Raise your hand if “Paper Clutter” is the number one organization problem in your office. Did you feel that breeze made from thousands of people raising their hands? We are smart business owners who can wear multiple hats and manage complex projects. Why is it that something so innocent can create so much havoc in our lives?
Well for one thing, we deal with a lot of paper. To really attack this issue, we need to look at the flow of paper in and out of our offices. Right now, the inflow is greater and faster than the outflow.
Paper Clutter Contributors
- Mail: In 1940, the US Postal Service handled only 27 billion pieces of mail. By 2000, that number had increased to 207 billion. Do the math and you’ll see that you get 7 times more mail coming into your office than your predecessors!
- Easy to print: We thought the computer would lead to the paperless office. What we didn’t take into account was that we would print out our emails, articles, and notes because we couldn’t always be in front of our computer screens (let alone trust our hard drives to preserve our most important files). -
- Easy to duplicate: We have 24-hour copy centers nearby with black and white copies costing 5 cents per copy. Enough said.
- No time/low priority: Processing our paperwork falls low on our priority list as we try to cram multiple obligations into our schedules.
- Fear of litigation: We are afraid to throw anything away due to the rise in litigation. We keep everything to be on the safe side.
Now that we know how the paper clutter grows in our office, let’s figure out what to do about it. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be showing you how to slowly integrate changes into your office system so that you can reduce your paper clutter.
Step 1: Limit the junk mail coming in.
Take advantage of the different programs out there that help limit the amount of junk mail coming into your office. Some of the resources I have below are national lists that directly help limit junk mail. The other resources are articles that give more ideas for limiting the junkmail.
- The DirectMail.com National Do Not Mail List
- Catalog Choice
- Remove Yourself from Junk Mail Lists by Deborah Mitchell, Senior Editor of Environmental Protection
- Junk Mail: How Did They All Get My Address? by Privacy Rights Clearing House
- Stop the Junk Monster by Ecocycle
So over the next week, try to sign up for at least one of these programs and begin to see a decrease in the amount of mail arriving in your office. Not only will you decrease the paper clutter in your office, you will also help save the environment and decrease time wasted processing junkmail. Stay tuned for next time when I’ll cover processing the incoming paper.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ae964847-55bb-4660-8ad7-c510019f872d)
{ 4 comments }
Hi Gabby, thanks for listing those resources. A few years ago I sat down and called all my (zillion) catalog and magazine publishers and asked to be taken off their lists. It made SUCH a difference not to have a ginormous stack of junk coming in the mail each day that I was tempted to look at and therefore could not throw out. Now, it’s getting to be time to do that again … somehow, they found me
I love this blog and look forward to more help from you!
I’m glad you are enjoying the blog! Hopefully these resources will help you cut back on the junk mail again. There are some catalogs that I’ve tried to have canceled and they tell me they can’t take me off the list because they buy the mailing list from someone else. So I find that having a recycling bin right next to where I look at my mail really handy. I never let it in my office unless I’m going to act on it right away.
Great blog post Gabby, the links to how to get rid of junk mail are terrific. Thank you.
You’re welcome Stephen! Keep coming back because I will have more good links to share that I’ve collected along the way.