Saturday, August 4, 2012

Mail: Touch It Once Rule

In keeping with this week's general theme of organizing mail and bills.  I have decided to adopt the rule of Touch It Once.  I don't recall where I first read or heard about this rule, but it definitely makes perfect sense.

This afternoon, we had eight pieces of mail.  As soon as Frank brought it inside, I opened and dealt with each piece.  It took me four minutes to open all of the mail and distribute it to the appropriate holding area and file.  In fact, in that four minutes I even clipped the Kroger coupons that came in the mail and filed them!

Obviously it is not always appropriate to immediately open and file the mail when it comes in.  But dealing with it in a timely manner surely seems like it would help my system be more efficient.  It forces you to make decisions on your papers, thereby eliminating the need to handle papers multiple times.  I once read that most clutter is decisions that are waiting to be made. 

I hope that this attempt at starting a new habit is one that helps me simplify things around here!

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