Can you find it in six minutes?
The average US executive wastes about SIX WEEKS every year searching for important -- but mislaid -- information due to the chaos on a messy desk or a sloppy file system.
If you can't find a piece of paper or a file in six minutes, due to rummaging through the debris on your messy desk, then you are wasting valuable time. The wasted time adds up to about SIX WEEKS per year.
So says Maria Gracia, in her article that appeared in the recent edition of "Empowering Women Magazine."*
As a result of a recent writing in the Wall Street Journal, she created this article for "Empowering Women Magazine," Volume 1, Issue 4.
She calls it: The Four D's of Effective Paper Management.
The four "D's" are:
- Do it;
- Delay it;
- Delegate it;
- Dump it.
Often, I find myself saving WAY TOO much stuff, and I need to be more efficient at pitching worthless junk.
Will I ever get around to reading that stuff on "Egyptian Treasures: A Private Tour on a Private Jet?" Who knows ... maybe one day ...
*Empowering Women Magazine; Volume One. Issue Four. 2006.
posted by Nadine at 6:42 PM
4 Comments:
Good article. I look forward to reading more.
Aww Professor Huggins this blog looks great! I love the background!
This article was written specifically for me, I think. While I am not a slob or generally very messy...I am the Queen of Clutter. I can't do my work unless I have every paper/book/document that is related tossed somewhere near me. Also, I am one of those "keeper" people...the ones who cannot throw ANYTHING away if I feel that it will have even the smallest chance of being used in the future. I need to work on this; I am still holding onto random things from college.
And, as a female, this of course crosses the line from the desk into the closet. My sister has helped with this, however, by offering the best advice for closet-cleaning: If you are only saving it because you think it might work well as a part of a Halloween costume someday, DUMP it!
:)
I look forward to reading your blog! So much nicer looking and user friendly than TWEN!
See you tomorrow!
Jennifer
Good point! I throw very little away. of course, I expect that most of it will go away when the children leave home - - with them!!
Some folks agree with me: Break into the the "DUMP IT" command, and get rid of the junk.
Just admitting to being a clutter freak is first step into breaking the habit.
Today, believe it or not, I actually TOSSED some old handwritten notes.
The notes were created as a result of a telphone conversation with a potential client who chose NOT to hire our firm.
That was over three months ago. And the client received an "I AM NOT YOUR LAWYER" letter fronm us -- more than two months ago.
Those notes are gone, gone, gone ...
placed into our "Inactive files" storage ... on the way up to the archive ... then on the way to trash ....
See? We still have a long way to go. But at least that stuff is not cluttering up out current clinet files.
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