Whatever business you are in and whether it is from dealing with customers and or suppliers, you will end up collecting paperwork and equipment.
Left unattended these items grow into piles which in time cover tables, floor and rooms.
To stop that the good old job of filing needs to be completed.
In the Help With Admin guide to filing here are 5 things to think of before you start:-
1) Do You Need To Keep It?
Will you need to use the item again in the future?
Do you have to store the item by law?
Or are you keeping hold of the item for that one time you meet a Unicorn whilst crossing the road at night?
If you don’t need it then get rid of it.
If you have got piles of junk and need help then there are lots of good professional declutters around who can take you through the process.
2) How Big Is It?
Right you have decided to keep the item. The next question is how big is the item?
If it is small it can maybe fit under a table or in a draw.
If it is big you don’t want to leave it lying around in the middle of the room so people end up tripping over it.
3) How Heavy Is It?
If the item is heavy is it wise to give it a home on the top shelf in your office?
Are you really going to keep going up a ladder at the start and end of each day to retrieve or replace the item or will you end up leaving it lying on the floor where it could get damaged or worst still will you just leave it on the top shelf and never use it?
The best idea is to store things with the heaviest at the bottom and lightest at the top.
4) How Often Do You Use It?
How often do you use the item is a good question because unless it is part of an agreed fitness schedule storing a much used item at the other end of the building will lead to resentment by the person who’s job it is to collect the item and also it leads to temptation to go awol talking to other colleagues etc.
It also makes the job harder if you are surrounded by things you do not need regularly and you have to keep breaking off what you are doing to go for a wander to find the item you need to complete your current task.
5) How Long Do You Need To Keep It?
The last thing to contemplate is how long you need to keep the item.
If you need to keep the item a long time but do not need to use it often then this is a good thing to store on the top shelf or at the opposite end of the building out of the way, Also you could look at putting it in external storage.
If it is short length of time you need to keep it then have it somewhere close to hand so it does not go out of sight/out of mind and become a junk pile.
Whether you need to keep the item for a long or short time and good suggestion is to label the item with it’s expiry date and to put this date in to your calendar and block time out to dispose of it.
The key to disposal is little and often, If you put it off then you soon become overwhelmed with stuff you don’t need and then end up with the task of disposal taking over time you don’t have to spare.