All that Paper!
Consider all the paper, mail, magazines, catalogs and articles you have stacked around the house or office. You may be saving it "to read it someday", or if you've read it, you are afraid to throw it away "just in case" you'll need to access the information again. It all piles up higher and higher. Consider the following:
1. Find three boxes. Mark one box “NOW”, another “LATER” and the third “SHRED”.
2. Set a timer for 15 minutes and sit down with a pile of paper.
3. Move quickly through the paper, make decisions –
a. NOW if it needs to be acted on within the week
b. LATER if you don’t want to toss it, yet it is not urgent or
important
c. SHRED if you don’t want it any more
Ask yourself these questions quickly for each piece of paper:
1. Do I really need to take action on this? If yes, now or later?
2. Can I find this information at the library or on the internet? If yes, shred it.
3. Will this information quickly become outdated? If yes, you're wasting valuable space and draining your energy by keeping it. Discard and use the internet to get more up-to-date information when you need it.
4. Will you ever really get around to reading this? Think about saving just the last month’s worth of reading material and recycle the rest.
When you have worked for 15 minutes and the timer goes off, celebrate by taking action on something from the “NOW” box and sip an ice cold lemonade or a hot cup of tea. Find time this evening to do another 15 minutes.
