The Importance of Organizing Your Office: Taming the Paper Tiger

In today’s fast-paced world, it is essential to stay organized in both our personal and professional lives. One of the key areas where organization is paramount is our office or workspace. A cluttered and disorganized office can disrupt productivity, hinder creativity, and negatively impact our work output. It is, therefore, crucial to develop a system for organizing our office documents and eliminating any unnecessary clutter.

Barbara Hemphill, author of Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home, is a renowned expert in organizing offices and promoting productivity. Hemphill has developed a methodology that she refers to as the “Taming Paper Tiger” approach. This approach involves adopting a structured system for organizing office documents and eliminating any clutter.

One of the reasons why our offices become messy and disorganized is that we often lack knowledge on how to clean them up. Additionally, we may not have the time to devote to tackling the issue, or we may not feel motivated to engage with the task at all. However, as Hemphill says, “Your ability to accomplish any task or goal is directly related to your ability to find the right information at the right time” (as quoted in the article by Curtis Sittenfeld, “She’s a Paper Tiger”).

The first step in implementing the Taming the Paper Tiger approach is to develop a filing system. This system should include organizing documents into easily identifiable categories such as “urgent,” “pending,” “recently completed,” and “miscellaneous.” It is also essential to file documents based on their level of importance, with the most critical documents at the top of the pile.

Another approach to Taming the Paper Tiger is the “acting” method. This method involves immediately taking action on any new document that comes in, whether it is filing, responding to it, or delegating it to another colleague. Acting on new documents immediately ensures that they don’t pile up and create clutter over time.

Finally, the “toss it” method involves eliminating any unnecessary documents. This method requires that we review our documents and determine which ones are no longer relevant, what documents to keep, and which to dispose of. It may be challenging to determine which documents to throw away, but it is necessary to ensure that our workspace is free of any unnecessary clutter.

It is crucial to note that organizing our workspace is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process that requires commitment and discipline. We must make it a habit to file, act, and toss documents regularly. Additionally, we need to resist the temptation to adopt an “out of sight, out of mind” approach by stashing our documents away in drawers or on shelves. This approach only contributes to clutter and disorganization over time.

In conclusion, organizing our office is critical to our overall productivity and success. It helps us find documents and information quickly, promotes creativity, and fosters a clutter-free work environment. By adopting the Taming the Paper Tiger approach, we can effectively manage our documents and maintain an organized workspace. So, let’s get started today by filing, acting, and tossing the Paper Tiger in our office!