According to the Great Results Newsletter published by Avery, 25 years ago a U.S. News & World report declared that because of computers we’d all be working in the “paperless office” by the 1980s. It’s 2004 and if you were like me you probably thought that sooner or later computers would eliminate the need to kill so many trees and paper would be a thing of the past. By now I’m sure you realize that this is far from true. We probably handle more paper today than we did 20 years ago. If anything, computers generate more and more paper every day. Don’t be dismayed because we really do have resources available to use to achieve the ultimate goal of the paperless office.

The key to getting rid of the piles of paper is to handle each piece only once, (O.H.I.O.-Only Handle It Once). But first you have to rid yourself of the years of paper that have consumed every available space in the corners, drawers, boxes, closet and floors. This will take time, but you can start by getting storage boxes and sorting through the papers one pile at a time. Remember, your paper clutter didn’t happen overnight and neither will a paperless office. Set aside 15 minutes a day to go through one pile at a time until you have tamed the paper tiger. Don’t forget to include magazines old and new.

Go through your magazines and cut out any articles you wish to retain.

To determine what papers and documents to keep and for how long click here.

If you have a home office, keep your business and personal files separate. I have two in-boxes for my mail, one for business and the other personal. I go through my mail twice a week and sort out the bills, junk mail, magazines and miscellaneous. Junk mail should be discarded right away. Bills go into a tickler file sorted by due date. Magazines go into a pile for me to read at my leisure. I schedule some time each week on my calendar just for reading magazines. Miscellaneous or other mail is read and handled once and either discarded or filed.

One of the wonderful things about today’s technology is the fact that a lot of the bills you received via the old fashioned U.S. mail system, now can be sent to you via the Internet. I’m referring to ebills. You now can go online and not only pay your bills, but view your statements online and even download them in pdf file format. I created a folder for 2004, which has sub folders for banking statements, bills, correspondence, etc. If I cannot download the statements in pdf format, I use my scanner to scan the bills into my computer and place them in their corresponding folder. Each quarter I burn the files from the folder onto a CD. At the end of the year, once my taxes are filed, I burn a copy of my taxes on the CD and file it away. This way all my documents are saved on CD, there are very few papers to file and I make sure that all receipts with personal information on them are shredded. I also use the all-in-one HP 3150 which prints, copies, faxes and scans my documents, which comes in very handy and makes the process of scanning my papers very easy. Now my desk is clutter free, and I am more efficient and more organized than ever.