Paper Piles & Time Management

Have you ever stared at a pile of paper on your desk with utter awe and wonder of what you were going to do with it?

Have you ever dealt with a pile of paper, only  to discover it has been replaced by another the following week?

Paper piles are stealing your time.

Paper can be a difficult thing to conquer, and sometimes it can be magnified by small things.  Have you ever thought that your piles of paper are stealing precious time away from you?  In her widely successful book, Time Management From The Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern says that paper clutter is a sign that time management needs improvement.  Can you relate?

A few years ago, I remember looking around my apartment at piles of paper.  I was so frustrated by it all, and wondered why I was unable to get control of the darned stuff!  I also remember feeling very out of control.  I was consistently late to work, social functions and commitments.  Paper accumulating on every vertical surface of my home symbolized a sort of chaos that was swirling around inside my head.   I didn’t take time to deal with it, and so the piles grew.

It might be time for a time management tune-up.

Paper piles can indeed indicate a need for time management improvement – that was certainly the case with me, and for clients I have worked with.  A pile of paper  takes time to deal with.  Not making decisions in the beginning leads to putting it off for “another day”.  This procrastination can make you crazy, until you deal with it.

Make time to deal with the paper, and don’t just toss it in a pile.  Make a decision about the mail, the homework, the artwork, holiday cards and letters.  The time you waste feeling guilty or doing a “crash and burn” session to deal with the paper could be much better spent somewhere else… like spending time with someone you love.

Ready to deal with your paper?  Check out my paper management crash course series over on Wendy’s blog starting HERE.