Keeping Track Of Paper
March 13, 2008 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
Back when I had a studio, I was drowning in paper. Guess what? Now that I’m in a two-bedroom, with one bedroom as my office, the problem hasn’t gone away… it’s just spread out more.
Back at the studio, I worked with Jennifer Hofmann of MyOrganizedBiz and Inspired Home Office She helped me solve multiple organizational problems, and one solution stood out. I had a project of my own I was working on and I kept forgetting it amidst the work I was doing for clients. The solution was a bright red file folder that would sit in my line of sight. It had only that project in it and every time I saw it, it acted as a gentle reminder.
Now I’ve got a different problem. I’ve got five clients at the moment, plus me. I often work on two projects during any particular day and I’m as likely to work on them sitting outside on my front stoop, or in my living room as I am in my office. I think I need some sort of folder for each client… maybe even a small box that’s designed to hold up to 100 pages or so. If each client had their own color, I wouldn’t get confused and I probably wouldn’t have to print out as often. Plus, If I took Dr. John’s book into the living room in it’s nifty green folder, it wouldn’t look so bad when, to answer the phone, I set it down and didn’t come back to it until the next day.
I feel a trip to the office store coming on.
How do you handle paper in your office?
Write will and often,
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Anne, I am guilty of the print and stack, stack the next one placing it crosswise to the last thing added to the stack. That is when I print something out.
I do like the no print, electronic save to my clients’ work file method and having more then one folder and file open at a time.
Then once I get irritated or my hubby gets irritated, because we are sharing my desk, opps – the desk, at this time… then I attempt to sort, throw out stuff and file other stuff in color coded folders that are already in my file cabinet, my separate work file cabinet.
I like the file folders, for active projects, out on the top of my desk, sitting in the upright file dividers, so I am reminded about them (too) but it drives my husband crazy… :{ So I attempt to deal with my files in the cabinet, but as soon as I get my computer to myself… I will leave the working files on the desk top!
Kathleen
Kathleen, I found something file jackets… cheap, colorful and should hold maybe 200 pages… and they close up… I’ll blog with a picture if I can find them online.