HOUSTON BUSINESS REVIEW

Organizing Reading Material
By Holly Uverity

Holly Uverity began Office Organizers in 1993. Ms. Uverity is a very active member of the National Association of Professional Prganizers, (NAPO) and was the founding president of NAPO's Houston chapter. She is currently NAPO's National Membership Chair and has previously served on several other national committees. She is the recipient of NAPO's prestigious President's Award in 1999 and was a nominee for NAPO's Founders' Award in 2001.

Ms. Uverity has also served in leadership positions with the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce and the Houston chapter of NAWBO (the National Association of Women Business Owners). She is currently enrolled in the 2005-2006 class of Leadership North Houston.

One of the biggest challenges professionals face is what to do with all the reading material that comes into their offices. Reading falls into both the ‘need to do’ category as well as the ‘want to do’ category and there never is enough time to get it done.

Following are some strategies to help you plow through your stacks.

1. Recognize that you cannot read everything. Understand that not everything is deserving of your time and attention. This is often the hardest step to take because it requires a shift in your thought processes. As in any organizing project, it requires that you break an old, unproductive habit and create a new, productive one.

2. Remove your name from both internal and external distribution lists. Cancel the subscriptions to magazines and catalogs that you are not reading. To remove your name from junk mail lists, go to www.dmaconsumers.org.

3. Skim with a marker. Within 48 hours of receiving a catalog or magazine, skim the table of contents and make decisions about whether that particular issue has material that is worth your time. Look at headings, bold faced type, charts, and first and last paragraphs in order to make those decisions. Mark those articles that are of interest to you.

4. Create the time to read. Many professionals believe that if they are reading, they are not working or worse, they are ‘wasting time’. If you truly believe you are wasting time with your reading material, assess what’s coming in. If it doesn’t add value to your personal or work life, eliminate it; if it does, schedule time each week to read it.

5. Carry it with you. Always carry some reading material with you when you leave your office. While waiting at an airport, in a coffee shop or in someone else’s office, you can catch up

6. One In/One Out. Use the One In/One Out method when filing magazines and newsletters. Determine at what point your reading material no longer has value and create a retention schedule. If you decide to keep a magazine for six months, when the seventh one comes in, pull and toss the first one. You will always only have six months worth of magazines.

Founded in 1993, Office Organizers is a full service productivity consulting and training firm and works with business people to create solutions to their organizational challenges. Contact them at 281.655.5022 or www.OfficeOrganizers.com.