Please enjoy this guest blog post from Alita Marlowe, an efficiency expert!

By Alita Marlowe
What is the financial and psychological cost of losing things?

Part 1

It is 1:00. You have just returned from an abbreviated lunch ‘hour’. Your boss meets you at your desk before you have even had a chance to put your purse down and go brush your teeth. He/she does a brain dump on you, and retreats to his/her office; relieved that the action items now rest on your large shoulders, (in addition to the other items already sitting on them). You are still trying to ‘sort out’ the dump, when you are interrupted and told that 3 motions need to be filed before 4 p.m. Not only are they are not transcribed yet, but they aren’t dictated either. It’s now 2:30, and the phone has been ringing non-stop. Sound familiar? Is it them? Is it you? The most correct answer is neither and/or either.

Time and paper:

• 90% of all documents handled each day are merely shuffled. Why? Because people aren’t trained in the decision making process required to find a home for the document.
• 80% of filed papers are never referenced again. 50% of all filed materials are duplicates or expired information.
• It costs $120 in labor to track down a misplaced document or $250 to recreate it.
• The average U.S. executive wastes 6 weeks per year with ineffective business office filing systems and time management problems.
• In 2005, there was 50% more paper and filing in offices than there was in 1995.
• During the last 25 years, our leisure time has declined by 37% while our work hours have increased by a full day, (8 hours).
• In every survey taken over the last 20 years, managing paperwork falls in the top ten time-wasting activities of managers.
• Introducing email into an office increases paper by 40%.
• The typical businessperson experiences 170 interactions per day and has a backlog of 200-300 hours of uncompleted work.

HELP IS HERE:

Ripening Box = Acts as a holding tank for papers that you haven’t touched in 30 days. Place the papers in the box, and the box in a closet. If you haven’t opened the box within 6 months, then the contents should be placed in the trash without looking through the contents. Plan to fill one on a regular basis with papers from your desk, at least monthly. Put the box in a safe but, out of sight and out of mind place. Agree on a time period, during which there exists no need to go into the box. During this time the box has become fully ripe, and its contents may be destroyed or moved off site or to digital storage, and/or storage facility.

Ohio Principle = Only Handle it Once

10 in 10 = Handle 10 pieces of paper in the first 10 minutes you are at work. Decide on an action item for each piece.

Verb your papers = Categorize according to what needs doing next. (ie. to do, to file, to call, to write, to read)

Prime Real Estate is for daily use items. It is within arm’s reach from where you are sitting at your desk. Items used weekly belong in the outer limits of your office, and items used monthly belong in the hallway.

Plan your work, work your plan. Upon arriving at work, spend 15 minutes to prioritize your day. If you are a list maker, assistance with prioritizing the list may be helpful.  Once all of the tasks are on the list, sort them with the A, B, C method. “A” tasks are critical and must be done today. “B” tasks need to be done soon. “C” tasks can be sprinkled throughout the next month. Further categorize the lists by numbering 1-3 within each category. A1, A2, A3 are absolute must-dos for today. This method risks becoming complicated and often malfunctions to become an exercise in re-writing lists.  If you have a complicated work life, or are a novice, choose another method. Consider the one below