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| Motivation Information |
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The Art of Wastebasketry
Are your filing cabinets stuffed so full that it's difficult to retrieve and file papers? If you are like 80% of the people in the audiences to whom I speak, your answer is "Yes." "Are there things in your filing cabinet you could probably throw out?" Most once again answer "Yes." So what's the problem? Certainly a major stumbling block is time. Some may say cleaning out the filing cabinet won't make you money. My response is "Really?" Research shows the average person spends 150 hours each year looking for misplaced information. What would happen to your bottom line if you added that time to getting new customers or selling new products or services to old customers? Frequently people say to me "It never fails. Every time I throw out something, I need it the next day." To which I reply, "Can you give me an example?" Mostly I get silence. Determine whether you want to keep each piece of paper at all by asking yourself these "Art of Wastebasketry?" questions: 1. Does this require any action on my part? Just because you receive information-even if it's from your boss-doesn't mean you need to keep it! If it doesn't require action, file it or toss it right away! If it's just an FYI, read it and toss. 2. Does this exist elsewhere? Is it in the library? Do you know an expert on the subject who'd be certain to have more complete information if you really needed it? Is the original filed elsewhere? Is it necessary to keep a hard copy if it already exists in the computer? 3. Is this information recent enough to be useful? Today, information becomes outdated very quickly. Would you want a customer to decide whether or not to choose your services based on a three-year-old brochure? The information in a 6-month-old magazine article about computer software has undoubtedly been superseded, as has a downloaded product review from an on-line service. In many cases, it is more appropriate to keep track of the source of the information, so you can get the latest version, rather than keeping the information itself. 4. Can I identify specific circumstances when I'd use this information? Usually, "just in case" is not good enough! Files labeled "Miscellaneous" are of little value, because there's nothing to trigger you to look there. If you can't identify how you would use the information at least well enough that you can file it for future reference, it's unlikely that you would remember you have it, let alone be able to find it later. 5. Are there any tax or legal implications? Here's where "just in case" works. Unfortunately, we're frequently required to resurrect paper that we'd much rather have forgotten. Sometimes, having outdated information in your files can create unnecessary problems. A client of mine was sued. When the company's files were subpoenaed, the prosecuting attorney found my client's unsigned contract proposal, and used it to prove wrongful intent. My client lost the suit and had to pay $147,000. Had the files had been properly cleaned; I don't believe that would have happened. If you answer "No" to all the above questions, but are still not comfortable throwing something away, ask one last question: 6. What is the worst possible thing that could happen if I did not have this information? If you can live with your answer, toss it and live happily ever after. For years I have orchestrated "File Clean-Out Days" with companies. I used to live in fear that someone would come back to me afterward with a horror story of something we threw out, and they needed later. In 20 years, it's never happened! Recently a woman told me that one of the big frustrations in her advertising company was staff spending time looking for materials from client projects years' prior. I suggested a plan. Why not establish a company policy that "We keep client materials for three years." At the end of each year, you send a letter to the client saying "We have the following materials from the project we did together. Our policy is to keep client materials for three years. If we don't hear from you in 60 days, the materials will be destroyed." What's the worst possible thing that could happen? Four possibilities than I can think of. (1) You won't waste valuable time looking for something that brings back nothing to the company, (2) Your policy makes you look very professional, or (3) Your letter reminds the client of your availability, and you get a new contract! Who says using your wastebasket doesn't make money? And (4), somebody somewhere probably has it anyway in spite of our best efforts! © Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com
Motivation - Google News |
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Business Management L-I-V-E-- 12 Steps to Living Your Life Many of us only inhabit our lives- we do not Live our lives. But, we can. The P Word... Procrastination A problem many of us are familiar with. Its showing up in your work environment interfering with your daily life.and peace of mind. Why You Should Write Your Obituary Today Writing your own obituary sounds and feels a little strange, I know. If the idea doesn't appeal to you, try pretending that you have just won an award and the newspaper is doing a feature story on your accomplishments. By recording what you wish to be remembered or acknowledged for, you will be able to pinpoint the values you would like to live by. And, by identifying your life's values you will be more able to live them now and in the future. Its Never Too Late To Start Many people never start anything because they think the bus has left them standing at the station. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone - Before Its Too Late Think about what you are doing each day and ask yourself - "Is what I'm doing now getting me to where I want to get to?" If the answer is "No" then do something different. Get out of your comfort zone and change your habits. Ignite The Fire In Your Belly How To Move From Being A Procrastinator To An Activator! Are you sick and tired of not getting ahead and just can't get yourself out of a rut? Well, there are certain requirements (accountability, responsibility, commitment to yourself, forgiveness, positive think and speak, synchronicity within and outside) to help facilitate a real change. That One Thing That Guarantees Your Unlimited Motivation And Success What can you do when you do not feel like getting started? When procrastination takes over... 6 Simple Steps To Accelerating your Learning What is Accelerated learning? Unleash Your Unlimited Power Your Non-Conscious Mind is 98% of your full power. Your Inner Knowing is at least 986,743 times more powerful than your non-conscious mind. The reason is because this inner knowing has direct access to harness the infinite powers of the universe to produce results. Stop Squeaking! Align Yourself for Business Success! Even for a remarkable business owner like you, from time to time, you may still loose motivation in continuing the expansion of a service or product line. At time, you may seem to have a hard time figuring out why this once fantastic business that got you so excited every morning is making you feel like a heavy weight now. How Self-Made Millionaires Overcome Procrastination Do you want to know how the super successful overcome procrastination? About That Dream... About that Dream... Live On Fire Words seem inadequate to describe the beauty and abundance that surrounds us during the month of October in New England. It's as if Mother Nature has taken her paintbrush and with broad strokes has set the landscape ablaze in color. Words Have Power How many times have you heard or read that words have power? Maybe it was in the context of working 'magic' or 'positive affirmations' or visualization techniques and you just dismissed it as more of that 'psychic hooha'. Nine Reasons To Embrace Failure I've always heard that "public speaking" is the number one most common fear. According to a recent survey I conducted in my e-newsletter, however, this is not the case. Overwhelmingly my readership chose "failure." How to Use Discouragement to Motivate Yourself Ever feel like giving up? Do you ever feel so discouraged that even one more day of frustration will be too much too handle? Daily Motivation--Be Kind to Yourself for a Change "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these." --George Washington Carver The Lies We Live By How many times have you lied to get your way? What Does Your Future Hold? Do You Have A Plan? Or Are You Just Waiting To See What Happens? We often find ourselves in a situation in which we either accept the change that someone else imposes upon us or in which we ourselves effect the change we would like to see happen. We sometimes stammer and hesitate and procrastinate with regard to decision making. Not making a decision is a decision in itself. Wealth Building: Let The Wealth Building Secrets Of J. Paul Getty Inspire You To Great Achievement One of the shortcuts to creating wealth is to learn from those who have achieved great wealth.
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