Getting Rid of Paper

Getting Rid of Paper “Man’s best friend, aside from the dog, is the wastebasket.”

Mark Twain

Productivity Partners, Inc.

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“The real question is, why do you want it? What are you going to do with it? That’s where you’ve got to start; otherwise you’re going to waste a lot of money.”

These are the words of author Francis Carincross in her book The Company for the Future. She tried to answer the dilemma many of us face when saving paper.

We’ve been talking about a ’paperless society’ since the early 1970’s. But the truth of the matter is there is more paper now than ever before. In fact, a Xerox survey tells us we will have 50% more paper in 2005 than we had in 1995. And we don’t’ know where it will go from there.

Letting go of paper is harder than it seems on the surface.

Many companies have tried to go paperless, citing increased productivity and lower costs as the gain. But employees are still ordering filing cabinets. Why? Because most of us have an emotional attachment to the paper. Yes… even work related papers. You know…those marketing pieces you worked so hard on and there’s no reason to throw them out…

There is the fear that if you toss it, the day will come when you need it.

Consider that most of us don’t know what is inside our file cabinets to begin with. Is all that paper really bringing you value? Would you lose your job if you didn’t have many of those documents? It’s a feeling. A fear that if it gets tossed, we’ll somehow miss it or suffer the consequences.

But let’s face it.

There are 18,000 pieces of paper in a full four-drawer file cabinet and we only use 20% of them. Re-read Ms. Cairncross’ words at the top of this article. If you can answer these questions honestly, you could probably start clearing out your filing cabinet, eliminating waste and clutter along the sway, and save time by only maintaining what you actually need and use.

Organizing and maintaining a filing system is one thing.

But the truth is that you put papers in file cabinets because you can’t seem to make a decision about the paper’s true disposition. Maybe it’s time to consider a company-wide records retention policy and an annual clean-out day.

The outcomes if you ignore this piece of advice?

Paper clutter, time mismanagement, reduced productivity, wasted money and stress and a lot less piece of mind.

And let’s not forget those digital files. The keyword here is…delete.

Productivity Partners, Inc.

913-649-0878

888-482-2688

Productivity Partners, Inc. specializes in helping employees overcome the 24/7 time management and organizing challenges they face in order to improve performance, increase productivity and reduce stress.

PPI assists individuals, teams, and entire companies in gaining confidence and control when it comes to paper, information, time, space and choice management.

Offerings include: Onsite workshops Online workshops or webinars Assessments Coaching Consulting Presentations Products

Cynthia Kyriazis started her business in 1992 after 25 years experience in multi-unit operations management. She is an organizing and time management coach, consultant, trainer, speaker and author. Cynthia is past Secretary of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), 2008 President of the International Society for Performance Improvement-Kansas City chapter (KCISPI), a national speaker, and consultant to the American Coaching Association. Cynthia can be reached at Cynthia@ProPartnersInc.com www.ProPartnersInc.com www.Moveyourmindset.wordpress.com Linkedin.com/in/propartnersinc

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Productivity Partners, Inc.

913-649-0878

888-482-2688