This article from the blog of Denise Landers, founder and CEO of Key Organization Systems Inc. and a Paper Tiger Expert, offers helpful tips for clearing clutter from your office. Clearing clutter from your workspace promotes productivity. Denise also recommends Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management for paper files in the office.
How can you make your work area more attractive so that you enjoy being there and can focus specifically on the work at hand? The more clutter you eliminate, the more peaceful the setting will be, and therefore the more productive your time will be. Review the following areas to see how you can better organize your office.
Anything surrounding you that is not useful, beautiful, or treasured by you, should be disposed of in some manner because clutter is messy, inconvenient, and sometimes embarrassing. It affects your space, your time management skills, and your peace of mind.
Denise Landers
Key Organization Systems Inc.
Author of Destination Organization
productivity@keyorganization.com
Have you ever tried to “get organized” only to be frustrated after a day, or a week, or a month? Destination: Organization recognizes that reaching your organizing goals is a journey, not a one-time event, as you develop processes to cope with daily demands that constantly change. For help, call Denise at (281) 397-0015
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Working from home spares you a few daily frustrations, such as rush-hour traffic and inconsiderate coworkers. But, it’s still work, and it still comes with its own set of challenges. Let’s take a look at the latest technology that can help you thrive while working from home:
Working long hours helps you build your empire, but they’re also rough on your body. Extended sitting has been linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic, and looking at a computer all day puts you at risk for developing ”computer vision syndrome,” WebMD reports.
Try some body-friendly technology to help avert these conditions. A treadmill desk gets you up and moving while you work, and Gunnar computer glasses are designed specifically to reduce eye fatigue and minimize eye damage.
Working from home demands having some source of payment. While PayPal and other online services might suffice, having the capability to accept credit card payments on the spot gives you more power over your business. This is where the Square gadget and service comes in.
Link your Square account to your bank account, plug the Square gadget into any iPhone or Android mobile device, run a credit card and the money is uploaded to your bank account in about two business days. Since cards can be keyed in, even online businesses that don’t see physical credit cards can use the service.
If the equipment you need for your livelihood is on site, it’s time for a household security upgrade. Automatic outdoor lighting, security cameras and an alarm system with a security service are vital to protecting your investment. You can explore the different security services available to you at www.SecurityCompanies.com.
While you hopefully have property insurance for your home or office, make sure it covers all those cool gadgets you’re adding to your business arsenal. Expensive equipment, like video cameras and instruments, often require insurance riders to be fully covered.
If you seem to get your best ideas while you’re making lunch or halfway out of your clothes and into the shower, a USB voice recorder saves you that frantic trip back to your desk. The compact device requires no additional connectors. Just plug into a USB port and pull your digital files onto your computer.
For those who prefer the old-school style of jotting ideas down as they flow, Ideapaint is wall paint with low VOC content, meaning you won’t be breathing in excess chemicals as you roll the paint onto the wall to create your own full-wall dry-erase board.
Stop messing with mountains of paperwork and ineffective filing systems. Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management helps you organize your entire office. Use it to index your hard-copy paper files by entering the relevant keywords into your Paper Tiger database. No more time wasted or hair-pulling while you try to remember where you placed what—you’ll be able to easily find the documents you need with one quick search.
The best way to declutter your home and your home office is to use Paper Tiger, which is not just for paper filing and document management because anything that you can put a number onto, you can index into Paper Tiger to help you get organized and to help your business thrive!
About the Author:
Brian Kane Brian is a computer science geek who loves to write about new programs.
If you have a filing system in place and are filing your paper documents, but you still feel unorganized, you may be making one of six crucial filing mistakes that deter you from maximum organization. With Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management, you can get the ball rolling quickly by indexing and filing the physical documents. Read on to find out what not to do when organizing your filing system.
By avoiding these filing mistakes, your organizing system paired with Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management will keep your files organized and help you find exactly what you need faster.
With the trend moving towards making the home free from clutter, it can seem like it is still a bit of a confusing and overwhelming task. Keep in mind, the first part of the task is dividing up what you are keeping, what you can sell and what you should get ready to be donated, or what needs to be tossed or recycled. The next step is taking what you need to keep and giving it a “value.”
The value of your items is usually split up in the following categories:
If the point of the project is to try to stop collecting clutter, make sure category number three has as few items as possible. Of course, we all realize there are certain items that fall into the last category that must be kept. Now the trick is how to keep everything neat, organized and put away so that you and everyone in your family can find something if they need it.
One of the main reasons that homes get in a state of disorganization is that no one can figure out where anything is or where it goes. You leave an item out because you know if you put it away, you will never find it when you need it. Or someone in your household doesn’t put something away because they have no idea where “away” should be.
Implementing Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management that will allow you to index items, not just your paper files, is a great way to put an end to this vicious cycle that is keeping the average household cluttered. The best part is that once you have it in place, anyone in your home can use the system to find what they need when they need it, as well as know exactly where to return it once they are finished with it. The great news is everyone in the family doesn’t have to be in agreement for what exactly to name each item in the new filing system.
Let’s imagine you already have this system set up so you can see how easy it is to use. You need to find where exactly you have your antique silverware set because you’ve decided to host a fancy dinner party. By entering the search term “antique silver”, your filing system will give you results the same way an online keyword search would. The search results lets you know it is in the large plastic storage bin marked #3 and that this bin is in the garage.
If you set up your filing system with alternate keywords, anyone using the system can find the same thing. So if you send your husband to look and he types in “grandma’s silver,” or your daughter searches for “silverware,” everyone will still get the same answer and find the item. Not only that, but when it is time to put the item back, you can conduct a search in the database to find where that item goes so it always gets put back in its proper place. Avoid the confusion your household goes through when trying to organize clutter with the simple use of a filing system.
So you’ve sorted the items you are keeping and it’s time to decide a home for each item. Decide how you want to organize the items you plan to keep, then by indexing them into your filing system software, you’ll be able to retrieve them when you need them. An indexing system is a way for you to catalog all the items you put into a bin or box by adding all relating keywords for each item into the software database, and then when you need to find an item later, you conduct a keyword search and you’ll know where that item is located quickly and easily based on the information you’ve input previously.
For the example above with locating your silverware, you’ve stored your silverware in bin #3 along with other relevant items that you might need when you need your silverware, such as a lace tablecloth, napkin rings, candelabra, etc.
In Paper Tiger’s database, you might have a ‘Location’ named Garage. In this Garage Location, you would number your storage containers and enter the content information into your filing system to match each container. You might list your items such as in the example below, and of course, mark each bin to match the item number in Paper Tiger’s database:
Item # 1 in Paper Tiger’s database, Item Name: Bin #1, Keywords: Spring decorations, spring flag, bunnies, tablecloth and picnic items.
Item # 2 in Paper Tiger’s database would match contents in your bin #2, Item Name: Bin #2, Keywords: might be Crafts, including the different colors of paper you have, types of paper (card stock, construction), and instructions for different projects, etc. You might also have other crafts in this bin that you could list.
Item # 3 in Paper Tiger’s database, Item Name: Bin #3, Keywords: silver, silverware, antique, vintage, grandma’s silver, lace tablecloth, candelabra, silver cleaner
Item # 4 in Paper Tiger’s database, Item Name: Box #4, Keywords: toys, spiderman, etchasketch, Mr. Potato Head, Operation game
Item # 5 in Paper Tiger’s database, Item Name: Box #5, Keywords: kitchen items, old crock pot, blender, extra bowls, mismatched plates
Later you can search for “silver” in Paper Tiger’s database the same way you type keywords to search the Internet on Google. Your indexing system will bring back search results that tell you what bin number the item is in and even where the bin is, and you’ll be able to see what other contents you’ve listed and put in that bin.
Below is another example for your CD’s, and can be used to implement the same concept for your books or any other physical item that you can put a number onto:
1. Name a Location CDs, with capacity of 100 (you can increase this later if you need to) Then print labels for the 100 items ready to affix onto each CD as you index it.
2. Begin indexing your CDs individually by adding a new item in this Location. I would name the item by the name of the movie or topic or singer of the CD, and continue with something like the following:
-Item Name: (name of the movie or topic or singer of the CD)
-Keywords: (actors/speakers, length, rating, brief description)
-If you have Professional or Pro edition, you will be able to apply a Category to the item. If so, add new category for either drama, fiction, comedy, historical, etc. (as info, the Basic edition does not have the Category function) If you have Basic, then you can add the category to the keywords section as well, then when you search for a specific category, Paper Tiger will bring up all of the CDs that you’ve indexed with that category, which is basically the same thing that would happen if you were to select the Category drop down box in Professional or Pro.
3. As you index each CD, affix the corresponding label to it and store in your new place. As you’ll see in this picture below, both the CD and the CD jacket are numbered so when you search Paper Tiger, you can go to the corresponding CD jacket number, and you’ll also know to match the numbers when replacing the CD.
Then obviously, you can go through the stacks of paper files, and index them into Paper Tiger as well. Index the contents of each hanging file folder in your file cabinet, so when you need to reference your insurance file, you’ll know exactly what file it is in without having to worry if you filed it under Insurance, Household, or the insurance company name.
So you see how implementing Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management can help you get organized and it is a filing system the whole family can use to keep the clutter and chaos to a minimum for organized living!
With people working from home and diving into self-employment, home offices are quite common. It has been said that at least one in four households have a home office. When is the last time you organized your entire home office (besides when you initially moved in)? If you can’t answer this question, it’s time. With clutter on the kitchen counter, dining room table and other areas of the house, this article in particular is designated to getting the home office organized.
Sometimes this isn’t a task that can be tackled in one day, but with Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management, these tips can help you make huge strides.
Since you are cleaning out your office, you might as well make sure that you are not storing documents that you no longer need or use. Your organizing system needs to be organized as well, and once you have your Paper Tiger database set up with your paper files indexed, you can print the File Clean-Out report to help you clean out papers from existing files. Also use the Transfer Report to help you physically move documents from one location to another so the documents in your hanging file folders match what you have in Paper Tiger.
These are steps to help you get started. Of course, depending on how cluttered your home office is, it might be quite difficult to clean out your entire home office in one day. Completing one of these steps a day, (in order of course), can ensure a clean and tidy office in less time than you think. Remember to relax and take your time when cleaning your office. Don’t get overwhelmed in organizing your home office. You’ll feel so accomplished and proud, you will want to go from room to room, and maybe even tackle organizing the garage. Happy Organizing!
In the article below, Anne McGurty, a Paper Tiger Expert of Strategize and Organize, relays the benefits of getting organized. Think of it as a small investment in the long-term events of your future. Do you think it’s a waste of time to get organized? Read on to see the benefits of being organized. She also recommends implementing Paper Tiger Filing System Software to help you save time and money!
Are you ready to get organized, but stalling because of a lack of time, money, or motivation? Don’t despair! A professional organizer is just what you need! Make an investment in yourself that will provide amazing advantages for years to come.
Here are some of the benefits you can look forward to once you get organized:
Once you get organized, you’ll know what you already own, eliminating the need to buy duplicate items. You’ll also be able to buy what you need when it’s on sale, rather than buying at the last minute. Your professional organizer can also help you find the perfect organizing products for your space and lifestyle, so you can stop wasting money on containers that just don’t work.
A professional organizer can create order and structure out of chaos. You’ll receive systems that work for your dominant learning style, your lifestyle, your needs, your challenges, and your dreams. Whether at work or at home, you’ll increase productivity once you have an organized and efficient schedule to keep you on track. You’ll be amazed at how much you get done in shorter amounts of time. And by focusing on your priorities and goals, you’ll be able to finally move ahead toward reaching them.
Once your home or office is neat and tidy, you won’t feel embarrassed to have guests visit. The guilt will fade away as you take pride in your surroundings. Your organized office will allow you to present a professional image to co-workers, clients, and superiors. Your organized home and new-found habits to keep it that way will set a great example for your children and/or spouse.
Physical and emotional clutter obscures your surroundings. A clutter-free environment is simply easier to manage. A professional organizer can help you clear out your space so you can see that your surroundings in a better light and easier to maintain.
When you can find what you need, are on top of your to-dos, and arrive on time for meetings or events, you’ll feel calmer and have more peace of mind. No more feeling overwhelmed by life — you’ll be in more control and feel less stressed.
When you’re organized, your days go as planned, and you get a lot done. That leaves more time to indulge in a little “me time.”
Clutter is a mask. A professional organizer can help you take off that mask and let people see your vibrancy! Once the clutter is removed, you can showcase your talents, skills, and personality and have the life you deserve.
About Anne McGurty
Anne McGurty is CEO of Strategize & Organize, a company devoted to training individual’s to be more effective with the tools and resources to be productive in their work environment.
If you like this issue, you’ll love Anne’s transforming productivity training and organizing products to help you organize your business — and yourself — ranging from productivity consulting for individuals and executives to small business coaching programs to keynote speaking and corporate training programs to improve efficiencies in the workplace and improve productivity.
While Anne is best known for her expertise in productivity and expert office organizing, her clients share that her biggest impact comes from her philosophy of “personalizing her programs to fit the needs of her clients so they can streamline more efficiently with existing processes” – ensuring to create a sustainable work environment. This, Anne says, is the most important key to bringing an individual to personal freedom with time and organization.
You can learn more about Anne at www.StrategizeAndOrganize.com.
You can contact Anne at amcgurty@strategizeandorganize.com or by phone at 303 881-0174.
Time is a valuable commodity these days, and it seems no matter what you try, you cannot work hard enough for saving time. What you can do, however, is learn some tricks that can help you save time. By learning these and picking up others, you just may be able to squeeze a few extra moments out of each day for time with friends, family or just to spend alone.
If you think getting organized is easier said than done, you need to implement Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management. Imagine if finding the right paint color for that craft project you and your family are working on was as easy as typing key search words into Google. By using Paper Tiger, it can be that easy. It helps you get organized and save lots of time in the process.
Whether you have bins of craft supplies or files of important documents, Paper Tiger indexing system can work much better than even a traditional filing system works. Type in all the possible keywords you can think of for each item being placed in the bin or file, number the container to match the item number in Paper Tiger’s database, and you are done. The next time you need to find a “burnt sienna paint” or “tax records from 2011”, you type in the keywords to search and Paper Tiger will tell you which bin or file its in to find it easier and more quickly. This is especially helpful if you are keeping certain things, such as holiday decorations, in multiple areas. You can index if the bins are in the attic, garage or the rented storage unit and put an end to dragging out all those bins and searching for hours through them by hand.
These time saving tips combined with Paper Tiger Filing System Software are helpful to get organized and save time. Once you start using Paper Tiger and see how incredibly easy it is, you will use it to help you organize tons of things, saving you even more time!
Are you being as productive as you can? Want to reach your full potential? Anne McGurty of Strategize & Organize and one of our Certified Paper Tiger Experts, offers a few tips to help you reach your full potential of productivity. A few of these tips, when combined with Paper Tiger Filing System Software can help elevate productivity even more.
About Anne McGurty:
Anne McGurty is CEO of Strategize & Organize, a company devoted to training individual’s to be more effective with the tools and resources so they can be productive in their work environment.
If you like this issue, you’ll love Anne’s transforming productivity training and organizing products to help you organize your business — and yourself — ranging from productivity consulting for individuals and executives to small business coaching programs to keynote speaking and corporate training programs to improve efficiencies in the workplace and improve productivity.
While Anne is best known for her expertise in productivity and expert office organizing, her clients share that her biggest impact comes from her philosophy of “personalizing her programs to fit the needs of her clients so they can streamline more efficiently with existing processes” – ensuring to create a sustainable work environment. This, Anne says, is the most important key to bringing an individual to personal freedom with time and organization.
You can learn more about Anne at www.StrategizeAndOrganize.com.
You can contact Anne at amcgurty@strategizeandorganize.com or by phone at 303 881-0174.
No matter what size business you have, you need to organize your business inventory to make things run efficiently. Even if your inventory merely consists of collectibles to be sold on EBay as a hobby, things should be in order to strive towards greater success. Attempting to locate an item to ship to a customer can be so much easier with indexed inventory.
Organizing also helps to track the amount of inventory you have for easy reordering decisions. Whether it’s the papers and receipts that make up the office end of the business or the inventory that is the reason you have the business, Paper Tiger Filing System Software is the first step towards getting organized for neat inventory.
Paper Tiger is a tool for cataloging and organizing anything that can be numbered. You can use it to keep even better track of the files in your filing cabinet or for the inventory of your store or online business. Whether you are selling vintage clothing or fancy costume jewelry, Paper Tiger can keep track of what you have and where it is located.
Simply type in any and all keywords you can think of for the items. This way it doesn’t matter if you can’t remember exactly what you named it, a Google-like search in the database can still help you find it. Unlike the plain alphabetical filing system, Paper Tiger makes it so that neither you nor your employees have to guess how an object may have been labeled when entered in the system. Anyone who has access to the inventory indexing can search any of the keywords and find things with ease. For example, if you are organizing costume jewelry you may have a bin of brooches, necklaces, and hatpins. You can separate the three types of jewelry and set a location while adding each to the location. In addition, keywords will help you find the “diamond brooch” or those “chandelier-like earrings”.
Organization is a major issue that many businesses face, both large and small. Keeping track of inventory is often affected when organization isn’t in place. This can be frustrating for you, staff members and most importantly customers. Not being able to locate an item a customer ordered or not knowing when it is time to reorder a popular selling item can lead to lost sales. Aside from all of this, you or employees trying to locate an item or taking count of items to find out if it is time to reorder something can waste countless hours.
Good organization paired with Paper Tiger Filing System Software is more than for just your business. Carry this over into your office or personal home space too. For example, keep your office supplies documented in this manner and you will never have that frustrating and frantic search for extra pens or printer paper again. Set yourself up to be organized in every aspect of your professional and personal life, and you can practically guarantee you will be a success.
Here at Paper Tiger, we’ve figured out that organization also comes from within, and we believe that you can train yourself to be more organized. Before you begin to use Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management or Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, you, try these ten tips that will help you form habits towards a more organized you.
Anne McGurty, a Paper Tiger Expert of Strategize and Organize, shares her top ten tips for using the Paper Tiger to get organized, work efficiently, and be more productive. Read on to see how a small investment in time implementing Paper Tiger Filing System Software can help you to simplify your life!
Did you know that the average executive spends six weeks per year retrieving or replacing lost documents? Naturally, it makes sense to create a system that is quick and easy so you can save that lost time. Here are some ideas to get it done now once you have Paper Tiger. If you don’t have Paper Tiger now, click this link to get started. Here are the top ten tips I recommend:
1. Look at the “hot spot of files”. You know the pile that seems the most urgent and makes your stomach churn every time you look at it. Take the paperwork and make a decision on each piece and separate into four piles:
a. Reference: those items you need, just not right now
b. Action: current projects, ongoing projects
c. Toss: you know where those are going
d. Timed: you need these on a specific date
2. When deciding on whether to file something or throw it away, ask yourself how difficult would it be to find this information again? Does it have any legal or financial ramifications if you were to throw it away? If you can live with the answer of throwing it away after those thoughts, let it go.
3. Set up the Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management, an indexing system that works like a search engine for paper files to help you get organized and stay organized. It’s essentially creating an inventory for all of your files.
4. Use names that you will be able to recall easily. The obvious file names that you’ve used in the past. Then the interesting thing with Paper Tiger is that you will also be able to add keywords into the database so that any name you think of when you need to find a file, the software will be able to tell you where it is in seconds. So in the case of “Auto” the item name would be “Ford Explorer”, and in the keywords section, you would input the name of the company, i.e., “Vehicle, Car”, possible the name of the dealer, the service person’s name, etc., and you might use “Personal” in the Category section.
5. Oftentimes, people receive notices of an event and they never know what to do with the postcard. Set up a monthly filing system (a Tickler File) to keep track of when to throw them away. Create 12 hanging file folders, one for each month. As you rsvp or pull the information for “dress code” or directions. When the day rolls around, you can retrieve it for a reminder. This will ensure that you never miss an event or an expiration date on an rsvp or offer.
6. When sorting through paper files, make a decision. If you’re not in a decision-making mood, have a place set up for “unprocessed paperwork.” Then when you’re ready, if you need to take action, do it now or place it in the appropriate action file. If someone else needs to attend to it, give it to them. If it is something to reference later on, index the appropriate keywords into Paper Tiger and add it to the corresponding reference hanging file. Putting it back in the pile to address later is no longer an option for you as an organized person.
7. When you have a lot of tasks to do for the day, quickly sort the tasks in order of importance. Do what is most profitable or important to you first, then move on from there. Therefore, if you only have a little bit of time, you will be addressing the most critical issues first. All other tasks need to be scheduled for when it makes sense. This final step is critical, otherwise you’ll be starting a new pile.
8. Print out reports of what you have inventoried in your filing system, place a folder in the front of each file drawer, as appropriate, labeled “File Index.” Having a quick and easy reference when you don’t want to open your computer makes it easier to find quickly.
9. Get into a maintenance habit of printing out a ‘File Cleanout’ report of all of your files, quarterly or no less often than annually, and identify what you no longer need and purge or create steps to archive via off site store or scanning.
10. Finally, create a time management habit. Take 10-15 minutes every morning looking at your priorities, including your Actions within your Paper Tiger system and pulling files from your Tickler File. Do the same thing each evening by placing all documents collected through the day back into your systems.
Celebrate your progress, if you haven’t done it yet. Set up your Paper Tiger Filing System and get started now. As you go throughout your day, keep in mind the task at hand and focus on completing that one task. Remember that “things don’t clutter, people clutter”. When we make simple decisions and take action, we can improve the quality of our life at work and at home.
Anne McGurty
About Anne:
Anne McGurty is CEO of Strategize & Organize, a company devoted to training individual’s to be more effective with the tools and resources so they can be productive in their work environment.
If you like this issue, you’ll love Anne’s transforming productivity training and organizing products to help you organize your business — and yourself — ranging from productivity consulting for individuals and executives to small business coaching programs to keynote speaking and corporate training programs to improve efficiencies in the workplace and improve productivity.
While Anne is best known for her expertise in productivity and expert office organizing, her clients share that her biggest impact comes from her philosophy of “personalizing her programs to fit the needs of her clients so they can streamline more efficiently with existing processes” – ensuring to create a sustainable work environment. This, Anne says, is the most important key to bringing an individual to personal freedom with time and organization.
You can learn more about Anne at www.StrategizeAndOrganize.com.
Earth Day is Monday, April 22nd, and each year individuals across the globe participate in events geared towards environmental protection. Wouldn’t you like to get involved?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each year in the United States, Americans use about 71 million tons of paper and paperboard. Many organizations and individuals are making an effort to go paperless. A paperless environment is certainly good for the Earth as the amount of waste in the landfill is reduced in addition to greenhouse gas emissions and the energy used by printers.
Whether you are trying to go paperless or not, most of us still have some paper files, but we can still work toward less paper. Here are a few tips to help you be more environmental, and don’t forget to index the hard copy paper files into Paper Tiger filing system software for document management, so that when you need to retrieve a document, you can find it without having to print it again.
Here are just a few benefits of using Google Docs/Drive that can help you participate in Earth Day this year.
-Google Docs allows you to access your word processed files, spreadsheets and presentations. You can easily share these files with others. You can edit and work on these documents in the same location they are stored in. This can all be done without ever having a physical sheet of paper. The only time physical documents are involved is if you must first scan them into Google Docs. Sometimes you might need a hard copy in file, but also an electronic file. Using Digital Tiger, powered by Google Docs, function in Paper Tiger Online Basic or Pro plan, will allow you to index the physical paper file into Paper Tiger and also search Google Docs for the digital file.
-Google Docs has one of the cheapest digital file storage available. This means you can create and store all of your files digitally without physical paper clutter while also saving valuable space on your hard drive.
-Worried about the safety of your documents? While Google Docs is very secure, you have the option to send automated backups to your computer and also synchronize through Google Drive.
You can easily do your part to reduce your paper footprint by rethinking how you work with paper files and digital files. These tips can help you do your part in keeping the environment healthy. Whether you have digital files or hard copy paper files, you can easily do your part by reducing paper use for Earth Day.
Sherry Borsheim, a Paper Tiger Expert of Simply Productive, has offered some remarkable tips on keeping your cubicle office space organized for maximum productivity at work. So get rid of those paper stacks and clutter and use Paper Tiger filing system software for document management to index all that extra paperwork.
Tips for Organizing Your Cubicle Office Space
Every weekday, like many people in the corporate world, you work in a cubicle office. From the outside, these grey, politically correct drab walls might look bare and uninteresting, but from where you are, you know the importance of keeping things unique, simple, and your own. Here are a few tips to get you started.
At your job, it’s important to be efficient as possible. Therefore, it is important to keep the important things in easy reach. Do you spend the majority of your time on the phone, dealing with clients, or trying to create new ones? Make sure you have all their information in your computer contacts list. You may need a small corkboard on the cubicle wall near your phone with quick reference phone numbers or phone scripts. That way the information you need is easily accessible exactly when you need it – both on the computer and visually in front of you. Do you spend the majority of your time reviewing files, plans or paper documents? Make sure that you have enough desk space to spread out your files or plans and easily put them away when you are finished at the end of your day. Another great tip is to have a small whiteboard hanging on your cubicle wall with your tentative schedule or list of current projects. People will know at a glance what your latest project is, and if you have available time.
Chances are there will always be paperwork in the corporate world. Keeping your paper files organized can not only help you become more productive, it can also make your time at the office a little less stressful. It’s best to keep things simple. Start with four trays stacked on your desk or hanging on your wall divider. One for incoming material, one for material that is awaiting additional information, or is currently being worked on, one for out-going material, and one for filing or better yet, file papers right away and eliminate this tray altogether. For those documents that you will file away, don’t forget to index them into Paper Tiger’s database so that you’ll be sure to find it again when you need to retrieve the file.
It’s important in the business world to be reminded exactly why you are working this hard. While over the top displays of personal items might be frowned upon, most work places have no problem with small, tasteful pictures or little trinkets to remind you of your family. Keep your desk clutter-free with lots of work surface to do your work efficiently!
We all know it’s easier to just toss things under the desk so no one can see all your stuff. Having piles of paper, boxes and binders under your desk can create undue stress because you know you should deal with it but don’t have time to right now. Keep the space under your desk free for extra leg room and peace of mind that you don’t have to deal with some random box of papers someday. We all know someday never comes.
And with Paper Tiger, you’ll be able to index files and even contents of boxes quickly, and it will save you so much time when you need to find the file or item again. Instead of searching through those boxes under your desk for the file you know you have ‘somewhere’, you’ll be able to conduct a search in Paper Tiger’s database and know the exact hanging file folder from which to retrieve the file.
These are just a few things that you can do to make your cubicle office more habitable and user friendly. Give them a try!
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Sherry Borsheim is the president of Simply Productive. You can visit Sherry, access her free article archive and grab lots of free stuff at http://www.simplyproductive.com. Sherry lives in Vancouver, BC Canada with her husband (her high-school sweetheart).
Contact Sherry so you can get a JUMP-START on ORGANIZING your office, home and life. She will give you her trade secrets and steps to setting up your organizing systems, including recommending Paper Tiger filing system software for document management, to be organized and manage the paper files that you need to keep in hard copy format and other physical stuff in your life.
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Hopefully you have a plan to go through your paper files periodically to purge out what is no longer needed. Whether it’s a last minute scramble to gather your tax information or an effort to file away this year’s information, your file cabinets will begin to be overstuffed if not purged. This raises an important question, “When should you shred your documents?”
Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management is a system that helps many organize their paper clutter. We all know that where there’s paper, there might be clutter; therefore a good shredding system also needs to be implemented along side Paper Tiger. Below are six recommended groups to categorize when and what to shred. They are: Shred Now, Shred on a Monthly Basis, Shred on a Yearly Basis, Shred on a Seven or Ten Year Basis, Never Shred and finally Never Shred Until They Expire.
Disclaimer: This document is provided as a guide. Please check your government document policies for retention changes.
-Don’t you hate all the pesky credit card applications that come that you didn’t sign up for? Wouldn’t it be a bummer if someone ELSE applied for your credit card with your information? Be sure to shred those as soon as possible.
-Have you ever made a copy of your address, passport, SSN or other important information? Any piece of paper with confidential information on it, whether a copy or original, should be shredded. If you’re unsure about whether to shred it, just ask yourself this: “How would I feel if a complete stranger saw this?” You cannot be too careful considering the abundance of identity theft occurring.
-Are you still holding on to your expired identification cards, passports or bankcards? Be sure to shred any expired cards. This also includes employee badges and visas.
-Do you keep all of your credit card statements even AFTER you have paid the bill? Unless you are keeping these for other purposes, be sure to shred these.
-Do not hold on to cancelled checks and debit receipts after you’ve received your bank statement. Again, if you are not keeping these for tax purposes or warranties, they can be shredded.
-Do you still have your monthly statements from 2008? Any kind of monthly statement that also comes with a year-end statement can be shredded at the end of each year. This includes bills that are repeated on a monthly basis such as utilities.
-You really don’t need your Pay Stubs or 1099 Equivalents after you have settled your annual W-2 statements. These documents can be shredded on a yearly basis.
-You can shred any year-end bank statements every seven to ten years if you do not need them for tax purposes.
-Still have the deed to the old house from 1987? Any titles or deeds to property that you haven’t owned in seven years can be shredded.
-Married? Divorced? In the Service? Any vital documents such as marriage, divorce, birth or death certificates should never be shredded. These vital documents also include, military records, insurance policies, wills, social security reports, diplomas, degrees or transcripts, medical records or any other important information. If you are unsure, do not shred it! Once it has been shredded it can’t be recovered.
Once these documents have expired. It’s safe to shred and replace them with the current documents.
-Still hold the title to that 1979 Cutlass Supreme? Any titles or deeds to property that you haven’t owned in seven years can be shredded after they expire.
-The lease or rental contracts on your current properties are not to be shredded until they expire.
-Where is your benefits package from work? Gym membership? Cable contract? Any active documentation should not be shredded until they have expired. This includes, your pet records, current credit reports, loan contracts, and maintenance records for your home or car.
Always check your governing tax office, as well for changes in how long you should keep certain records. For the United States Internal Revenue Service, go to www.irs.gov. For Canadians, check Canada Revenue Agency. Now that you know what you can shred and when you can shred it, implementing/maintaining an index of keywords for the physical files you need to keep into your Paper Tiger Filing System Software database is the next step to stay organized, and you’ll be able to find files again when you need to retrieve them.
We’re smack dab in the middle of the fifth season; tax season! Have you filed your taxes yet? If not, why? Are you having a hard time gathering your tax documents for filing? Tax season is always a good reminder of how important it is to be well organized. Unfortunately, it is also the time of year when realization hits that you aren’t organized enough and vow to get it right next year. Whether it’s for business, work or personal taxes, it is important to get those documents you need organized to help file your taxes.
Filing taxes no longer has to be an ordeal. Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management is the perfect tool to help you organize all your tax documents. We’ve compiled some information to think about to help you stay organized all year in preparation for tax time with Paper Tiger.
Everyone needs a system of sorts to help them organize. Paper Tiger is the perfect tool to use as a year-round filing system. There are several ways these documents can be categorized; by month or type of document. Paper Tiger’s simple process of numbered tabs on your hanging file folders are a great way to keep track of important documents needed for each month and the year before. When indexing your files into your Paper Tiger database, inputting keywords is the easiest way to find bills, receipts and any other information just when you need for tax season. A quick Google-like search in Paper Tiger’s database will allow you to find the exact location of the documents needed.
In addition to organizing by month or type of document, Paper Tiger makes it very simple to archive tax documents from the previous years. It isn’t just about the documents that go into getting prepared to file your taxes. It is equally important to have taxes from previous years organized as well, in case you should need them again. Because you are supposed to keep your personal past taxes on record for at least seven years, it can be easy to lose track of this type of documentation. For businesses, it is important to keep your records even longer. Without a proper filing system, this can become a burdensome task. Simply create a location named “Archives” in Paper Tiger, move the documents here and also designate a separate physical location for them to match your Paper Tiger database.
Each time you obtain a document that will be pertinent to filing your taxes, be sure to file those documents immediately and in the correct location. Paper Tiger will keep them organized, but you have to take that first step towards getting your files in the right places. January is a time of the year when our mailboxes are full of important tax documents, so especially during this time of the year make sure your tax documents have a “home”.
What do you need to store in Paper Tiger when it comes to taxes?
There are plenty of other documents you may need for your taxes, but these are some of the most important ones. Now the trick is finding out what type of system to use to keep your papers, documents and other important tax related things in order. However, Paper Tiger knows exactly where the documents’ physical location is.
Here is an example:
If you have papers you need to keep for taxes, but also need them in other files it can be confusing for filing your taxes. For instance, say you need to keep track of a medical bill you are paying off in “Bills” file, but also need it for your “Taxes” file to find at the end of the year. With a traditional filing system, you would have to choose which file to put it in knowing it will be hard to find at a later date when you need it because you may not remember which file you put it in.
With Paper Tiger, you simply type the keywords “hospital bill” and “medical” when filing the documents. Then just like when you use any other search engine, you would search for any one of those keywords when you need to retrieve the documents, and Paper Tiger does the work. The results will come back letting you know which file it is in so you can retrieve it. All you have to do is make sure you type in as many possible keywords search terms you can think of when filing the documents, and you will never have a problem again tracking down a document for any purpose.
Use Paper Tiger Filing System Software for Document Management all year to organize all important documents so that tax time won’t be a dreaded fifth season anymore. Never scramble for documents around tax season again.
