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Tuesday
Jun012010

5 Guidelines for Reducing Paper Clutter

DateTuesday, June 1, 2010 at 10:29PM | AuthorKathleen Nadeau, Ph.D.

Use the following guidelines to reduce the amount of papers you gather.

Gathering Guideline Questions

1.  Am I still interested in knowing/doing/having this? (Elliot was once keenly interested in martini bars, but this interest has waned since he married.)

2.  Do I know/understand this already? (Elliot is now a pro at using social media. He no longer needs a magazine article for beginners.)

3.  Is a better/fresher version of this likely to come into my life soon? (Elliot is tempted to keep an article on hot mutual funds, but did you know that financial information becomes obsolete eight minutes after it comes off the press?!)
 

4.  If I will use/read/do/share this, will I do it before it goes out of date? (Elliot plans to buy an SUV in a year or two, but the information he has will be out of date by then. It will make more sense for him to gather SUV information when he’s close to the purchase date.)

5.  Can I deal with any regret I might have if I throw it away? (Elliot knows that even if he makes a mistake and throws something away that he should not have discarded, he might regret it, but he’ll get over it.)

If you find these guidelines to be helpful, you may want to laminate a printed list of guidelines and post it in a visible spot in your office, where you open mail, or other places where you tend to gather papers and recycle them.

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Reader Comments (111)

These are such simple and IMPORTANT questions. It's so easy to hold onto articles we are sure we'll read and other things we will never miss (let alone regret tossing) if we throw them out. Great reminders!

June 4, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterMartha Hennessey

I keep printing, laminating, and posting these guidelines, but each time I follow them, I throw them away. What am I doing wrong?

June 25, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterDusitn

I keep printing, laminating, and posting these guidelines, but each time I follow them, I throw them away. What am I doing wrong?

June 25, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterDustin

The internet is great for this problem as most articles and sites can be re-found as needed with a simple search... and a good resource will be constantly updated with the latest information. Bookmark sites in your browser and organize them by subject area (car, finance, work, etc.) And delete obsolete links when you see them. I often embed related web addresses (url's) or document links in my tasks in Skoach so I can have everything I need at hand for the current task.

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