Further adventures with clearing my desk

Continuing on the theme of clearing my desk and clearing my mind, I’m continuing to work on getting more organized. This strikes some people who know me as ridiculous because they see me as being already very organized, and compared to the average person I probably am. But I’m aware that there are some glaring weak spots in my ability to deal with bits of paper, and as I go through the heap of papers that has filled my desk’s in-tray I feel rather embarrassed. The most egregious oversights that have come to light are:

• A check from 2006 that never got deposited.
• A letter from 2006 that never even got opened.
• A folder titled “for immediate action” that contained the above-mentioned articles

What I’ve been doing is processing the heap. Well, actually, first I discovered that I had several heaps, and so I collected those all together. Then I started processing. Some stuff in the heap was simply shredded because it was junk. Some was filed in my filing cabinet because it was long-term material that simply hadn’t been returned there or had never been put in hanging folders for storage. Quite a lot of the stuff needed some kind of intermediate holding because it consists of things I want to action later. That’s the stuff that’s always caused me trouble.

So here’s what I’ve been doing.

1. I take the stuff that needs to be acted upon (e.g. an application form for a local business organization).
2. I take a manila folder.
3. I take a new hand-held label printer (A Brother PT-1010 if you’re interested) and create a nice neat label (“Newmarket Business Association”), which then gets applied to the said folder.
4. The folder gets filed alphabetically in a hanging file box that sits next to my desk.
5. I go to my organizational program (OmniFocus) and enter a task for that material (“Complete and mail application for Newmarket Business Association”).
6. And then I add the exact same text as was on the label at the end of the task, which now reads “Complete and mail application for Newmarket Business Association – “NEWMARKET BUSINESS ASSOCIATION.”
7. If necessary I date the task, but sometimes I’m not doing that since I don’t want to over-plan.

Ta-da!

Anyway, thanks to my hanging file box, the alphabetical filing system, the labels, and the fact that the task listing now tells me exactly where to look to find the actionable materials I no longer have to store stuff in my in tray.

My in tray is now close to empty. It’ll maybe take another hour to process the remaining stuff that’s in there.

In future my in tray will not be a depository for stuff I want to remember to do, but will be a genuine in tray — a kind of entrance hall for my office. Anything lifted from my in tray will be processed, filed if necessary (some will be shredded and recycled), and a task created (again only if necessary).

I think I’m finally getting the hang of dealing with paper.

Having a desk which is free from paper is good for my mind. Knowing that I’m unlikely to lose a task is good for my mind. I feel mentally cleaner already. Really, this is an important mindfulness practice.

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