Do you ever sit down at your desk buried in paper and say, OK! Todays the day Im going to clean up this mess? You pick up the first piece of paper and immediately think of any number of reasons why now is not a good time to deal with this particular piece of paper. You pick up the second piece. No, I dont think so And the third And the fourth And before you know it, the pile of papers that was on the left side of your desk is now on the right and youve got to run to your next appointment!

If you can identify with that scenario, and you would like to change it, remember four simple words: Clutter is postponed decisions?. I learned that from clothes closets. You cant find room for the dry cleaning because your closets are filled with things you never wear or use. Why? Maybe its because you havent decided whether youre going to lose the ten pounds you need to lose to get into that smaller size, whether lapels are going to get wider, or whether youll ever play tennis again.

The same challenge awaits you in the office. If youre having difficulty-managing paper, youre not alone! Research shows that the average person spends 150 hours per year almost one month looking for lost information.

As a professional organizing consultant for over 20 years, I have spent thousands of hours helping people organize their homes and their offices and I have good news. There are really only three decisions you can make about any piece of paper. To make it easy for you to remember, I call it the FAT system: File, Act, or Toss: (1) You can file it away in case you need it in the future. (2) You can take action on it or give it to someone else to take action. (3) You can toss or recycle it.

Frequently when people get tired of a mess and decide to clean it up, they start with the old stuff. That can mean failure since new stuff keeps coming in faster than you can get rid of the old! As a result, you get discouraged and quit without success. Instead, keep in mind that Todays mail is tomorrows pile, so to be successful in cleaning up, start with todays mail. Put it in your In Basket and dont take out a piece of paper from it until you are ready to decide: File, Act, or Toss. If youre not willing to toss or recycle it; ask yourself the question, Is this ball in my court? If the answer is Yes, put the paper in your Action Files located near your desk. If the answer is No, put the paper in your Reference Files in some less accessible space in case you or someone else needs it later.