by Janet Schiesl

Basic Organization

Did you know that opening envelopes is the key to mail and paper management?

It’s a mistake to leave mail unopened or to place the contents back into the envelope after reading the material. Opening each envelope and discarding the unwanted inserts will greatly reduce the volume.

Once you have eliminated the excess, unfold everything that remains, staple pages together if needed and (if nothing else) place everything in an action tray for later. You can choose to go further and process your daily mail each day or decide on a regularly scheduled time that you’ll do your mail processing each week. How about Saturday morning over your first cup of coffee or one evening a week, when you are watching your favorite TV show? The processing can be simplified by asking yourself “What’s the next action I need to take on this piece of paper?” The usual answers to this question are: file it, read it, do some action (like send an email or make a call, etc), and then there are the bills. By opening envelopes, unfolding the paperwork, and discarding said envelope you are miles ahead in your paper management.

Also, I need to mention junk mail. There are several ways to eliminate most junk mail, which will greatly reduce your paper processing time. Here’s another blog post that will help you get off those pesky mailing lists.

For more information, contact Janet Schiesl.