Daily PlanIt Time Management-Paper Management

Stephanie Winston is known for her TRAF system of dealing with paperwork.

There are four things you can do with paper:

    1. Toss it

    2. Refer it

    3. Act on it

    4. File it

I prefer to consider filing under the Action heading, leaving F to stand for Follow-up which can be done either with a tickler system or by marking a calendar and using a pending file.

 

Toss:

Questions to ask when deciding whether to retain or toss a piece of paper:

    1. Is this only for my own information, and now I know it?

    2. Is this quality information? Objective? Reliable? Timely? Useful? Clear? (Keep the best, and forget the rest)

    3. Does this information exist elsewhere? If needed in the future, could it be replaced?

 

Reading: Clip articles that look interesting. After reading, use criteria above to evaluate the information and make a decision whether to toss or file.

Action: Files could include a red file for priority items, correspondence, to read, to file, ideas and projects.

 Filing: Set up an alphabetical file system with logical subject headings in general categories. Make a list of the subject headings you use. Sub-divide if files become too full.

 

Follow-up Systems: Use to handle deferred actions, task start and due dates, meeting materials, phone callbacks, tracking projects, bill paying. Either:

    1. Mark a calendar and hold papers in a "Pending" file.

 2. Use a Tickler system: files for each month and 1-31 for the days of the month. Or use a simpler system with monthly dividers and days of the week dividers. These systems only work if you make a habit of checking daily.

 

Winston recommends the use of a master list to keep track of things to remember, errands, ideas, calls to make, items to discuss, problems to solve.

 

There are other Paper Possibilities: you can Procrastinate, you can Pile, you can create Problems for yourself!