My Organized Biz

Do you use a system with an “in” box and “out” box?  Do the papers accumulate there until the inbox, especially is overflowing?

One of My Organized Biz readers commented:

If you can keep track of the papers and not let them get buried or lost, then I think that’s great. Putting them in your inbox is a good way to keep them from getting lost. What do you do with them afterwards? I’m curious as to how you process them when you go through your inbox.

 That can be a problem…letting the papers, notes, letters accumulate in the inbox until it’s overflowing or the papers have passed deadline or are out of date.

Five tips how to deal with them:

1. Try to deal with the papers before putting them into the inbox, much as you do with incoming mail.
2. Go through the inbox at the end of the day and toss out any you no longer have to deal with, file those that must be file, leaving fewer to answer or deal with the next day.
3. If you don’t go through the box daily, set up a weekly time to make sure everything has been handled.  Simply mark this on your schedule.
4. Allocate the inbox to someone else, who can handle it objectively and thus will do it much more quickly than you.
5. Be ruthless with your inbox.

 What suggestions do you have for dealing with an inbox?  How do you handle yours efficiently?

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