Paper Management and Your Filing System
Why does paper management and your filing system cause you stress? Probably because paper management becomes an issue when you don’t have a filing system to handle it on a daily basis.
Working with businesses and homeowners I find that paperwork is almost always a part of the disorganization and stress – and the reason that they make a call to a Professional Organizer of Personal Assistant.
Seeing through all the clutter and paperwork just becomes too daunting to know where to start the de-cluttering and organizing process. So far, all of our clients in 2014 have had a paper issues. This may be because it is the New Year and everyone gets just a little extra-stressed out because it is, once again…Tax Season!
This is why developing and maintaining a paperwork system all year long is so beneficial. But,hey…let’s be realistic! Life happens…things get off track. Emergencies come up and can take you away from all of your best intentions to handle paperwork on a daily basis.
Give yourself a break! Don’t fret about it. The key thing to remember is to not allow it to happen for an extended period of time. Don’t walk away from your daily obligations for too long – this is where you will quickly and easily find it difficult to keep a maintenance system going and will definitely not help you develop positive habits.
Try these 3 steps to keep yourself organized:
1. Begin your day with a positive attitude. For me…the moment my feet hit the floor, I am thankful! I look forward to making each day count and what I can accomplish. And, the short answer is no – I don’t take any “pills” to make this happen. Each day that we are given is a gift. (Even when things happen that are out of your control). – Boy…don’t I know it!
2. Be consistent with your schedule. We have a little girl who is in Kindergarten. Before she started school, she was in a day care and my husband dropped her off at “school” on his way to work every morning. This made sure that I could make my early morning meetings and not use her as an excuse for scheduling with clients and office time.
3. Know what you HAVE to do every day. I like to divide my To Do List into 3 categories. They are: Have To Do – Need To Do and Want To Do. Make sure that prioritize what you “Have” to do every day. These are things that will make a difference in your life and business. The results of Not doing what you “Have” to do is not worth the stress.
What does this all have to do with paper management and your filing system….everything!! Knowing what paperwork needs your attention on a daily basis will keep your stress level under control and could save you all kinds of money in late fees and missed appointments.
Keep your paper management and filing system simple and easy. My best advice of what “not” to do…Avoid the Pile Management system of making every flat surface a place for paperwork! This can even include the floor. (I may be talking about you!)
If you need help developing a filing system, check out our file management and paper management system on our website. It is one of the products that we offer and will help you set up a system that you can manage on a daily basis.
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