August, 2001
Office Records, like snowflakes in a driveway, tend to accumulate -
espeically if you're keeping track of documents, photos and notes for an
ongoing project. As the project proceeds, the records related to that
specific project keep building day by day, until you often find yourself
asking "what should I save and what should I throw out?" Sharon Mann an
organizational expert at Esselte - a leader in office solutions and
known for its Pendaflex brand of filing and organizational products -
offers the following organizing tips on how to set up a "tickler file"
and make life easier.
"You can reduce your stress headaches by simplyfying the way you
organize your paperwork and related project material on a daily basis by
setting up what is known as a "ticker file" to temporarily store papers
for future use," advises Mann.
Mann suggests the following: First place a hanging folder in your drawer
and also place five interior folders inside the hanging folder. Using
interior folders is important because they are specially designed to
separate documents inside hanging folders, and the tabs on interior
folders are cut shorter so they won't hide hanging folder tabs. Interior
folders also do an excellent job of sub-dividing related records inside
hanging folders. Whenever you access the file, you won't have to weed
through a mass of unorganized papers; instead, you simply pull the
interior folder that contains the information you want whild the hanging
folder itself and the rest of the records stay neatly in the drawer.
Another suggestion is a desktop project organizer that is color coded
and will keep documents separated and stored on your desk. Mann
recommends choosing Pendaflex Hanging Folders because they have an
innovative built-in InfoPocket® designed to hold smaller items such as
photographs and CDs in the same file with standard paper. Also the
Pendaflex Project Sorter is color coded with 10 sections that can be
customized to your need.
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Next, label each interior folder with a different day of the week. Then,
as the week progresses, drop "papers for review" and other project items
such as notes and memos into the respective interior folders. Be sure to
review all the mateial at each day's end.
Each Friday, sort through the entire file to determine what to save and
what to transfer to the permanent file. You can also determine at this
point what to discard, but be very careful about the things you throw
away, making sure you won't need those materials later on.
"Creating and using tickler files will certainly make your life easier,"
says Mann, "because a tickler file provides an instant "drop spot" for
your current project records, allowing you to quickly organize project
material the moment it comes across your desk."
Sharon Mann is an organizational expert for Pendaflex the world's
leading maker of innovative organizing products. Sharon also serves as
president of the Pendaflex "I Hate Filing Club" (www.pendaflex.com) a
dedicated group of nearly 100,000 office professionals who dislike
filing, but enjoy finding new ways to become more organized and more
productive.
About Pendaflex
Pendaflex is one of the world's premier manufacturers of organizational
solutions, bringing innovation, efficiency and style to workplace and
home settings. Committed to simplifying consumers' lives. Pendaflex
produces a broad range of filing and organizational products, as well as
provides solutions and resources through www.IhateFilingClub.com and
www.PendaflexLearningCenter.com. Located in Melville, NY, Pendaflex is
the principal U.S. filing brand of Esselte Corporation, a $1.2 billion
office products company with subsidiaries in 27 countries and
distribution in more than 120 countries. More information about
Pendaflex can be found at www.Pendaflex.com
