Best Results Organizing

Last week, we talked about the pile-up of magazine renewal cards. I promised I wouldn’t clutter up that talk with discussion of another kind of pileup – the piles of magazines and the even messier piles of things we’ve clipped from those magazines. But this is a new week, and there’s no special renewal offer on that promise.

So what’s our deal with magazines and clippings?

It’s a universal truth that knowledge is power, which might explain why so many of us feel such anguish about letting go of magazines, newspapers and the clippings taken from them. Subconsciously, we feel like if we hold onto the material, we’ll automatically possess the knowledge inside of them.

Unfortunately, our logic is flawed. Buying and storing piles of exercise videos (that we never look at, let alone actually use) will not give us six-pack abs. Our refrigerators may be filled with nutritious food, but if we only snack on drive-through fare and Reese’s Peanut Butter Easter Eggs, the perishable food will grow stale and moldy, and our hearts and waistlines will show no improvement.

If your office, kitchen, desk, or car is littered with clipped articles and scraps torn from the newspaper, you are clutter-rich but information-poor. After all, what does it benefit us to possess useful information–or for that matter, useful gadgets, supplies…or anything, really– if we can’t find it when we need it or put it to use on our own timetable, rather than when it happens to flutter to the floor or cause us to trip over it? A newspaper blurb about how to get rid of aphids or glossy article about how to avoid identity theft is merely clutter unless it is immediately retrievable when we want it.

Concentrate on these keys to gaining power from bound and clipped information:

1) Know what to keep (vs. what to toss out); and
2) Know where to keep it.

The approach is similar whether you are dealing with individual bits of information or entire issues of newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. Today, we’ll talk about what to keep (and toss) from your piles of information; next week, we’ll tackle WHERE we should corral the info-goodies we deem worthy of keeping.

LOOSE SCRAPS

To decide what to keep, in terms of loose scraps of information, ask yourself the magic questions:

• In what circumstances (when, where, why, and how) would I use this?

• If your need is not immediate, are you likely to need or want this information in the next 6-12 months?

If the likely need won’t arise for over a year (such as wedding planning articles when your eldest child is barely in junior high), wait until the need exists and then get more appropriate and up-to-date information. Investment and travel information, in particular, is incredibly perishable.

If you will not be in the market for a new car, camera or computer in the next few years, holding onto unread articles about today’s models is a waste of space and effort. By the time you’re ready to shop, there will be up-to-date articles with information about the pricing and features you really need.

• Can this information be retrieved in other ways?

• Could you access this same information via the telephone book, the Internet or by calling an expert?

If so, using the prime real estate of your desk, kitchen counter or bedside table to maintain piles of fluttery magazine clippings is counterproductive.

• Do I already possess similar or better information on this subject?

If you subscribe to a specialty magazine on A.D.D., finances or travel, chances are good that a very general article from the newspaper won’t yield superior information. Not all information is equally valid, equally valuable or equally well-presented. Save the best and discard the rest.

• For whom am I saving this?

So often, we clip articles for friends or family members but forget to pass them along. If you must share the informaton, call your friends and read the blurbs aloud to them (or their answering machines) and be done with it!

We often take undue responsibility for making sure others in our lives stay informed on topics ostensibly of interest to them. It’s fine to occasionally clip an article if you have access to a resource your friend does not, but the codependency clutter you’ve amassed on someone else’s behalf isn’t good for anyone. Stop being the curator of museum of your friends’ minds!

BOUND READING MATERIAL

If you have piles of magazines, newspapers, or professional journals, ask:

Have I read this cover-to-cover at least three times out of the past five issues?

If the answer is no, you probably lack either the sustaining interest or the time to devote to the material. After all, a 6-week-old newspaper or last month’s Newsweek no longer reflects current events, but history. The summer gardening tips in last Spring’s Southern Living issues might very well be interesting, but if you haven’t gotten around to reading them by the following winter, it’s time to let them go.

The great thing about the American magazine industry is that topics are cyclical–there will be another article on the same topic, whether it’s “10 Marketing Tips For Your Small Business” or “Best Exercises For A Flatter Tummy” or “How To Organize For Tax Season”, coming up in just a few issues, so you need not fear ridding yourself of a gem amid the clutter. What goes around…comes back around!

A few tips for dealing with the magazine/newspaper backlog:

Throw it all out and start with a clean slate. Starting fresh is liberating, and it makes you less likely to backslide. Donate the magazines to your library’s book sale or local medical clinic (but be sure to remove your address label).

Set a deadline…so that any unread monthly magazine more than two months old gets tossed. Say goodbye to unread weeklies after two weeks, or newspapers from the past week by Sunday night…and consider canceling your subscription. You can always read back issues at the library when you have more time.

Block time to catch up on your reading. Find the best chance for “quiet time” in your schedule. Locate the magazines you want to read in a To Read pile or basket near where it’s convenient for you to read, and actually schedule time, whether for 15 minutes or an hour, into your day or week. Professionals can take advantage of canceled appointments to catch up on reading professional journals. Busy parents can carry a tote bag to read in the car-pool line.

Pan for gold. Instead of reading magazines cover-to-cover, scan the table of contents and go directly to the articles that interest you, bypassing the glossy ads. Tear articles of interest out of 3 to 5 magazines or journals at one sitting and put them all in a manila folder you can carry in your tote or briefcase to read when you are stuck in a ridiculously long line at the Post Office or waiting to see the dentist. Toss finished articles in the trash wherever you are, and feel confident that your brain is certainly a more secure place to store information than the floorboard of your car.

Do team reading. Don’t feel you have to read everything that’s published on a particular subject–share the load. Band together with colleagues with a plan that each of you will cover one major trade journal; meet for lunch or coffee on a weekly or monthly basis to discuss the articles each of you reviewed. You’ll be well versed in your topic of choice and you’ll pay more attention knowing you’ll be accountable for sharing the knowledge with someone else.

Remember, information equals potential knowledge, and therefore potential power. Achieve your potential…attain your power…but get rid of the scraps.

Next week: how to store the magazines and information that’s left over after following the advice in today’s post. (And, of course, if anyone has any ideas how to live a healthy and nutritiously balanced life on a diet subsisting of the aforementioned Reese’s Peanut Butter Easter Eggs, be sure to let Paper Doll know. That’s information worth keeping!)