Letters, magazines, bills, flyers, what to do with all of them. There should be only two responses to each mail or email, do something with it or throw it away!
As always, the best way to deal with it is in an organized way.
One of the quickest ways to do this is to have the following folders:
A red one for things that need to be addressed immediately. This would include anything that needs an immediate response, something that needs to be done today. A letter to respond to, a meeting to schedule, a report to make, a phone call to be made. Within this folder, you will need to prioritize what should be handled first, second, etc.
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Invoices that come in and need to be paid should be placed in your tickle file a couple of days before the due date to account for shipping time. So when you open the bills that come to you in the mail, check the due date and put them in your tickle file. If you have to pay for it upon receipt, put it in the red folder so you can take care of it right away.
Meetings (brochures) to be attended are placed in a gray folder. Be sure to check the dates, highlight them. Your next step is to make sure you put them on your calendar and then tickle them two days in advance for review or if there is anything you need to do or prepare for the meeting.
If you receive meeting highlights or minutes in the mail, they can be placed in a yellow folder for later reading. These are the kinds of things that can be read during lunch or while backing up files, printing, etc.
Magazines and articles you receive can be placed in a black folder. This is your reading folder. Take it with you when you go to appointments that you know will be late for some time. Read during lunch. Schedule time in the morning and on weekends. If you make reading a part of your daily schedule, it won’t add up. And remember, once you read it, file it or throw it away.
Each sheet of paper must generate a reaction, the reaction can be to deal with it, file it or throw it away, but one of them must happen. By following this simple rule, you can keep mail and paperwork under control – and your sanity to begin with.
Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2000
