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Use The D System To Get Organized And Reduce Clutter!
By Gordon Bellows
There is a simple system, known as the D system, which can help
you to be better organized and may also help to reduce clutter. This
system can be used at home or at the office with regular mail, email,
and inboxes. It can also be used with voice mail messages.
This effective system uses 6 D's: Do - Delegate - Decide -
Delete - Dump - Document files
The goal with this system is to use one of the 6 D's with every
letter, memo, report, email, newspaper, and magazine that enters your
home or office. Select the D that is most applicable for each item
before moving to the next item.
Do: If something only takes a
few minutes to do, do it now. If you need to review and sign a memo,
do it and return the item to the originator or send it to the next
person on the routing list. If you need to reply to a voice mail
message or an email, do it now. By doing it while it's fresh on your
mind, it'll be taken care of, plus you'll save time by not having to
shuffle papers or listen to the voice mail message again.
Delegate: If an item requires
action, decide if it is best for you to take the action or if the task
can be delegated. Entrust
the task to the person most suitable for the responsibility. Make a
call, use an interoffice routing envelope, send an email, or whatever
method is appropriate to inform the person to whom the task has been
delegated.
Decide: If you are not able to
read it or complete the task right away, decide which action file that
item belongs in. Suggested files/bins include, "to be read," "to be
copied," "to be faxed," and so forth. It is essential to do whatever
needs to be done with these items within a few days.
Magazines and newspapers should be read and then recycled before
accumulating too many issues of the same publication. If there are
articles or recipes you want to save, save only that part and not the
entire publication. Create files to keep your clippings organized.
Also, review clippings once or twice each year to dump any that you no
longer want.
Delete: If you keep getting
items you don't really want, do something to keep them from coming to
you again. Don't renew magazines you don't read, opt-out of ezines or
newsletters that you're not interested in, and remove yourself from
the routing list for things that don't apply to you. If you get items
you know you don't want and you're not able to remove yourself from
the mailing list or subscriber list, then just toss it out as soon as
you know what it is. Recycle as much as possible.
Dump: Throw it out; there is no
need to save everything! We often put papers and memos aside and then
forget about them. We might occasionally look through the stack and we
usually end up putting the stack off to the side again. We still have
the stack of papers and we just waste time each time we reshuffle the
stack.
If one of the other D's doesn't apply to an item, dump it!
Please recycle all paper, cardboard, and whatever else can be recycled
instead of just dumping it. Some items may need to be shredded for
personal or security reasons. Shredded papers make great garden mulch,
but don't remove any paper, shredded or not, from company premises
without permission.
Document file: If there is no
further action to be taken and the item can't be thrown out, then the
item should be placed in a document file. Documents that need to be
kept include, but are not limited to; proof of ownership, signed
contracts/agreements, financial and tax records, employee files, legal
documents, and insurance policies. Some documents may be thrown out
after five or seven years, while others may need to be kept
indefinitely. It is best to get the specific time requirements from a
qualified attorney or tax advisor. Documents to be saved can be placed
in a "to be filed" file or basket, which is emptied once per week when
each document is filed in its proper location.
A startling statistic is that 80 percent of the papers we file are
never referenced again!
So, once you pick up an item, you should select the best D and take
the necessary action before you pick up another item
Barkha Jain
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