Reader Question: Office Paper Overload

I got a great question from a good friend who is a young adult author on the Functional Places Facebook page, and decided to post the answer here as part of this blog.

How do I keep my office from becoming awash in paper? I have folders for bills to be paid, and an accordian file for receipts, but somehow my desk ends up *covered* in junk mail, slips of paper, business cards, magazines, and other crap. Help!

Hi Erin, thanks for the great question! Paper management is the biggest challenge my clients face everyday. It takes a lot of work to get it under control, but here are some ideas to get you started.

1) Cut down on how much paper comes into your office in the first place.

• Consider going paperless and requesting electronic copies of your bank statements, bills, credit card statements, etc. This will greatly reduce the amount of mail that you receive. Of course, you will need to set up folders on your computer to save PDF versions for tax purposes, and remember to back up the files. Check out Carbonite for an easy back-up service.

• Visit Catalog Choice to opt out of catalogs you don’t want to receive. Remember that most stores have their full inventory online anyway. But be careful…it’s easy to opt-IN for MORE catalogs on this site, too!

• Opt out of unwanted junk mail at the Direct Marketing Association’s DMAChoice website.

• Take a hard look at your magazine subscriptions. Which ones are your must-reads? Do you keep up with them? Could you get articles online instead?

2) Purge papers you don’t really need.
Contact your accountant for some advice about how much you need to keep for tax records and for how long. And then take a hard look at what you’re saving and see if some of it can go. Shred anything with personal information on it, or use a shredding service like Northeast Data Destruction.

3) Try scanning (or scanning services) to reduce even more paper.
If you need to hold on to copies of papers for any reason, consider that they can be electronic copies. Here are a few services that I love for this purpose:

• Pixily is a Netflix-style service for paper scanning. For a subscription plan, you get pre-paid envelopes in which you send in documents for scanning.

• NeatReceipts is a scanner combined with software that lets you turn your loose receipts and slips of paper into electronic files approved by the IRS.

• ScanDigital will scan and digitize photos, slides, and even home movies.

4) Set limits and create “homes” for the papers that will remain.

• Magazine files work well for establishing a space limit for periodicals and catalogs. And when the new one comes in, it’s out with the old issue.

• Use labels to clearly identify what paper belongs where. It may seem obvious at first, but over time lines can blur, so a label will help you keep everything straight.

• For business cards, try to enter information into a contact management system and then toss the card. If you prefer to keep the actual cards, look for a rolodex or binder with business card insert pages and organize them by category rather than alphabetically – it’s much easier to maintain.

• Set up systems that treat papers according to what the next step is that you need to take: to pay, to read, to file, etc. Color-coded folders work really well for this purpose.

• Consider that ultimately, papers you keep will fall into three categories: be for immediate access, “I might need it in the short term,” and “I have to keep it but will probably never look at it.” The first category of papers (for immediate action) should be located at your fingertips, in action files. The second should be in a filing system that is accessible to you. And the third should go into cold storage or somewhere that doesn’t impact the usable space in your office.

5) Don’t let it build up.
Tackle the mail every day. Recycle or shred junk mail immediately and put the rest into your appropriate action files for processing later. Working on your paperwork in a batch mode can be very effective and efficient. And if you don’t let it build up, it will be far less overwhelming. Set a goal for a once-weekly attack of the paper pile.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!