article thumbnail

7 Tips for Decluttering Your Desk

Ian's Messy Desk

If your desk harbours mounds of papers, books, files and personal accessories, you may be adding unnecessary stress to your day. Set up a good filing system. Colour–coded files are especially helpful — they show you at a glance where something should go. Put items that must be looked at in a special folder or file.

Filing 100
article thumbnail

Manage Your Paper With a RAFT

Ian's Messy Desk

Files can be kept in open piles on a desk or in folders, according to your style. Use the RAFT template: refer it, act on it, file it or toss it. File it, if necessary. Eighty percent of filed papers are never looked at again. If the amount is small, three times a week may do. Act on it immediately.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

8 Tips to Help You Clean Off Your Desk

Ian's Messy Desk

Sort – everything into boxes/containers according to what needs to be done: file , shred, recycle , refer, toss, etc. Process the paper – take the items you sorted into boxes and put them where they belong: filing, your tickler or reading folder or delegate/refer to a more appropriate person, etc.

Calendars 100
article thumbnail

How to exorcise your demons of disorganization

Ian's Messy Desk

Manage paper effectively – Barbara Hemphill, author of The Paper Tiger, offers the FAT principle for paper burden: file it, act on it, or toss it. Reference Files: store in a convenient location close to your desk. Archive Files: store in a filing cabinet or an off-site location.

Filing 100
article thumbnail

HanDBase Now Available for the iPad

Ian's Messy Desk

This feature lets users load and save HanDBase files to and from their desktops and import/export CSV files for transfer from/to other desktop applications. Zen to Done Productivity eBook Increase your AdSense Earnings Thesis Demo Site — See the Thesis Theme in action!

article thumbnail

5 Ways to Free Up Room on Your Brain's Hard Drive

Ian's Messy Desk

Delete unnecessary files: With a computer, you can free up space by sending unnecessary files to the trash. How about all those “junk files” on your mental hard drive? Download: Many “must keep” files that don’t need to reside on your hard drive can be downloaded onto a disk. Delegate whenever you can.

UPS 100
article thumbnail

2 Measures of effective productivity systems…

Ian's Messy Desk

Not only did she remember the name of the antibiotic from four years previous, within 45 seconds she had pulled a copy of the prescription from her files. Zen to Done Productivity eBook Increase your AdSense Earnings Thesis Demo Site — See the Thesis Theme in action! That was just before my mother’s 78th birthday.