How To Better Handle Your Mail

Letters, magazines, bills, flyers, what to do with them all. There should be only two responses to every piece of mail or e-mail, do something with it, or toss it!

The best way, as always, to deal with it all is in an organized fashion.

One of the quickest ways to do this is to have the following folders:

A red one for things that must be dealt with immediately. This would include anything that needs an immediate response, something that has to be done today. A letter you must respond to, a meeting you have to schedule, a report you need to do, a telephone call that needs to be made. Within this folder you will need to prioritize what needs to be handled first, second, etc.

Bills that come in and need to be paid should be placed in your tickler file a couple days before their due date to account for mailing time. So as you are opening your bills that come in the mail, check the due date and place them in your tickler file. If it has to be paid upon receipt, put it in the red folder so you can deal with it immediately.

Meetings (flyers) that have to be attended are placed in a gray folder. Be sure to check the dates, highlight them. Your next step is to be sure to place them on your calendar, and then to tickle them two days before for your review or if there is anything you need to do or prepare for the meeting.

If you receive meeting highlights or minutes by mail, these can be placed in a yellow folder for your perusal at a later date. These are the types of things that can be read during lunch, or while backing up files, printing, etc.

Magazines and articles you receive can be placed in a black folder. This is your reading folder. Take it with you when you go on appointments that you know you will have some lag time. Read during lunch. Schedule time in the morning and weekends. If you make reading a part of your daily schedule, it won't pile up. And remember, once you read it, file it away, or toss it.

Every piece of paper should generate a reaction, the reaction might be to deal with it, file it, or toss it, but one of them needs to occur. If you follow this simple rule, you can keep mail and paperwork under control, and your sanity to boot.

Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2000

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it's like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

In The News:

---

How Would You Like to Capture Some Time?

Women's health issues often are focused on goals to reach:... Read More

Decrease Your Sleep, Increase Your Energy! And Have More Time In Your Day!

Many of the world's most driven and successful people sleep... Read More

Hey, Free Agent, Did You Eat Your Breakfast Today?

And when you finally sat down to eat breakfast, was... Read More

Time Management - The Ultimate Oxymoron

Get a grip. Is it possible to manage time? Can... Read More

Talkin About Chicken

Yesterday, I'd just gotten comfortable at my favorite table in... Read More

How A Simple Four-Letter List Can Make or Break Your Business

One of the biggest problems most people have when it... Read More

Get More Done at Your Office: Focus on These Eight Areas for Increased Productivity

Your productivity depends on good tools and effective environments, and... Read More

9 Proven Principles for Increasing Productivity, Profit and Peace of Mind

Do you feel guilty about all the publications you purchase... Read More

9 Business Time Management Skills You Need To Succeed

Do you have plenty to do, but don't have enough... Read More

Realistic Time Budgeting Tips

I'm sure we've all had the experience of having a... Read More

How to Find More Time in Your Day-Balancing Career and Family

Goal Planning-Achieving balance in a person's life requires assessment of... Read More

Time Management Tips for Busy Moms

If you are like most moms I know you think... Read More

7 Tips for Being Your Best Time Master

It is not enough if you are busy. The question... Read More

5 Result-Getting Time Management Tips

How often have you tried to manage your time in... Read More

Are You Watching Too Much TV?

Many folks tell me that they just don't have time... Read More

Coping with the Time Crunch

"There is never enough time, unless you're serving it." -Malcolm... Read More

Because Its Been Years Since Youve Seen a Blank Calendar

If you have ever missed an appointment, forgotten to pick... Read More

Time Management And How It Affects Your Kids

Last week I attended a presentation from Parenting Expert and... Read More

Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life

Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life... Read More

Emergency Living

There are times, when I am driving in my car... Read More

A Time-Saving Programming Tactic that Doesn?t Work

Let's say that you have a software project that's under... Read More

Time Invested Wisely = Your Dreams

This past Friday I was asked to speak with a... Read More

Keeping Time

What keeping time really means is...being on time!You know, there... Read More

Quantum-less Time and Mathemathically Deprived Theory

What would you say to me if I told you... Read More

How You Can Double, Triple, or Even Quadruple Your Reading Speed!

Are you drowning in a sea of unread papers? Do... Read More

Just Remind Yourself

This is one more article on "Organizing and Enjoying Your... Read More

Is the Goal to Reach the Goal?

In this fast and crazy world, we want to multi-task... Read More

Top 10 Ways to Manage Yourself - Time Wise

"Time management" is a myth. Time ticks by, whether you... Read More

Career Redesign Tools For Work-Life Balance

Partnering with the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the... Read More

Time Management: How to Stay Motivated and Get More Done

If you can motivate yourself at will to get any... Read More

Boost Your Productivity with 10 Minutes at the End of Your Day

Once you have completed your day you can boost your... Read More

Priorities: Dont Dry Your Dishes

Do your dishes really need to be dried, or could... Read More

Time is Money?

Not 1 in 10 people can tell you where money... Read More