How to Deal with Paper Problems in Your Workplace

The best way to make a start on your paper problems is to start immediately. Choose a time when you can spend at least half an hour on the project. Aim to complete it over several days. Don't try to do it all in one long go. You will just get tired and frustrated.

First, assemble your paper clearance tools:
- one or more large wastepaper bins
- four large cardboard boxes
- labels
- files and folders
- marker pens.

Before you start, label your boxes 'no idea', 'pass on', 'action' and 'filing'. The box labelled 'no idea' will be filled with all those papers that you don't know what to do with, or even what they are for. Eventually you will be able to find a place for all of them, but at the moment put them in this box.

The 'pass on' box is not for corpses but for those papers that should or could be dealt with by other people. And the 'action' box is for paper that you must deal with - in fact your work. The 'filing' box is going to contain all papers that absolutely must be kept. Naturally, all rubbish goes in your wastepaper bin.

The trick about clearing paper is to deal with it one piece at a time. Some books tell you to strip your desk of everything and then deal with the paper. It is much better to work through methodically, otherwise you are just moving the problem from the desk to the floor.

Pick up the first piece of paper on your desk that your hand lands on. Look at it carefully. You can do several things with it - deal with it, pass it on, file it or throw it away. Put it in the relevant box or the wastepaper bin. It should be obvious what each piece of paper is for. If you really cannot decide, put it in the 'no idea' box. Later you will empty this one too.

Keep working around your desk until all the paper on it has been dealt with. Include anything else that is made of paper -magazines, reports, stationery, books, etc. Put them in the relevant place, for example, on a bookshelf. If you are keeping magazines, tear out only the articles you need and throw the rest away. Put stationery in a desk drawer. Continue until the desk is clear of paper.