You’ve probably read a lot of advice about how you should spend your time…
* Parenting magazines suggest that we spend at least two hours a day with our kids.
* Health magazines suggest that 90 minutes of exercise daily is necessary to keep us in good health, and eight hours of sleep each night is recommended for optimal functioning. (A study published in the April 2005 Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that only 3% of Americans are living a healthy lifestyle.)
* Relationship magazines advise couples to spend at least 15 hours a week alone together to maintain a good relationship.
Once you throw in a full-time job and commute time, that doesn’t leave much time for other essentials such as eating, grooming, or doing chores around the house.
In my work as a productivity consultant, my clients express a desire to “get organized,” yet they often say they just don’t have the time to do it now. Unfortunately, the longer they put it off, the more time they waste and the further behind they get.
The busier you are, the more you’ll benefit from setting up some time-saving systems, processes and tools.
Productivity has two components -- efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is about getting more done in less time. Effectiveness is about doing the right things, based on your priorities. The rest of this article will focus on tips for increasing your efficiency.
Increase Your Efficiency
How much time are you or your co-workers wasting? Research shows that the average person wastes 150 hours per year – almost one month – looking for things. The number one reason people pile instead of file is a fear of never finding it again once it is stored away. The Paper Tiger addresses this concern. Want to know how?
Here’s a typical scenario that you might relate to… Let’s say you have papers you need to file away about a car accident. If you have a standard categorical / A-Z filing system, the first decision you must make is which category to file the papers under. Do you file them under Medical (for the papers about your neck injury), Legal (for the police report and the legal papers from your attorney), Finance (for the insurance papers), or Household (for the car repair receipts)? Once you decide what category to file the papers under, you must then decide what to call the file itself. Then, weeks or months later when you want to retrieve something, you must remember what category you filed it under and what you called the file.
Consider these alarming statistics: A Steelcase study found that 27% of office workers described themselves as pilers. Ernst & Young reports that the average time it takes to retrieve and re-file a paper document is ten minutes. And 3% of all documents are lost or misfiled and have to be recovered at an alarming cost of $120 per document.
Using The Paper Tiger will allow you to immediately find anything you file or store. The Paper Tiger helps you instantly turn your dysfunctional files or piles into an instantly-retrievable "finding" system. The Paper Tiger allows you to keep your paper documents in your filing cabinet, cross-reference the information you input about each file, and use the search power of your computer to find it in five seconds or less -- regardless of who filed it!
Using The Paper Tiger to file away papers in the example given above, I’d call the file “Car Accident” and would add these keywords to the database: neck injury, lawsuit, Honda Civic, Allstate Insurance, Al's Auto Body (or whatever words I might look up when I want to retrieve one of the documents in the file). The physical paper-based files are stored using numbered labels. Doing a search for any of the italicized words I used above, The Paper Tiger will instantly tell me what file location and number the documents can be found in (Example: Reference 24 or Archive 92)
Not just for paper… Although this software program is most commonly used for finding paper documents, you can also use it to find much more than just paper. Paper Tiger owners have also used this software to help them store and retrieve such things as books, binders, CDs, DVDs, videos, containers, inventory items, storage boxes, x-rays, lab samples – anything you can put a number on. A tow truck company even uses it to find cars in their lot when the owner comes to claim their vehicle. The tow truck employee simply types in the make & model, license plate number or VIN number and The Paper Tiger tells them which stall number the car is parked in on their lot (Example: Stall 127). Prior to using The Paper Tiger, employees wasted valuable time walking up and down rows of cars to physically find the right vehicle when the customer arrived to claim it.
Visit my website for more information about the Paper Tiger. There you’ll find a link to download a no-obligation 30-day trial of the software. You’ll also find a link to my recorded teleclass and class notes, which provides information about program features and describes how it works.
Those who get software from me will also receive my complimentary recorded instructional teleclass and user guide which walks you through how to get started and how to use all the features. The Paper Tiger is available in single-user and in network version.
If you’d like personal assistance getting started, I offer one-on-one consultations by telephone. Wondering how this works? In addition to connecting by phone, I have special technology set up on my computer which enables me to access your computer remotely (with your permission, of course) so I can help you set up your Paper Tiger system no matter where you are located, and you can see what I am doing as you view your computer monitor. Contact me today for more information.
Need group training? I travel, and I also offer training sessions over the phone. We can all connect by telephone bridge line if your group members are in different locations. We can also set up a teleconference using a training room with an LCD projector and a sound system that projects my voice and what’s on the computer monitor. Contact me about your group’s training needs. (I offer training on other topics, as well.)
Regardless of whether you do it on your own or ask us for help, just do it! The sooner you implement The Paper Tiger, the sooner you’ll start recouping lost time.
Now or Later?
How often do you put off doing a non-urgent task now, even though you know it will save you valuable time, energy and money in the long run? What's stopping you? Are you waiting until you have more time? When will that be?
If you don’t take time now, it’s going to cost you a lot more down the road.
Make a written list of what needs your proactive attention NOW so you can save time, energy, money, and heartache LATER:
- Your health and well-being (schedule a medical appointment, start a diet or exercise program, daily meditation, etc.)
- Your relationships (be specific about what relationships you will tend to)
- Systems, processes and tools that will increase your productivity (choose from the list above or add your own)
- General maintenance (house or building, yard, appliances, equipment, car, etc.)
- Computer maintenance (virus protection, updates, computer back-up, etc.)
- Other ______________________
Remember, it takes time to make time!
It Takes Time to Make Time - To learn more about this author, visit Kathy Paauw's Website.
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