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Staying Clutter-Free - Organize For Productivity, Profit and Peace-of-Mind (Part 5)

Written by: Alex Revai

Article Overview: In this installment we review the steps required to remain (paper) clutter-free with minimal daily maintenance. We begin to learn about connecting our filing system with a process, which enables us to deal with paper (as well as all sorts of information, such as email, voicemail, etc.).

Staying Clutter-Free - Organize For Productivity, Profit and Peace-of-Mind (Part 5)

At this point, we have made clutter disappear. Oh, what a relief! We no longer worry about finding a piece of document when we need it. If only we could keep this state of affairs. Relax! It's going to be a lot-lot easier, than this, not entirely painless, big clean-up, which is now behind us. This was an investment, which will now pay dividends day-in-day-out, year after year.

Let's turn our attention to ensuring that we never again find ourselves surrounded by paper-piles and lost in clutter. How, then, do we stay paper-piles-free?

Staying paper-free (and I'm not yet referring to paperless, merely suggesting no visible paper clutter) - are you sitting down? - should only take a few minutes a day. Sounds too good to be true? Let me explain.

• The goal is an empty in-basket each and every day.
• You receive new (paper) mail every day. Five? A dozen? Probably not much more.
• Review them at a designated time of the day.
• Decide what, if any ACTION they require.
• You will only DO (immediately) those actions, which require < 2 minutes. (This is the first step of the 4D process, to be described in a separate article.)
• Is there a longer document, which will take > 2 minutes? You can decide to read it later. DEFER it, not now! That will be an action, too. In that light, shall we say, 3-5 minutes to decide on the disposition of your papers?
• Remember, you have an effective filing system. You file away what you need to keep for further action or later reference and toss the rest! Another 2-3 minutes.
• Enter the actions into your Calendar and/or To-Do list. If it's not in your calendar, there is a good chance it will not get done!
• You may choose to do the actual filing of documents now, or defer this task to your "To be filed" Action folder.

You have a clean desk. Your documents are resting in a place from where you can retrieve them at the click of a key word. Actions are noted in your calendar and/or your To-Do list. Everything is neatly out-of-sight, but not out-of-mind. Not only is your desk clean, your mind is also at peace. You can focus on your business.

Now, for the most important part: Do it only once and you'll be back where you started, in no time. Therefore, do this every day! Develop it into a habit. Science proves that if you repeat a certain action 17-20 times, it will become a habit. So, is your day going to belong to the clutter around you or will it be a productive one? The choice is yours.

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Article Tags: 4d process, clutterfree, decluttering, empty inbox, not outofmind, outof sight, productivity



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