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Subject:
From:
Patrica Young <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 1 Feb 1999 19:43:48 -0500
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A FILE IS WHERE YOU LOSE THINGS ALPHABETICALLY  :-)  Following is quoted
from the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday January 31, 1999  At the Office by
Lona O'Connor  [with my editorial comments in brackets ] :-}

If most filing is a waste of time, how are you going to organize?

While sorting through my mail, I came across this astonishing statistic:
About 85 percent of the letters and forms you file are never looked at
again.

That valuable bit of news was supplied by the Esselte Corp., maker of
Pendaflex hanging file folders.  You know instinctively that those numbers
are true. [not for me, of course]  You know that filing is largely a time
waster, whether you do it or not.  So what are we going to do about it,
troops?

Well, one solution is right there in front of us: If 85 percent of what we
file is useless, the key is to file only that 15 percent that we really
need.  [ha - and how do we figure that out?]

There's a simple enough way to  do that: Throw away 85 percent of what
lands on your desk. [gasp] Then you'll  be filing a lot less.

When it comes to filing, which one are you?  * File Everything.  Too
extreme, even if you do it.  The only people who are allowed to file
everything are people who work in government agencies or hospitals or are
lawyers or accountants. [not LCs!?]   In other words, people who are
keeping the official records for the rest of us.  Even they dump it or
convert it to microfiche - eventually.
* File Nothing.  This is also a bit too extreme for most of us, except
perhaps for those in organized [strange use of the word organized] crime
who can't afford to leave a paper trail.  Still, I'd love to  hear from
someone who files nothing and still manages to   get his or her job done.
No felons please.  * Some herky-jerky combination of the above.

Public Embarrassment.  I struggle with filing and desk organization as much
as you do, maybe more.  And once in a while I'm willing to embarrass myself
publicly by telling you my filing foibles - and sharing with you any
victories I've achieved over my own disorganization.

This year I converted to an electronic calendar and address list, which is
built into my computer.  Doing this has forced me to face some of my bad
habits.  The most valuable thing I learned is this: Much of what I've been
filing over the years - I'd say 50 per cent - is pieces of paper with
somebody's address and phone number [or e-mail!].  Another 35 percent is
stuff that I think I'll need.  When I actually read stuff before filing, I
find that I'm wrong.

That leaves only 15 percent of stuff I really need.  If you brutally
analyze what you file,  I think  you'll come to a similar realization. [who
wants to be brutal?]

I noticed this when I started the electronic address list.  As soon as I
added an organization to my list, I suddenly realized that I no longer
needed to keep the file.  Freedom!

Into the recycle bin.  Now if I ever need the information again, I can just
call and request it [or bother my friends on Lactnet].  Bam! Pounds of
unnecessary paper out of the desk and into the recycle bin.  Since my desk
has only three file drawers [good grief], I have to purge a file every
couple of months.

You may not want to use your computer to help  you file, but whatever you
do, remember to simplify.  Developing an elaborate filing system only
wastes more time and complicates your life.

Write to Lona O'Connor at The Inquirer, Box 8263, Philadelphia PA 19101.
Send e-mail to <[log in to unmask]>

I don't totally agree with Lona, but then I don't totally agree with a lot
of things the organization mavens say.  I just take what I can use and
leave the rest (basic LLL philosophy-colors all of my life :-)

Some of my better lessons learned.  Gleaned from reading about organization
and actually doing it.

Open the mail beside a trash basket and immediately dispose of junk.

Don't bother to color code the file folders.

Use HANGING files.

Use manilla files inside the hanging file to subdivide topics.

I based my BF files on LLLI Center for Breastfeeding Information file
topics and have added some as necessary.  But using the CBFI file topics is
an excellent starting place.

Have separate files for your favorite authors (Anderson, Auerbach,
Matthews, Meier, Newman, Woolridge.)

I don't mix my stitching patterns or recipes into my alphabetical  files.
They have their own drawers.

I should own stock in HON and Pendaflex!

I'd like to figure out how to scan an article into the computer and not
have to  save the hard copy.  Does anyone know if this is possible?
Sincerely, Pat in SNJ

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