In this article ‘Sharing reference files increases morale and efficiency’ by Sherry Borsheim of Simply Productive and a Paper Tiger Expert, Sherry discusses how sharing files in your filing system will make your office more efficient, plus she recommends Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System to make it happen.
Sometimes filing can seem like an overwhelming job. Many people find it complicated and time consuming to find a home for all their files. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Did you know that in actuality there are only three types of files you’ll ever need?
That’s right, in all effective filing systems, there are only three types of files: action, reference and archive.
Action files are projects that you are currently working on – projects that you access frequently. For many people, the information in these files might be something they would pile on their desk out of a fear of misfiling.
Reference Files are files that you access less frequently. It is information that you want to have on hand and are not ready to archive or toss at this time.
Archive Files are exactly what they sound like – archives! These files include all paper based materials that you are required to keep but do not need on a regular basis.
Although all three file types play a crucial role in your business, today I want to focus on the often forgotten reference files.
These files make up the backbone of your company’s resource library. Imagine how much more information would be available if each individual had easily accessible reference files. Files that they could actually share with the entire office! How much more efficient would your office be if everyone shared access to key reference materials?
Sharing reference files not only increases efficiency, but it also unites offices. Suddenly there are no longer individual “camps” within the office, but rather an interconnected office that shares resources in order to benefit every member of the team.
If you are ready to pool your office reference files, there are several ways to get started. Choose a system that works best with your corporate climate and current workspace needs.
For example, since these files are accessed less frequently than action files, one option may be to create a general reference area within the office. This makes it easy for every member of the office to access files, without interrupting the flow of an individual’s workspace. By keeping everything together and indexed with the Paper Tiger filing system software, it is a simple job to find much needed files in only a few seconds.
Better yet, take a team approach to the situation and have a brainstorming session on the best way to access everyone’s reference files within the office. If some people within the group don’t know how to use the Paper Tiger, have a brief training session. Once they see how easy it is to use, they’ll use it constantly and finally make use of important reference files.
To learn more about implementing a filing system that will fast forward your office efficiency, check out my new e-book, “Conquer your Chaos: fast forward to office efficiency” at www.conqueryourchaos.com.
About the Author
Sherry Borsheim, owner of Simply Productive, has been helping people to work smarter, not harder for years. She specializes in resolving paper, time and information management issues. To learn more about eliminating the paper pile-up and in vastly improving your productively, contact Simply Productive at 604-233-7076.
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).
Also check out Sherry’s Calm Your Choas special that will give you 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.
Published with permission.
Our office moved from one location to the other and arrived in disarray from the move. I did a lot of research looking for something user friendly, with flexibility and really prove it’s claims.
Paper Tiger installation was easy enough. Once I put together the building blocks for the entire filing system, the rest was easy. Our office files include everything from maps, to financial records, business records, to personnel files and beyond. We have the system setup on multiple computers throughout the office and found that the system is easy enough for everyone to access the information.
We love Paper Tiger! It has made a daunting task a delight, seriously. I’m glad to have found your system, thank you!
Sally Tomar
Economic Development Corporation of Lea County
Hobbs, NM
Most people never have enough time to do everything that they need to do. Whether you’re a full-time worker, a stay at home mom, a university student or even some combination of these activities, life can be very hectic. Are you too busy to get yourself organized?
If you look back into history, even 100 years ago, just about everything had to be done manually. Computers didn’t exist. Televisions didn’t exist. Airplanes, cars, ships and communications were extremely different to what they are today.
Today we have technology in a vast range of forms. Computers can handle a wide variety of tasks that used to be done manually. The Internet has changed the world forever.
The one constant is time. Whether you’re the richest man in the world or the poorest pauper, you only have 24 hours in a day. You can’t change it. Even Bill Gates can’t buy an extra hour. However, you can decide what to do with those 24 hours.
If you break down an average person’s life, they spend eight hours sleeping, another eight hours at work and the last eight hours covers everything else that has to be done. This includes shopping, holidays, building relationships, spending time with your family, playing sports or enjoying hobbies, going to the movies or dinner, socializing and special events including weddings, parties and funerals.
Today’s Technology = More Efficiency
Today’s technology enables people to become a lot more efficient. You can get a lot more things done in the same amount of time. This means your time is free for extra tasks that appear on your “to do” list.
If you worked in a large office 20 years ago, the chances are that one of the most tedious tasks you would ever have would be filing. It was always a job that nobody wanted to do, but it still needed doing and consumed an enormous amount of time.
Technology has improved this aspect of people’s working lives. If you’re fortunate enough to be using a smart document management system, like Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System, then filing and retrieval processes will only take a fraction of the time it used to take when using an archaic system.
If this time and money savings was multiplied by every person in every office in every company in the whole world, that would represent an enormous saving in terms of hours and dollars.
Are You Too Busy To Get Yourself Organized?
Despite the fact that people are extremely busy, everyone should realize that it’s vital to be organized. These various forms of technology have been created to make life easier. It’s impossible to get more time, but technology can help you get things done more efficiently. This is the whole key to being organized.
It may be time consuming to set up a smart filing system in the beginning, but imagine how much money and time you can save once it’s done when you’ll be able to find anything in 5 seconds or less.
With Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System, you would input the information relating to your physical files, (item name and relating keywords), into the filing system software. Then you would conduct a ‘google-like’ search in the database and be able to locate your file quickly without having to look in several different drawers to figure out what name you had previously filed it under.
The software is a very powerful, yet simple indexing system for paper office files. It works like a search engine for paper files to help you stay organized. People using the software can save over 150 hours per year by eliminating the time-consuming task of looking for lost information.
Paper Tiger does not involve scanning your documents. Rather, the software uses the power of the computer to index the hanging file folders in office file cabinets. This method works much better than old-fashioned alphabetic methods and is a great alternative to costly and time consuming scanning and imaging solutions.
By Meggin McIntosh, “The Ph.D. of Productivity”™ and Paper Tiger Expert. Meggin recommends Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management to get everything in your life organized — not just for filing paper.
Some dandy acronyms exist that can increase your productivity (and that of your colleagues) when using email. Four of the best and easiest to implement are shared in this article.
EOM: End of Message – The time to use this acronym is when the entire message can be encapsulated in your email’s subject line.
NRN: No Response Necessary – Let’s say somebody has asked you for some information and you send them an email with that information, and then at the end of your email, you put NRN. It’s helpful to follow that with “No Response Necessary” in brackets or parentheses. This helps your receiver to know that “You don’t need to write me back about this.” This can be useful when you send out an informational email to people to give them a location for a meeting or some general announcement.
NNTR: Not Necessary to Respond – This one is essentially the same thing as NRN. It is not that one is better than the other, it’s just an alternative to NRN and another common one that people are beginning to use. Remember, be sure to put the explanation of what NNTR means when you are first starting out using this acronym.
NTN: No Thanks Necessary – The reason folks need to use this acronym is because we are friendly people, so, when people do things for us, we thank them. In email, this can get out of hand because then they thank us for thanking them, and then we say “No problem, happy to do it,” and they will write back with, “You’re always so nice” and so forth. This is called email ping-pong and it does not enhance anyone’s productivity. Before long, one email can turn into about 17 – many of which are meaningless. No one has time for this. When you send something to somebody that they requested, then you could put either NRN or NTN (No Thanks Necessary). They may not be able to help themselves, so they may write back and say, “I know you said not to thank you, but thank you anyway.” You have to resist the impulse to write them back because somebody has to stop this insanity.
When you take a look at your emails, you could easily see that 20 to 40 percent of the emails that are sent are the unnecessary back and forth of ‘thanks,’ ‘got it,’ ‘see you there,’ and the like. No real information is exchanged, but rather the little “You’re the gal”, “I try to be”, “Everybody counts on you.” If you want to have a love-fest then call up the person on the phone or go down to that person’s office and give him/her a hug or whatever you need to do.
I think we have to be careful about using acronyms that people aren’t sure what is meant by them. When I first begin using EOM, NRN, NNTR, or NTN with any person or group of people, I always spell it out, too, but then also using the acronym so that, eventually they can begin to think about what it is. You might want to consider sharing these ideas with a group. For example, let’s say you’re on a committee, and as a committee you may want to decide here are a few acronyms you will use so everybody is clear on EOM, No Response Necessary and the like.
Bonus tip: You can also use the ideas included in this article with voicemail. Although you are not using an acronym, at the end of the voicemail to someone you can say, “I’ll assume you got this. No need to call me back,” because otherwise, some people will call you back, “Thanks for sending me the information.” Then you’ve got a voicemail that you now need to respond to.
As David Shipley and Will Schwalbe say in their book Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home, “duplitasking,” i.e., when someone calls you to make sure you got the email they just sent, is unnecessary in essentially all instances. Trust the systems that are in place (email and voicemail) to be sending what needs to be sent. Then move on to other areas of your work and life.
There are a multitude of great tips available to help all of us be more effective and efficient in our email – and other types of – communication. To access some of these and to keep moving forward on your goals for more peaceful productivity, join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s weekly emails (and see what is available for download at no cost at the following websites):
**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)
**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay (http://www.KeepingChaosatBay.com)
(c) 2010 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh supports smart people who want to be more productive so that they can consistently keep their emphasis on excellence. Sound interesting? It is!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Meggin_McIntosh
Do you have stacks of paper all over your desk and office? Do you have a hard time prioritizing your time and focus? Read this article by Stephanie Calahan of Calahan Solutions and a Paper Tiger Expert, for a great plan to help. Stephanie also recommends Paper Tiger Filing System and Document Management Software in her Office Miracle to be able to find your files when you need them!
The first time I walked into Ralph’s office I saw papers everywhere. When I asked him about the tiny papers, he said they all represented an item that he needed to take care of. One of his frustrations was figuring out how to balance all of the important tasks that he had on his plate.
It seems as if our to-do lists are constantly growing. As businesses try to do more with less, you get much more! Add to it competing priorities and it can get confusing and overwhelming. How do we get it all done? Why is it that some people seem to get more done than others? Are they smarter? Not really. They just know the secret.
YOU CANNOT MANAGE TIME!
There will always be 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year (unless it is a leap year of course). That will not change. What you can do is spend more energy focusing on how your attention is used during those 24 hours. It is about HOW you use your time.
PAY ATTENTION!
The good news is that you have the ability to produce an infinite amount of attention. This is a powerful gift and must be used wisely. How you manage to focus your attention (or how long you keep your attention focused) will make or break your ability to get things done.
PAY ATTENTION? HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT?
Paying attention is consciously focusing your time on an activity that gives you a good return. Your return on investment is even more important today. “Time is money” as the saying goes. What you choose to do with your time directly relates to how you make money and how balanced your life can be.
FIGURE OUT WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO NOW!
“Efficiency is doing things right, but effectiveness is doing the right things.” ~Peter Drucker
When you consider your system for setting priorities, you must focus on doing the right things, rather than simply doing things right.
- Are you in charge of leading your business or department?
- Do you have a large list of abandoned projects all sitting at various levels of incompletion?
- Do you have a list of projects that do not reflect your best work?
- Do you struggle with figuring out how to focus your time and energy and work on what is truly important?
If so, it is time for you to figure out where to focus your attention. After conducting a survey of about 4000+ of my Twitter followers, I learned that people have a real challenge figuring out where to pay attention and how to figure it out.
PUTTING IT INTO ACTION
“Taking action is the real difference between the super-successful and wannabes.” ~Rich Schrfren
Once you figure out the areas you need and should focus, then it is time to get to the real business of TAKING ACTION. All of the best thought out plans will turn into nothing if you don’t take action.
Start by implementing what I call a “Power Hour.” One of my on-line mentors is Alex Mandossian and one thing I admire about him is the massive volume of work he can pump out. His secret? ATTENTION! He tells us to pick one hour a day (yes, one out of the 24 that we have) and focus in on ONE thing. It is not getting a drink or seeing what your buds are up to on Twitter/Facebook. Sit in your working space and work on that ONE thing (picked from your priority listing) for the entire hour.
That’s it! It sounds simple, but it takes practice. In this multi-tasking culture of ours, it is so easy to get distracted and do other things. If you are willing to make the investment, you will be amazed at how much more you can get done in a day/week/month/year. Try it and then let me know how it goes!
About the Author:
Stephanie Calahan is The Business Vision Catalyst and founder of Calahan Solutions, Inc. She works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs, visionaries, coaches, consultants, health practitioners, authors, speakers and all sorts of remarkable service professionals who are experts in their field, to help them embrace their brilliance, leverage their business and get their message out with power, ease and joy; so that they can make a powerfully positive difference in the world, exponentially grow their income and enjoy a highly-successful and meaningful business… while working less. Learn how you can have more freedom in your life! http://www.StephanieCalahan.com
Our public works office has been using the Paper Tiger software for several years. We use the software to keep our filing system in order, up to date, and user friendly. Currently, we use it to keep track of our general public works and archive files. This system has been so helpful in organizing our files.
When I first started working in our office, the filing system was very small, but over the years the amount of paper files grew substantially. With the growth our filing system, came the need for a better way to organize our files. I began the task of researching online for different types of filing programs that were both user friendly and would assist in getting our office and filing system back on track.
I ran across the Paper Tiger system online and after reading what it was all about, was convinced this is what we needed to organize our filing system. We purchased and installed the Paper Tiger Network version on a few of our computers, which has allowed not only me, but my coworkers to create, edit, and access files they are looking for. Saving everyone time and not leaving them reliant on only one person knowing where a specific file is located. Since implementing the Paper Tiger software, we have had so much success in organizing our filing system. Locating files is very easy and rarely is anything found misplaced.
In the last couple of years, our office has started using Paper Tiger to organize our paper maps. We have maps from subdivisions, maps of water and sewer lines, etc. These maps go back many years and were never really organized and it was always difficult to find the map you were looking for. By adding a “Maps” location to our filing system, we’ve been able to organize our paper maps and make them easily accessible to everyone in the office.
Earlier this year I saw that Paper Tiger was going online and that we would have the chance to beta-test it. We currently utilize an online system for work orders which has been very successful and eliminated the need for software on everyone’s computers. Knowing this, when I saw that Paper Tiger was doing the same I knew I had to try it out. Everyone in our office was very excited because this was something we had hoped for because we knew how great it was with our online work order system. We’ve beta-tested the Paper Tiger online version and can’t wait to sign up for the small business version. It will be so nice to not have to worry about updating software on each computer. Also, we won’t have to worry about the server where our database is stored crashing (which has happened to us a few times).
I saw today that the small business version will be available as of August 22, 2010 and we are counting the days until we can make the transition over to the online version. No longer will our office be reliant on a server that could crash at any moment in our office and lose all our filing information. Now we all will have easy access via the Paper Tiger online website, where everything is easily accessible, stored, and backed-up. Plus we can access it from anywhere if needed.
Our office has really enjoyed using the Paper Tiger software and look forward to continuing being a customer of Paper Tiger and utilizing their online program. Thanks for keeping our office organize!
Alissa Angelo
City of Stayton
by Meggin McIntosh, “The Ph.D. of Productivity”™ and Paper Tiger Expert
One way to diminish overwhelm is to hold things lightly. This is something I learned from my coach, Dr. Joelle Jay of Pillar Consulting. When we first started working together several years ago, she would hear me talking about all the things I had to do, everything I was working on, how worn out I was, and, well, you know the litany. She would sometimes ask, “Meggin, what if you held these things lightly?”
Her voice would be light as she asked it. Then I’d start to think about what it would feel like it if I held the tasks, commitments, projects, etc. ‘lightly.’ It made a difference.
Think about this for yourself. If you’re seeing your to-do list, your job, your family, and the things that you’re responsible for as an enemy and you’re holding everything so tightly that you’re all bound up and tense, that’s completely different than Joelle’s phrase of ‘hold it lightly.’
Holding things lightly involves a mental shift and a ‘reframing’ of how you are perceiving that which seems to be weighing you down. As Charlotte Bronte said, “A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” See what you can hold lightly…and then see if you sleep better with the softer, lighter, and more buoyant pillow this provides.
What Does It Mean to ‘Hold Things Lightly’?
Here’s what it is not:
* Holding things tightly.
* Holding things fearfully.
* Holding things in a stingy manner.
* Holding things with clenched jaws.
* Holding things with a standard of perfection hanging over your head.
* Holding things rigidly.
* Holding things as burdens.
* Holding things with worry.
* Holding things ___________.
A teacher who’s a subscriber sent me this email: “I’m a teacher and when I think about everything that has been added to the plate of today’s teacher, I wonder if it’s ever possible to just be ‘just whelmed’ again.”
It’s a reality that people’s plates are “too full,” and thus pretty darn heavy. Practice reframing your view to hold what’s on your plate ‘lightly.’ Holding things lightly is to see them as
* airy
* bright
* soft
* feather-light
* buoyant
* weightless
* lighter-than-air
* floaty
* of low density
Do you get the idea?
The Earth is Heavy. Spring Forth and Dance
In 1988, my husband and I moved to Nevada so I could become a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. We bought a new house in a new development and there was lots of dirt and no vegetation (it is a desert here, after all). We started the process of landscaping it ourselves (mostly Larry). Somewhere during the first year of this project (which continues today, by the way), we went to a field where there were a lot of rocks. Not exactly boulders, but BIG rocks. His idea was that we were going to lift them into the back of a truck we had borrowed. They really weren’t that big and yet, when we tried to lift them, they were VERY HEAVY. I remember exactly the sense that came over me. Earth is so heavy. I guess I had never really thought about it before but after trying to lift a little tiny piece of planet earth, I had this incredible sense of how heavy the earth was.
The reason I’m telling this anecdote, which I hope you haven’t skipped over, is this: Yes, Earth is heavy. Yes, your tasks, responsibilities, commitments, issues, etc. are heavy. And….you can choose to ‘hold them lightly.’ The alternative is to keep holding on to them ‘heavily’ and bear that burden. What does that do to your life? Do you like that weight, that burden, that rigidity? Or would you rather spring forth and …dance?
“Life may not be the party we’d hoped for, but while we’re here, we might as well dance.” Author Unknown
Maybe, if you’re holding things too tightly, feeling oppressed, or your burden is just too heavy, consider thinking about whatever that is and say, “In the big scheme of things, this _______ is small compared to __________.”
It’s not too hard to come up with what to put in the last blank. Just watch the news or look around next time you go to the grocery store or think about someone who has lost their child to illness. Pretty much, that helps me to reframe (that’s a key word & concept) my thinking to move to holding something more “lightly.”
Doing so does not negate your feelings of overwhelm (fear, stress, anger, frustration, pain, etc.), however it may help to put them in perspective.
See if this works for you.
And if the heaviness of your responsibilities is just one area that overwhelms you – and you would like to be ‘just whelmed,’ then you’re invited to join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s weekly emails (free!) at
**I Want to Be Just Whelmed (http://www.JustWhelmed.com)
If you would prefer quick, short weekly tips, then the following site is another place to find suggestions and other tools to support you in your quest for peaceful productivity:
**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)
(c) 2010 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Meggin_McIntosh
Time Management at work and play!
by Denise Russos, Progressive Organizing Solutions and Paper Tiger Expert
This article gives us a great plan to better manage our time so that we can get things done! Please note in #5 where Denise coaches us to keep your work place, desk and filing needs simple and streamlined. The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System (Paper Tiger Online or Paper Tiger desktop version) will help you accomplish this very efficiently and be able to later find what you’ve filed!
Too many times we work in places that we never feel like we get our work accomplished. There are days that we constantly seem to be interrupted over and over again, so much so that by the time we leave work, we realize that nothing that was supposed to get done, actually got done!
Here are some statistics about how typical office workers feel about their days at work.
“Research shows that this is how office workers spend their typical work day:
- 28%: Unnecessary interruptions (with recovery time)
- 25%: Creating content (productive work)
- 20%: Meetings (may or may not be conclusive with action plan)
- 15%: Searching for information (half the time, search does not yield results)
- 12%: Thinking and reflecting (productive, creative work)
So what do you do?
1. Have a clear objective of what you want to achieve for the day or the next 2 hours and let nothing distract you. If you need to focus and concentrate, then turn off the chats (digital or not) and the email alerts.
2. Get a draft copy of your work out in the designated time – even if it is not perfect. Start with a framework and fill in the content as you go along. Keep the momentum going, it is progress against perfection.
3. Do not allow yourself to be interrupted unnecessarily – turn off the emails alerts, online chats and let the answering machine do its work if you are doing creative or productive work. Manage your emails with filters and rules.
4. Take breaks in between chunks of concentrated work time – enjoy your brief coffee break. Do a little stretching, take a deep breath, relax your neck and your shoulders and then come back to more focus work.
5. Keep it simple and clean – your work place, desk and filing needs to be simple and streamlined. Make good use of the trash bin. This un-cluttering will clear your mind for more creative and productive work.
6. Set yourself up for efficient work before hand – get your documents, files, and references organized each time before you wrap up work so you do not waste time looking for files and tools the next time you start work.
7. Enjoy your work – that will fuel you to be productive at work. (Retrieved from The Desk Demon Network)
Wow! Can you imagine feeling that if you work every day for four hours a day that you really only get one hour of work done every day? That’s such a tremendous waste of time!
So let’s say you use the formula above to be more efficient at work. Do you think this is feasible?
There are two of the items above that I want you to focus on.
The first is #1. Have a clear objective. Write it down and pretend it’s written in Gold and decide you will achieve that goal!
The second is #3. Stop letting interruptions rule your day.
Recently I’ve had a co-worker interrupt me 11 times in one day. Her interruptions hit the high time today when knowing that I was on the phone, she walked into my office, talking to me very loudly, so loudly I couldn’t hear the person on the phone.
You may be that person who is interrupting your co-workers and not getting your work done because of it.
If you are, then work on understanding why. Are you a person who needs to be around other people more than working alone? Whatever the reason, work on focusing on your work in shorter stretches of time and then taking a break.
There are many ways to increase your productivity at work, and time management is just one of them.
Hope this helps,
http://twitter.com/DeniseRussos
In this article, Sherry Borsheim of Simply Productive and a Paper Tiger Expert, provides some instruction for what to do with the paper that comes into your life.
There are only FOUR things you can do with paper: File, Act, Schedule or Toss. I use the acronym F.A.S.T. As you open your mail over the wastepaper basket, keep the F.A.S.T. principle in mind as you sort it accordingly.
FILE
ACT
SCHEDULE
Items to schedule in your dayplanner (paper planner or electronic planner).
TOSS
Items which do not enhance your life can be immediately tossed! (NOTE: “Toss” means “get it out of here.” One form of tossing is to give it to someone else who would find it useful.)
Ask yourself these questions to determine whether or not to toss something:
About the Author
Sherry Borsheim, owner of Simply Productive, has been helping people to work smarter, not harder for years. She specializes in resolving paper, time and information management issues. To learn more about eliminating the paper pile-up and in vastly improving your productivity, contact Simply Productive at 604-233-7076.
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).
Also check out Sherry’s Calm Your Choas special that will give you 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.
Published with permission.
They hide in the shadows of the shelves and lurk inside big grey tombs. They linger on desks and chairs and creep along the floors. You’ll find them reproducing at an alarming rate in every in-tray.
It’s time to tame the paper filing monsters and boost your productivity once and for all.
Nobody likes monsters, but the office world is full of them. Your inefficient filing system is a family of huge hungry monsters with ravenous appetites. They eat up hours like seconds and dollars like cents. They turn the hardest of workers into slaves and scare off the most valiant of secretaries, clerks and administrators.
However, there’s a new breed of soldier entering the arena and he’s ready to do battle with these horrendous monsters. This knight’s name is Sir Document Management System — Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System, that is. He has plenty of weapons in his arsenal to help you defeat your enemies. Wherever he goes, monsters flee in terror because his reputation precedes him.
Imagine Clean Desks and Tidy In-Trays
Imagine a world, not unlike your own. A world where there are no shadows or empty, messy tombs. Imagine clean desks and tidy in-trays. Fantasize about your budget being in surplus due to an increase in productivity, the likes of which you have never seen before. Dream about staff not taking sick days because they enjoy their work.
Only the most astute of kings will have the wisdom to see past the endless years of havoc and visualize the possibilities of a new and better world free of such monsters. A world where all your people file documents of all types in exactly the same way. Retrieval of archived files becomes very easy because the information is at your fingertips. A few clicks of your mouse and you can instantly access the location of the document a secretary who left the company two years ago had archived.
This user-friendly document management software is to monsters what kryptonite is to Superman; Lethal! Staff will be more productive because they’re not wasting countless hours looking for lost files and documents for important meetings. There won’t be problems with file duplication because of the Find First feature in this filing system. No matter how the person is thinking the day they file or the day they are looking for a file, they will be able to find it within a few seconds based on the keywords input when filed.
If you implement one little concept at the same time as you initialize this system, you’ll reduce the amount of wasted dollars and man hours even further. The tip is simple. As much as possible, manage each document only once. Receive it and make one of only three choices: archive it, action it as soon as practical or discard it.
Don’t Just Shuffle Documents From One Place to Another
Don’t play the game of moving a document from a tray to a pile for further sorting and then sort that pile into more piles because that’s what you’ve probably already been doing. Why do you think the monsters came out in the first place?
Paperwork won’t ever be eradicated. Well, at least not this century, but it can be controlled more efficiently and give you back precious time to concentrate on more important tasks.
Of course, you can also control access to certain materials. By using smart document management software you’re streamlining lots of different processes and that means efficiency and productivity will rise enormously.
Another benefit to using Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System is that it reduces the amount of physical storage needed. More files can be archived and stored elsewhere if that’s more convenient. The system helps you locate archived files quicker than the old fashioned way of hunting through piles and shelves and filing cabinets.
Filing will always be a major component of any office, but handling it in the smartest way possible will save time and money and help you achieve your goals faster.
So in the end, it basically comes down to a simple question. Will you remain in the cobwebbed castle with the constant shrieks and howls or will you rise up and decide to tame the paper filing monsters and boost your productivity? Sir Document Management System is only a mouse click away!
by Stephanie Calahan of Calahan Solutions and a Paper Tiger Expert
I was reading an interesting article on record retention in InnerBusiness Issues Magazine, in which Greg Dickerson of Iron Mountain wrote “The 10 Deadly Sins of a Corporate Retention.” Record management is a struggle for many companies because it is not a direct money making activity. It does not seem important until it’s too late – you need information and cannot find it. He notes 10 common errors which reflect companies’ struggles with information management. How many of them match your company? Take a look at his article to learn more. Do you make any of these mistakes? Tell me what you think!
To your success!
Steph
Twitter.com/StephCalahan
Facebook.com/StephCalahan
PS: Don’t forget to keep your paper files in order with Paper Tiger Filing System and Document Management Software, which Stephanie highly recommends and also includes in her in-person or remote/virtual Office Miracle.
About the Author:
Stephanie Calahan is The Business Vision Catalyst and founder of Calahan Solutions, Inc. She works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs, visionaries, coaches, consultants, health practitioners, authors, speakers and all sorts of remarkable service professionals who are experts in their field, to help them embrace their brilliance, leverage their business and get their message out with power, ease and joy; so that they can make a powerfully positive difference in the world, exponentially grow their income and enjoy a highly-successful and meaningful business… while working less. Learn how you can have more freedom in your life! http://www.StephanieCalahan.com
In today’s workplace environment, it’s frowned upon to discriminate against anyone for any reason whatsoever. It also suggests that everyone should have the same ability to find suitable work. Employers must be seen to treat everyone fairly.
ADD/ADHD Presents Specific Challenges
People who suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have difficulty in workplaces for many reasons. If tasks are too mundane or take too long to complete, they can become difficult for the employee to handle.
This can create feelings of low self-esteem and may trigger the desire to quit work rather than cope with it. This challenge often proves to be a large obstacle to people who suffer from ADD/ADHD successfully finding and keeping jobs, especially if they’ve had a bad experience in the past.
Having ADD/ADHD means you have a chronic illness that can’t be cured. It doesn’t turn you into a “monster with 2 heads.” You’re still a human being who deserves the same opportunities everyone else has. Having a chronic illness that isn’t obviously visible doesn’t make it any less real. Add disorganization to the specific challenges of ADD/ADHD and you get more stress than normal, lack of concentration, confusion and a sense of panic.
Bring Sanity Back With Document Management Software
The great news is that document management software, like The Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System Software brings sanity back into people’s lives. The Paper Tiger is very user friendly for anyone needing such a system. However, people who have ADD/ADHD have an added bonus in knowing that it’s so easy to use and is very logical, which means it doesn’t require an excessive amount of effort. This means files can be saved, archived, retrieved or discarded without the stress that traditional style systems have.
To better understand how filing system software can help you, just picture life without it. Desks piled high with overflowing folders full of documents. In and out trays full to capacity with more documents waiting to be added to the files. Everyone running around scratching their heads and trying to retrieve specific files so they can get back to the more demanding work. An unwieldy alphabetical filing system that forces people to waste hours of valuable time is something that makes no sense.
This picture can be summed up in just 3 words –
COSTLY, INEFFICIENT and FRUSTRATING!
Get Organized to Increase Office Efficiency and Moral
Imagine the possibilities if your new filing system software was able to help people facing these extra challenges to better cope. Just think how much more efficiently your whole company would run.
Now close your eyes and picture a row of desks with in trays and out trays containing just a few documents. The desktops have a few files here and there, and staff members are smiling as they carry out their daily tasks. That’s an example of how much impact the implementation of the right document management system can have on your staff and the company’s bottom line.
Naturally this software isn’t just for people with health problems. It’s designed to make life easier for everyone using it. Employers will have greater confidence in implementing such a user-friendly filing system. Employees will be able to better manage their time in order to focus on the more demanding tasks.
In any workplace, teamwork is a vital component of success. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. In a workplace, as in life, it’s up to everyone to cope with the cards they’ve been dealt. So if you can add the right document management system and increase efficiency for all, then that’s fantastic.
The one thing that people in all working environments agree on is that work should be manageable. The more user-friendly your filing system is, the better it will be for everyone.
Your IQ or mental capacity should make no difference. Knowing that user-friendly document management software brings sanity back into people’s lives, will enable you to create a better working atmosphere without breaking the bank.
The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System will get you on the right track and bring sanity to your life!
Other Recent Posts:
The Smartest Filing System for Busy Moms
The Paper Tiger Will Help You Practice Good Time Management and Organization Techniques
The Many uses of The Paper Tiger
There are 24 hours in a day. No more and no less. It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO of the largest corporation or a school cleaner. However, moms are in a unique category. A mom is supposed to be all things to all people and accomplish miracles on a regular basis. The smartest filing system for busy moms is user-friendly and helps her to achieve these miraculous challenges each and every day.
Picture any mother. She has to be a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, an auntie, a friend, a chauffeur, cook, cleaner, dishwasher, record keeper, money manager and all-round multitasking super mom. This list is more than enough to exhaust a regular person and it doesn’t even include time for sleep, rest or hobbies.
Busy Moms Need Help to Get Organized
Think about your own circumstances. You may be a man or woman. Either way, you probably agree that moms need some help. The great news is that modern, versatile filing system software can help reduce the amount of time needed to accomplish some of these tasks. This time can then be focused on more important things. A filing system isn’t necessarily a grey shabby-looking filing cabinet with a bunch of messy old papers stuffed inside.
Filing systems are already used for so many purposes in every day life which aren’t recognized as filing systems. Your computer has files and folders in different places probably saved in a haphazard fashion on your hard drive with some things misfiled or duplicated because you’ve lost track of them. The shoebox in the cupboard has a pile of paid bills. That’s a file. A book shelf files books. That’s also a file. As is the shelf under the DVD recorder.
Make Life Easier
Anything that needs to be stored is a form of filing. Why not make life much easier? When you receive something, you have to make a choice. Action it, archive it for future retrieval if necessary or throw it out. As a mom, think of all the things you have to keep. It’s hard enough remembering where everything is, let alone trying to find something that another member of the household has put away because they think differently.
Kids’ school reports, paid bills, outstanding bills, bank statements, warranties, CDs, DVDs, legal certificates for birth, marriage, divorce, business names, mortgage details, important contact details for family and friends, kids toys, copies of wills and powers of attorney, medical records, insurance details, photos in albums, prescriptions, employment records, tax records and the list goes on and on. You could even keep a file for all the clothing each family member has so you don’t waste money needlessly.
Picture your home as it is today. Ninety-five percent of the time, stuff will be strewn throughout the house. It’s poor mom’s job to find the lost assignment due today. It’s also her job to make breakfast, prepare lunches for the kids, write a couple of checks, pay some bills, remember to ring Aunt Dorothy for her birthday, order some flowers to be sent to her, give the kids their pocket money and to juggle all these tasks simultaneously.
Would you remember them all? Probably not! It’s time to give mom a helping hand! Using smart filing system software, she can create one simple way to organize everything that needs filing and storing, no matter where it is in the house, the garage, the shed, or in storage.
Instead of using an old fashioned alphabetical system, she can use one where all titles are specific to what they record. For example – bills can be divided into power, telephone, rates, school fees, etc., but can be grouped together as paid or unpaid. They could be filed in monthly, quarterly or yearly or however you want them to be filed.
Your huge DVD collection could be sorted according to genre. CDs can be done the same way. You could have different numbered boxes and make that number part of the title. Kids’ reports and school work could be under their names or categories and sub categories. It doesn’t really matter what you call them.
Standardize the Way You Store Things
It doesn’t matter where you store things. The main aim of using an indexed filing system is to standardize so you and your whole family can easily retrieve things without wasting hours searching the house from top to bottom.
Some things may be in a filing cabinet if they’re documents. Some may be in drawers, boxes, hanging files, under beds, in the shed or garage, or perhaps stored outside of the residence. If a busy mom can save time when she puts things away and retrieves them again, think of how much free time she’ll have to do other things or simply to have a well deserved rest.
Motherhood is the hardest job in existence and it isn’t even a salaried position! So why on earth shouldn’t moms be able to use the same system that corporations use to save time and money?
Access can be restricted to whoever needs it. Hard copies of the index can be printed off and given to each family member or posted in a convenient place. Perhaps store a copy offsite at a friend’s house or at the bank, along with copies of all vital documents and a backup of all computer files.
Mom can run the household like a business and keep track of things more efficiently. A smart document management system can be the foundation for really getting the household organized properly once and for all.
The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System — the smartest filing system for busy moms will create a whole new way of life in which there is less stress and more time for the things that really count.
This article from Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co is a great source for Storing tax records: How long is long enough? First you have to decide what paper files to keep and how long to keep them. Document your retention schedule so you don’t have to decide each year what’s best for your situation, then set up your filing system to accommodate when you need to declutter your files by archiving or shredding. Remember to use the Action Date function in The Paper Tiger Document Management Software and Filing System to help you in the life-cycle of your document management retention schedule.
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April 15 has come and gone and another year of tax forms and shoeboxes full of receipts is behind us. But what should be done with those documents after your check or refund request is in the mail?
Federal law requires you to maintain copies of your tax returns and supporting documents for three years. This is called the “three-year law” and leads many people to believe they’re safe provided they retain their documents for this period of time.
However, if the IRS believes you have significantly under-reported your income (by 25 percent or more), or believes there may be indication of fraud, it may go back six years in an audit. To be safe, use the following guidelines.
Business Document To Keep For One Year
• Correspondence with Customers and Vendors
• Duplicate Deposit Slips
• Purchase Orders (other than Purchasing Department copy)
• Receiving Sheets
• Requisitions
• Stenographer’s Notebooks
• Stockroom Withdrawal Forms
Business Documents To Keep For Three Years
• Bank Statements and Reconciliation’s
• Employee Personnel Records (after termination)
• Employment Applications
• Expired Insurance Policies
• General Correspondence
• Internal Audit Reports
• Internal Reports
• Petty Cash Vouchers
• Physical Inventory Tags
• Savings Bond Registration Records of Employees
• Time Cards For Hourly Employees
Business Documents To Keep For Six Years
• Accident Reports, Claims
• Accounts Payable Ledgers and Schedules
• Accounts Receivable Ledgers and Schedules
• Cancelled Checks
• Cancelled Stock and Bond Certificates
• Employment Tax Records
• Expense Analysis and Expense Distribution Schedules
• Expired Contracts, Leases
• Expired Option Records
• Inventories of Products, Materials, Supplies
• Invoices to Customers
• Notes Receivable Ledgers, Schedules
• Payroll Records and Summaries, including payment to pensioners
• Plant Cost Ledgers
• Purchasing Department Copies of Purchase Orders
• Sales Records
• Subsidiary Ledgers
• Time Books
• Travel and Entertainment Records
• Vouchers for Payments to Vendors, Employees, etc.
• Voucher Register, Schedules
Business Records To Keep Forever
While federal guidelines do not require you to keep tax records “forever,” in many cases there will be other reasons you’ll want to retain these documents indefinitely.
• Audit Reports from CPAs/Accountants
• Cancelled Checks for Important Payments (especially tax payments)
• Cash Books, Charts of Accounts
• Contracts, Leases Currently in Effect
• Corporate Documents (incorporation, charter, by-laws, etc.)
• Documents substantiating fixed asset additions
• Deeds
• Depreciation Schedules
• Financial Statements (Year End)
• General and Private Ledgers, Year End Trial Balances
• Insurance Records, Current Accident Reports, Claims, Policies
• Investment Trade Confirmations
• IRS Revenue Agents’ Reports
• Journals
• Legal Records, Correspondence and Other Important Matters
• Minutes Books of Directors and Stockholders
• Mortgages, Bills of Sale
• Property Appraisals by Outside Appraisers
• Property Records
• Retirement and Pension Records
• Tax Returns and Worksheets
• Trademark and Patent Registrations
Personal Document To Keep For One Year
• While it’s important to keep year-end mutual fund and IRA contribution statements forever, you don’t have to save monthly and quarterly statements once the year-end statement has arrived.
Personal Documents To Keep For Three Years
• Credit Card Statements
• Medical Bills (in case of insurance disputes)
• Utility Records
• Expired Insurance Policies
Personal Documents To Keep For Six Years
• Supporting Documents For Tax Returns
• Accident Reports and Claims
• Medical Bills (if tax-related)
• Property Records / Improvement Receipts
• Sales Receipts
• Wage Garnishments
• Other Tax-Related Bills
Personal Records To Keep Forever
• CPA Audit Reports
• Legal Records
• Important Correspondence
• Income Tax Returns
• Income Tax Payment Checks
• Investment Trade Confirmations
• Retirement and Pension Records
Special Circumstances
• Car Records (keep until the car is sold)
• Credit Card Receipts (keep until verified on your statement)
• Insurance Policies (keep for the life of the policy)
• Mortgages / Deeds / Leases (keep 6 years beyond the agreement)
• Pay Stubs (keep until reconciled with your W-2)
• Property Records / improvement receipts (keep until property sold)
• Sales Receipts (keep for life of the warranty)
• Stock and Bond Records (keep for 6 years beyond selling)
• Warranties and Instructions (keep for the life of the product)
• Other Bills (keep until payment is verified on the next bill)
• Depreciation Schedules and Other Capital Asset Records (keep for 3 years after the tax life of the asset)
This article by Denise Landers, founder and CEO of Key Organization Systems Inc. and a Paper Tiger Expert, will help you save time and money, simply by taking steps to get organized. Denise also recommends The Paper Tiger Document Management and Filing System software to help keep track of all your paper files throughout the year.
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Are you interested in cutting costs and saving money?
Saving money in both business and personal spheres is not only a wise discretionary move during this economic turmoil, but for many it is a necessity. These past months have caused us all to reevaluate our spending and seek ways to limit cash outflow.
There is an easy solution that will produce many benefits, not just financially but in many tangent areas – become more organized.
Improving organization helps with the bottom line in a multitude of ways:
1. Image.
a. 73% of managers and associates say they form impressions of co-workers by the way their desks are organized. Disorganized desks do not indicate you are ready for additional responsibilities. There is a lot of competition now, so do not handicap your chances of securing more business.
b. Nearly 70% of workers believe that colleagues with messy desks are less career driven than their counterparts. Can you afford to allow that perception in this climate of downsizing and forced sabbaticals?
2. Productivity
a. Office distractions eat up 2.1 hours per day for the average worker. How much more could you produce if you had 2 extra focused hours of work each day?
b. Once interrupted, it takes 25 minutes to get back into the flow of the original task. Although many think you will get more done by multitasking, you are actually less effective than when concentrating on one thing before switching to another.
3. Time
If distractions eat up an average of 2.1 hours per day, that adds up to over 12 weeks per year. If you were organized, not only would you produce more, but you have extra time to pursue your personal goals and meet family commitments.
4. Health
a. Distracted drivers who are multitasking cause 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes.
b. Stress builds up with disorganization. 80% of our medical expenditures are now stress-related.
5. Money
a. 2.1 hours of distractions per day translates to $28 billion a year in the U.S. Add to that the loss of money due to employee absenteeism, illness, and health claims.
b. Estimate how much time is being wasted by each employee within an organization, multiply that by number of employees, and do that for year after year that this continues to occur.
Bringing the cost of disorganization closer to home, here are common situations where eliminating disorganization can quickly put more dollars in your pocket:
• Late payments (misplaced bills leading to interest and penalties)
• Pending rebates (not collecting the necessary information)
• Duplicate purchases (unable to find what you already had)
• Unused gift cards (not with you while shopping)
• Overdraft fees (failing to reconcile)
• Multiple trips to store (shopping without a list)
• Repairs (neglecting maintenance)
• Tax Deductions (not tracking mileage and business expenses)
• Late fees (overdue items)
It is always worth the time to be better organized, but with the economic stresses we are facing now, it becomes more of a necessity. The short-term investment in time produces long-term dividends.
Denise Landers @timetrainer
Contact Key Organization Systems, Inc. for written permission to reproduce an article: http://www.keyorganization.com/contact-us.php
If you would like to jumpstart your organizing efforts and add to your time management skills, we can help!
Corporate Training: workshops and consulting to increase daily work flow and reduce stress
Individual Assistance: our onsite and virtual office organizing to bring about changes quickly
On Your Own: books and CDs to work at your own pace
