Are you aware that at the end of the year, your paper, e-mail and computer files desperately need to go on a diet? Over the course of the year, they have accumulated quite a few unnecessary pounds.
The goal is to make a decision on whether to: give the file to someone, take action on it, trash it or keep it. (Outbox, Action, Trash, Save or Support.) The worst thing you can do is ignore it and let it sit there and get bigger and bigger each year. Kind of like you did last year with it.
Questions to ask while you are enjoying this most entertaining of all possible activities:
- Is the information on my computer? (Why have a paper duplicate?)
- Have I looked at it this year? (Is the paper starting to parch?)
- Will or can someone keep this for me? (Information flows downward-sorry!)
- Can I store this in the central file or shared drive? (Let the lawyers/CPAs worry about it.)
- Does my Retention schedule require that it be saved? (Off it goes!)
Information is doubling and so probably is the size of your files while you are reading this. I know—what a great way to spend your Christmas vacation but it’ll be well worth it when you walk into your clean and organized office next year.
Sometimes Slim should be something other than a cowboy’s name.
© Greg Vetter 2017. All rights reserved.
#retention, trash
