To Keep Or Not To Keep? (That Is The Question!)

“Should I throw this file away or not?”

Too often, you find yourself in a dilemma. You are not sure if this thing will still become useful and handy someday.

Sometimes you decide to throw a report; then after a week, you discover that you need it. Too late! You already sent it to the paper shredder! This makes you go through a range of emotions, which include feeling sorry, guilty, and angry with yourself. On the one hand, not throwing away things you think may still be useful, crowds your space and makes you irritable.

Perhaps, it is about time to use a guide. Sort and classify papers into three labeled bins:

1st bin for papers to keep – those that you are sure you need in the future
2nd bin for papers to ditch – those that you think are junk
3rd bin for papers on hold – those that you cannot decide for the moment.

If your 3rd bin becomes overflowing, you know that this is an exercise in futility and that you have to redo the whole sorting process all together.

Generally, most items under question can be discarded, as you will find out when you actually do it. If these were really important, it would have been acted upon promptly then and have occupied an important position or spot in your list of priorities. Since it was not used for quite a while, it gets outdated, making it less worthy than it was then. You now have a better reason to discard them.

Take for example the importance of a piece of paper. Ask yourself what the paper is all about. Align its importance with your main line of interest. If it is completely out of line, get rid of it.

If you think somebody else might be interested about the contents of the said paper, promptly refer it to the concerned person. What may not be important to you might be important to others.

Outdated papers like manuals, references, newsletters, and other printed matters are definitely candidates for the 2nd bin. Whatever is gathering dust since time immemorial will remain so, without any usefulness in the days ahead. It is best to discard it.

Things or papers in the 1st bin must be sorted accordingly. Sorting may be done according to topic, project, color, etc. This keeps your files organized.

Go through the papers in the 2nd bin. See if these are not outdated confidential files and see if these can be candidates for recycling.

See if the backsides of these papers are blank. You can save money by using these as scratch papers, as inter-department memos, for draft printing, and for other less formal purposes within the company. The same thing can be done with a used file folder. Turn the inside out and you’ve got a new folder ready for the next file that needs it.

Save money and help the environment. This way, you can still help in the worldwide campaign to minimize cutting of trees by maximizing the use of available paper resources. Do your part in clearing the environment.

Become an expert filer and free yourself from the clutter of files and unused things. Now, are you still keeping that outdated file? Are you still undecided? To keep or not to keep? Get those 3 bins ready!