Do you know where your critical documents are?
Do you know what that means?
If your house were on fire, could you get them in less than 30 seconds?
Is there a copy off site safe?
Where is your passport, immigration papers, citizenship documents, birth certificate?
Where is your marriage certificate, divorce papers, name change confirmation?
If anything happend to you, could your Power of Attorney (Finance) find enough information in a short enough time to take care of your affairs the way you would want them handled?
Do you have a Power of Attorney for Finance?
Do you have a Power of Attorney for Health?
Do you have a Will?
Do you have a Living Will?
Do your executors know how to get copies of the Will?
Do you have guardians for your children in the event anything happens to you?
Archive for Paper – Page 3
As a professional organizer, I am frequently asked by clients whether or not they need to shred paper that is being sent to the recycling bin.
In business, as in the residential setting, anything that identifies you and can be traced back to you via account number, address and the worst identifier – payment account number – must be shredded to protect your identity. You do not want this material wondering around once the the recycling material gets into the public domain i.e. out of your hands.
In addition, int he case of business, you must protect the identify of your clients. So, if your clients or their business with you, which, in most cases you are obliged to keep confidential, you must shred the material.
When in doubt, shred.
As a professional organizer, I am frequently asked by clients what paper needs to be shredded and what can go straight into the recycling bin. Recently I was asked specifically about some old utility statements that a client was throwing out.
Most utility bills have enough information on them to be able to identify you clearly. That’s why its on your bill. Some even contain billing and payment information. This is not information that you want public if it were to go astray. Shred.
As a rule of thumb, if there is anything on the bill to identify you, shred it. When in doubt, shred. You can always sit down with your television show some night after the kids are in bed and shred away during the commercial breaks.
The best way to keep paper from accumulating is to keep it out of the house.
When you receive the mail, get into the habit of sorting and reading the loose material right over the recycling bin. That way you can throw the unnecessary fliers, brochures and promotional items along with all the envelopes right into the bin as you sort through them and open the mail. The pile of paper will immediately decrease in size and you are left with paper that really in which you are really interested.
Do you have hot files in your office?
Hot files are the ones that either you are working on everyday because of their importance or contain the key To Do items because of their relevance.
Often when a hot file system has not been set up, people tend to keep the key files out on their desk. Eventually a whole bunch of files are on their desk and a few get moved to the credenza. Then there are a whole bunch on the credenza and a few get moved to the floor… you get the picture. You may be looking at that phenomena in your own office or that of your key director/manager. Try this strategy:
- Pick a separate colour file folder for your hot files. Pick a hot one that will grab your attention.
- Clear out of the things in/on and around your desk the key projects on which you are focussing.
- Find either a desk top file vertical file holder or pick one of the side drawers of your desk and empty it out.
- Put the files in the coloured folders and label them accordingly then file them in the spot you have chosen.
- This is the new home of your hot files and you will find them there, in prime real estate, each time you need them.
Are you feeling hemmed in when sitting at your desk?
Take a quick inventory of what’s on it: computer CPU, printer, screen, keyboard, telephone, several “In” piles, three projects in process (at least that’s what you can see well enough to count).
Move all the hardware off your desk. Do a quick sort of your In piles into four file folders: read, call, write, decide. Put them into a vertical file holder on your desk, to the left if you are right handed, (vice versa) with the labels facing toward you. Make sure the three projects are in some form of file holder and add them to the vertical file holder.
Take a quick inventory of what’s under it at your feet: computer CPU, printer, several pairs of shoes, gym bag, handbag, assorted brief cases or other business cases, recycling box.
Move the CPU and printer. Put the shoes, gym bag and any other clothes in the closet or in a bag hanging behing the door. Put the business cases in the closet. Use the recycling box for the sorting in the second paragraph above.
Enjoy your space.
Whether of not you have issues with paper, you probably have both paper clips and staplers in your house/office. Many people are in the habit of paper clipping sheets together because it is quick, easy, they wan’t the sheets together and may want to unclip them in the future.
Watch out for those paper clips adopting other documents. Use staples whenever possible over paper clips as the latter will often “clip” up another document that is not meant to be clipped to it. Most recycling opportunities will now take the staples with the documents.
If you are struggling with paper on your desk – or anywhere in your office – the biggest contributing factor may be that you are still storing your active work files horizontally rather than vertically.
Paper likes to be stored horizontally, it won’t argue with you. But you will end up with a lot of paper cuts, headaches and lost documents if you are housing files on your desk and credenza in piles. Everytime you go looking for something you have to sort through the whole pile because a document that is horizontal with something on top of it can not be identified. A file folder that is stacked horizontally in the middle of other folders is very hard to identify.
Instead, identify half a dozen files that represent the bulk of your day to day work. Organize the files vertically in a desk top file holder with the labels clearly identified. Using a file label on the file tab makes the label easier to read and easier to reuse. You might try using a specific coloured file folder for these half dozen or so files so that they can always be easily identified when lying around your office.
Sitting in their file holder either on your desk or credenza will make them easy to see, easy to access and reduce the need for sorting through lots of paper – paper cuts and bandages.
Colour can be a quick and easy way to help with your paper issues. Many clients complain to me that they can get paper into files initially but when they start using the files (projects, meeting agendas etc) the files pile up and the paper starts getting lost. Eventually their desk or credenza becomes a messy pile of files and paper and those familiar feelings of overwhelm and frustration creep in.
Despite our best attempts at limiting the number of documents that are printed, it seems that paper is here to stay – at least for the meantime. Try using coloured files to help with high level decision making, storage and retrieval of paper. For example, if you run a home based business, consider using one colour for personal files and another for business. In a corporate environement, consider one colour for project files and another for operational day to day activities. If your company uses manila folders for environmental reasons, use coloured file labels to help with storage and retrieval.
It is helpful to limit the number of colours and use colour for high level sorting. Too many colour choices can increase organizing challenges especially for individuals who are easily distracted or have difficulty focussing.
Colour can be a quick and easy way to organize anything from toys to files. When we organize we sort (small, medium, large widgets) pattern (like things together) and decide (keep, sell, toss). The same is true for storage and retrieval activity; looking for a spice (sort by alphabet?), filing paper (sort and pattern this year, last year, food, rent, utilities etc) and making decisions at every step.
Coloured boxes, baskets, labels or other storage tools provide an easy first sorting mechanism. Each child could be assigned a colour for their toys (John gets the blue toy bucket) sports gear (Jane’s labels, bag and towel are blue) or items on the calendar.
It is helpful to limit the number of colours to a minimum of choices. Use colour for high level choices. For example, if you run a home based business, try using one colour to sort between business and personal files (business is blue, personal is green). Too many colour choices can increase organizing challenges especially for individuals who are easily distracted and have difficulty focussing.
