If a twenty-something wrote these tips for managing paper in the home office the first suggestion would more than likely be to do away with paper. I can see my son saying, "Paper? Why Paper? You don't need paper?"
Well, there are reasons to use paper, and to file it away for safekeeping, especially if you're 35 years old or more and you grew up learning from and deriving pleasure from the printed word and the study of books. Few in the business world would argue with the need for computers, online databases, Internet, contact management programs and various software applications. We all know they can make us more efficient by keeping our materials on our computers, on electrical storage devices such as external hard drives, CDs, DVDs and flash drives.
There are reasons to have the good old fashioned printed page, though. Eye strain, back strain, wrist and finger muscle strain can all be alleviated by leaving the computer and the keyboard for 30 minutes of relaxation in an easy chair while poring over the printed word.
Managing paper in the home office is more difficult than managing electric devices because it's heavier and takes up more space.
Here are some tips for managing paper in the home office:
* An ongoing piece of information that updates and changes periodically should be electronic only.
* Writing a day planner on paper is a waste of time and space. A white board at eye level on the wall would work much better.
* If space is at a premium build up towards the ceiling. A narrow tall file cabinet will take up less space.
* Stay organized. This is perhaps the most important of the tips for managing paper in the home office. If you don't take time every day to file you won't find the important paper at your finger tips the next time you need it and you'll find yourself printing it out time and again out of frustration for having to spend time looking for it.
* If you have no need for it throw it away. Go through your files on a periodic basis and weed out the old to make way for the new.
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