Have you ever had trouble deciding what to do with a sheet of paper that arrives at your office? Most people have at one point or another. That is why we say: “Disorder is postponed decisions.” That is why we accumulate so many piles of paper. Either we don’t have a home for them or we aren’t sure if we need to support them.
File-Act-Toss System (TM) makes it easy to decide what to do with papers. First, decide if paper is something you need to keep. If it has an impact on taxes, it is something necessary for legal, insurance or warranty purposes, keep it.
There are two types of files to manage whether you keep a sheet of paper, active files or archive files. Active files should be kept close to your work area so that you can access them easily. Archive files do not need to be kept nearby, but can be stored elsewhere in the office or even off-site.
The second part of the system is Act. This step refers to jobs that require action of some kind. These types of files are usually kept on the desktop or at least close by so that you can easily access them every day. Some examples of titles for these files would be: Call, Email, Waiting for an answer, Consider this, Read, File. Each person can decide the names of the files according to their own preferences.
The third step in the system is Toss. Again, many people procrastinate when it comes to throwing out papers because they are not sure if they will need them in the future. If you decide the paper can be thrown away, first decide if it needs to be shredded. Any paperwork with personal identification, account numbers or other vital information must be shredded. If you don’t need to shred it, recycle it or just throw it away.
Now that you know the three things you can do with whatever paper comes into your office, you should be able to easily handle those piles before they hit the disaster stage. To help you remember the File-Act-Toss system, write them down on a sheet of paper to make a label and stick them to something on your desk.
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