will require a personal response from you in the form of a written reply, an analysis, a draft report, or a decision. Subdivide this pile into 'top priority' and 'lower priority' tasks.
Filing pile. In a 'filing box', place all papers that need to be filed for future reference.
Toss pile. Junk mail and throw-away items are destined for the wastepaper basket. If you are unsure of what to dump, ask: What's the worst thing that would happen if I tossed it? Will someone be calling me later about this? Is there a duplicate elsewhere? If you feel it is impossible to decide on dumping immediately, keep the flyers and catalogues in a separate file to be browsed in one quick sitting each week before discarding, filing, or delegating.
2. Never handle a piece of paper twice.
Sort through all incoming papers as part of a regular daily routine. Handle each item only once - moving each from your desk to a delegation folder, to a read-later stack, to an action tray, to a file-later box, or to the wastepaper basket. (In reality, the goal should be to try to handle a document only twice at most - once on sorting it into the relevant pile, and, in some instances, once when resolving it.)
3. Enlist your assistant's help if possible.
Your secretary or clerk can save you much time by sorting your incoming paperwork for you, by handling the less important items routinely, by filing routine papers before they reach you, by highlighting the essential elements of the documents, and by routing the material appropriately after sorting.
