By Andrew Wills

There are several factors that impact how effective you are with managing your time. One factor is organization. Having unorganized paperwork not only causes clutter in your work space, but consumes your time when you are not able to readily retrieve your documents. Creating a file or document management system that allows you to easily reference and retrieve your documents not only controls the paper clutter, but makes you a more efficient worker.

There are different methods that can be utilized to overcome these issues with organization. The two most commonly utilized methods for document management are the reminder system and the record keeping system.

Using a reminder system helps to let you know when an item needs action before it becomes over due. There are a few different types of reminder systems that can be utilized. Some examples of common reminder systems are the logbook system, tickler file and calendar.

You daily planner is used with the calendar system. This is because you refer to your planner on a daily basis. Writing your reminders, deadlines or activities in your planner helps to centralize all your activities and organize them by your work day.

A logbook also helps to consolidate your action items by allowing you to record them into one log. As long as you keep your logbook so that you can access at any time, you will not have a need for adding reminders in your daily planner. When you have a new task, you can immediately write it down in your log book. It is also great when you need to refer back to previously closed tasks for notes. For this reason, it is a good idea to record the date the task was entered and closed.

Another great reminder system that will keep your documents organized is the tickler file. You file the paperwork or documents by particular dates and then retrieve them on the required day. This method can also be used with the calendar system such that when you file documents in the tickler file, add a reminder on your calendar to block off time to address the documents. A tickler file not only keeps your paperwork organized and easier to retrieve but makes you a more productive worker.

The second most common used document management system is the record keeping system. When you have paperwork or documents that eventually become permanent records, you need to maintain those records in a orderly fashion so that they are easy to find for quick reference. You might create a file system by using a file cabinet to store the records in. Categorize your files either by subject in alphabetical or numerical order, or by assigning reference numbers to your records. It is more advantageous to put the paperwork in date order as well, putting the most recent data in front of each file. In addition, a planner can be used to record information that you need to keep records of, such as telephone calls, appointments or projects.

When you use structure in your office area and work documents, it eliminates most of the paperwork clutter. In addition, you can access your information easier and efficiently manage your time. This in turn, makes you a more efficient and productive employee.

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