Archive for Home Office
Two Types of Reference Files – Current and Older
Posted by: | CommentsYou were given procedures for setting up current files for papers you are currently working on. Now you will turn your attention to papers that you may want to look at again someday, but that you don’t need to have at your fingertips.
These remaining files will fall into two categories: reference files (keep accessible) and historical files (store where you’ll be able to find them if necessary). Most home office professionals find it useful to subdivide their reference files into two subcategories, current reference and older reference.
Current reference files are different from current files because they are used often, but not on a daily basis. Examples of current reference files include the following:
- Backup documents for current projects
- Client files
- Mailing lists
- Sales materials
Older reference files contain papers from past projects or events. You may refer to these files once or twice a month. Examples of older reference files include the following:
- Articles from magazines
- Competitive information
- Notes from a seminar you attended
- Past client information
As you sort the remaining papers in your office, you will need to start thinking in terms of four file categories.
1. Current
2. Current reference
3. Older reference
4. Historical
Once you get in the habit of thinking this way, all of your filing deci-Slons become much easier.
How to Use Current File System in Your Home Office
Posted by: | CommentsBefore you file anything in your current files, remember to make a note of any action necessary on your “to do” list. This will wean you away from the habit of keeping papers on your desk in order to remind you to take care of them. Next to the notation on your list, you could put the name of the file in which you place the related papers. This way your “to do” list will take you directly to the correct papers.
Use the hanging folders and/or interior folders you just set up to file your “to do” papers. When you come across papers that don’t fit into an existing category, set them aside until you’re finished filing the rest. Then go hack and decide if you should start a new folder for these papers in your current files, if they could possibly go in your reference files, or if you can toss them.
1. In the To Do folder, put the papers that need immediate action.
2. The Pending (or Follow-Up) interior folder is for papers that need some type of response from someone else or some type of action from you at a later date. For example, if you sent a letter to someone and are waiting to hear back from that person, keep the letter in your Pending file. You could also keep in this file information about a seminar you will be attending in a few weeks.
3. File your bills under either Bills or 1 and 15, depending on how many folders you created for bills. Put charge receipts in your Charges folder. (Later you can compare them against your bill.)
4. Group any paperwork about current projects in the Projects hanging folder in the appropriate interior files. Each project should have its own interior folder.
Exception 1 is any project that has generated only one or two pieces of paper. Projects with little paperwork can be grouped together in an interior folder labeled Projects.
Exception 2 is any project that has generated a lot of paper. If an interior folder is more than an inch thick, it deserves its own hanging folder, labeled with the name of the project, and filled with separate interior folders corresponding to various aspects of the project.
After you have sorted your “to do” pile, go back to your “to sort” pile and decide what to do with those papers. If any of them fall into the “to do” category, you now know what to do with them.
When you are finished, there shouldn’t be any stacks of paper left of your desk. All of your papers should have been stored in your current files, placed in stacking bins, or thrown away.
How to Keep Your Paper Organized in Your Home Office
Posted by: | CommentsYou have five options when it comes to dealing with paper on your desk
- Put it in a stacking bin.
- Act on it.
- Put it in a file.
- Enter it on your “to do” list and file it.
- Rid yourself of it.
Put it in a stacking bin. Stacking bins are a temporary place to put papers you want to read or file. These papers do not require immediate action. Be-fore you put a piece of paper in your “to file” bin, write in the upper right-hand corner the name of the reference file where it should go.
Act on it. Acting on a piece of paper means you take action on it at that moment. That could include sending immediate payment to someone °f writing a response on someone’s note and sending it back (a fast alternative to writing a new letter).
Put it in a file. If you have the time, immediately put papers in the appropriate reference files.
Enter it on your list and file it. For papers that require action soon, make a note of what needs to be done on your “to do” list on the day you are going to take action. Then file the paper in the appropriate current file until you are ready to work on it. If you will need the paper as a backup later but don’t need it to work on the project, put it in your reference files. Some current papers may not require a note on your “to do” list because they go with information you already have. Put a document like this immediately in the correct current file.
Rid yourself of it. This means either recycle it or trash it. The saying “handle paper once” has been used for years. It sounds efficient, but it is frequently not possible. Instead, do something with each piece of paper to move it forward. For example, suppose you receive a bill from your printer. You handle it the first time when you open it, but it’s not bill-paying time yet. So you file the paper in your “bills to pay” file. When you pay the bills, you’ll handle it again. There is absolutely nothing wrong with handling paper this way. What you want to avoid is picking up a piece of paper, wondering what to do with it, then putting it back in a stack on your desk. When this happens, you haven’t done anything to move things forward.
Clearing Off Your Desk in Your Home Office
Posted by: | CommentsWhether you are setting up a brand new office or organizing an existing one, chances are you have all types of things on your desk. If you’re relatively organized already, you might have only some stacks of paperwork, a few pens, some paper clips, some objects you enjoy, and maybe some notes to yourself. If you’re not at all organized, you might have old batteries, food, magazines, and who knows what else.
Guess what? It all has to go. Not necessarily into the wastebasket, but into files, into drawers, onto shelves, or onto a surface other than your desk. The only papers on your desk should be the ones you are referring to; the only objects should be ones you use often.
A messy desk is not the sign of a creative mind, nor, as I often hear is a clean desk the sign of a sick mind. Some people honestly believe that a clear desk will prevent them from being creative, while others realize that a cluttered desk often leads to a cluttered mind.
If you like to keep your desk buried and find that works for you, nothing I say will convince you to change your ways. However, if the clutter starts to interfere with your productivity, make a few modifications along the guidelines that follow.