Time Management In An Instant

51Process Your Desktop In-Box

Long, long ago, at the start of the personal computer age, media pundits and high-tech hipsters proffered that technology would pretty much eliminate paperwork. Ha! One glance around the average corporate cubicle or home office reveals towering piles of paper stuffed in overflowing in-boxes.

To tame the paper tiger, go through your in-box one piece of paper at a time. Start from the top of the pile, and make a decision about what your next action is going to be for each item. How do you want to handle each item, according to the following categories?

Now Paperwork

This is anything that requires your immediate attention (for example, items for signature, urgent memos, time-limited to-do’s, and so forth). If you can ...