The Bitch Ditch

Are your filing cabinets stuffed so full that it’s difficult to retrieve and file papers? If you’re like 80% of the people in the audiences to whom I speak, your answer is “Yes.” “Are there things in your filing cabinet you could probably throw out?” Most once again answer “Yes.” So what’s the problem?

Certainly a major stumbling block is time. Some may say cleaning out the filing cabinet won’t make you money. My response is “Really?” Research shows the average person spends 150 hours each year looking for misplaced information. What would happen to your bottom line if you added that time to getting new customers or selling new products or services to old customers?

Frequently people say to me “It never fails. Every time I throw out something, I need it the next day.” To which I reply, “Can you give me an example?” Mostly I get silence. Determine whether you want to keep each piece of paper at all by asking yourself these “Art of Wastebasketry?” questions:

1. Does this require any action on my part? Just because you receive informationeven if it’s from your bossdoesn’t mean you need to keep it! If it doesn’t require action, file it or toss it right away! If it’s just an FYI, read it and toss.

2. Does this exist elsewhere? Is it in the library? Do you know an expert on the subject who’d be certain to have more complete information if you really needed it? Is the original filed elsewhere? Is it necessary to keep a hard copy if it already exists in the computer?

3. Is this information recent enough to be useful? Today, information becomes outdated very quickly. Would you want a customer to decide whether or not to choose your services based on a three-year-old brochure? The information in a 6-month-old magazine article about computer software has undoubtedly been superseded, as has a downloaded product review from an on-line service. In many cases, it is more appropriate to keep track of the source of the information, so you can get the latest version, rather than keeping the information itself.

4. Can I identify specific circumstances when I’d use this information? Usually, “just in case” is not good enough! Files labeled “Miscellaneous” are of little value, because there’s nothing to trigger you to look there. If you can’t identify how you’d use the information - at least well enough that you can file it for future reference, it’s unlikely that you’d remember you have it, let alone be able to find it later.

5. Are there any tax or legal implications? Here’s where “just in case” works. Unfortunately, we’re frequently required to resurrect paper that we’d much rather have forgotten. Sometimes, having outdated information in your files can create unnecessary problems. A client of mine was sued. When the company’s files were subpoenaed, the prosecuting attorney found my client’s unsigned contract proposal, and used it to prove wrongful intent. My client lost the suit and had to pay $147,000. Had the files had been properly cleaned; I don’t believe that would have happened.

If you answer “No” to all the above questions, but are still not comfortable throwing something away, ask one last question: 6. What is the worst possible thing that could happen if I didn’t have this information?

If you can live with your answer, toss it - and live happily ever after. For years I have orchestrated “File Clean-Out Days” with companies. I used to live in fear that someone would come back to me afterward with a horror story of something we threw out, and they needed later. In 20 years, it’s never happened!

Recently a woman told me that one of the big frustrations in her advertising company was staff spending time looking for materials from client projects years’ prior. I suggested a plan. Why not establish a company policy that “We keep client materials for three years.” At the end of each year, you send a letter to the client saying “We have the following materials from the project we did together. Our policy is to keep client materials for three years. If we don’t hear from you in 60 days, the materials will be destroyed.” What’s the worst possible thing that could happen? Four possibilities than I can think of. (1) You won’t waste valuable time looking for something that brings back nothing to the company, (2) Your policy makes you look very professional, or (3) Your letter reminds the client of your availability, and you get a new contract! Who says using your wastebasket doesn’t make money? And (4), somebody somewhere probably has it anyway - in spite of our best efforts!

© Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com

YOU’VE BEEN DUMPED THEN WHAT?

Copyright © 2005

Every 5:00 A.M. I hear a noise of Waste management truck taking
trash. The trash is taken to the dumper. It is just trash, it
has no use any more. Not only it has no use but also it has
forgotten in our memories.

Have you ever thought what it would be like if you were treated
like trash, somebody uses you and then dumped you?

How would you feel?

Do you want to know the truth?

href="http://lonelyou.com/forgetyourex/lonelyou%20forgetyour%20ex
.html?" rel="nofollow"> Surprise…! .

There are lots of people who have been dumped like trash after
been used, every single minute?

Unlike regular trash these are humans who are not supposed to be
treated like that. Do you know how much it cost to clean up the
person who has been treated like trash?

At this point this person has to start a long journey to be
cleaned. It is a process that takes time. Most people try to
find another partner while they still stink…yes I said stink
(have not been cleaned in their mind) It usually ends up in
disappointment.

So our friend has been dumped then what?

It is a journey that has few steps.

1. Love yourself

Let say our friend who has been treated like nothing, can find
his way out. The dumper has not show love to our friend, which
make him feel less. Before he does anything he has to love
himself by concentrating on himself first. He can do this by
spending his time and energy doing things he likes, things like
talking to friends, listening music etc, those things that he
values the most. This will lead him…

2. To get connected to himself.

When people are in this situation of been dumped they usually
feel lonely. When I say lonely I mean emptiness their mind.

Most people miss understand between been alone and been lonely.
You can be alone but not lonely. There are lots of people who
are in relationships but are lonely. Our Friend who has been
dumped has lost his connection, to the true source of happiness.
He has to find himself and get connected to his source of
freedom.

3. Find the source.

The source of freedom is found in oneself, inside the mind.
This is when a lonely person can learn how mind works and how he
can use the power of the mind to change his life.

Let me explain,

Remember the time you were driving and suddenly you had to push
on the break pedal, because of D***s who didn’t know where he
was going. Did you have to think about it or just push the
pedal?

Now if that process of pushing the pedal when…. happen and
other things like the way you breath right now are controlled by
your subconscious mind which does not forget to do it’s job.
Can’t we use the same tool to href="http://lonelyou.com/forgetyourex/lonelyou%20forgetyour%20ex
.html?" rel="nofollow"> feel good about us? be happy and confident all
the time without forgetting to love us? … Yes a lot of people
forget to even love themselves.

4. href="http://lonelyou.com/forgetyourex/lonelyou%20forgetyour%20ex
.html?" rel="nofollow"> Go Out to look for another Partner

sincerely,

Timeo Busyanya,

Helping individuals, improve their self image

“ href="http://lonelyou.com/forgetyourex/lonelyou%20forgetyour%20ex
.html?" rel="nofollow">lonelyou.com“ .

“To one he gave five talents. . .to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability” (Matthew 25:15).

If we who claim to be Christian would claim the dormant power sealed within us and exercise whatever talents and gifts God has graced us with and then use them for God and others, just think of the revolution that would take place on this earth! God never intended for any of us to be unsuccessful. In fact, He called us to be bright lights and preserving salt and people who serve.

Elbert Hubbard, a very successful man, described a successful person as one who tries, not cries; who works, not dodges; who shoulders responsibilities, not evades them; who gets under the burden instead of standing off, looking on, and giving advice. Charles Kingsley said: “The men whom I have seen succeed best in life have always been cheerful and hopeful men, who went about their business with a smile on their faces, and took the changes and chances of this mortal life like men, facing rough and smooth alike as it came.”

The following is a ladder of success:

0% -I won’t;
10%-I can’t;
20%-I don’t know how;
30%-I wish I could;
40%-What is it?;
50%-I think I might;
60%-I might;
70%-I think I can;
80%-I can;
90%-I will;
100%-I did.

Someone commented that success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Together that gives us the 100% of “I did.” We moan that we have no talent and opportunities when it is perseverance and concentration we need.

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke. The birds don’t worry about which of them sings best, either; they just do what is natural for them. Instead of worrying about others’ talents, let us thank God for our own and get on with using them, for what we don’t use, we soon lose.

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it
is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” — Seneca
the Younger

This is a great quote to both contemplate and to apply to your
life.

How often do you hear people complain? Pick a topic-love,
friendship, careers, etc. The list of issues that people
complain about is endless. You and I are no different. Perhaps
we don’t complain about each of these things but more than
likely there is something that we complain about with great
regularity.

Now, sometimes complaints are simply a way to vent some
frustration at the moment but we don’t really want anything to
change in this area. However, more often than not, someone
regularly complains about one specific problem

If I had a dollar for every time I heard one friend complain
about the difficulty of finding a good man I could throw her a
huge wedding bash or perhaps simply buy her a husband in some
small third-world country. When I thought about my friend
Donna’s problem and applied Seneca’s quote to it a light bulb
suddenly appeared above my head just like in the cartoons!

It was true! Donna is having difficulty finding a good man
simply because she isn’t daring enough. Sure she goes out on
dates and tries to maintain an active social life, however she
holds herself aloof emotionally. She isn’t willing to dare much
at all when it comes to her heart-so how can she hope that
someone else will do so for her? Sure, there might be someone,
somewhere, but she is also missing out on relationships, at
least friendships, with some really great guys simply because
she is too afraid to dare to care.

That is sad. We all know that love is marvelous but it is also
frightening, however we have to take risks in order to
experience it fully. Sometimes we might get hurt however more
often than not we will find the rewards outweigh the risks.
There is no guarantee that is Donna opens herself up and dares
to love that she will find the love of her life-however there is
certainly a guarantee that a life filled with love is more
rewarding than one that is not.

I have another friend who is also afraid to dare. Jeff hates his
job. No, that’s not exactly right. He loves the work itself but
he really hates the company that he works for. He finds the
management very difficult to work for (and if even a small
percentage of the stories he tells are true then he’s right, it
is a horrible place to work).

However, every time I suggest he look for a job somewhere else
he comes up with some excuse about how difficult it would be.
True the job market isn’t great, but he’s a skilled worker in a
high-demand field so I’m sure he could find something. He’s
doomed his job search before he even started it because he’s not
daring enough.

It wouldn’t be fair to share my friends’ examples without
pointing to my own shortcomings. Probably the greatest
difficulty in my own life is within my marriage and that is
simply because I don’t dare enough emotionally there. I have
become too complaisant and take my husband and marriage for
granted. I need to dare more emotionally.

So think about the difficulties in your own life and apply
Seneca’s rule then decide if you can be more daring! All the
best!

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

Synergy of Craft and Art

The synergy of craft and art combine to produce quality creativity. The exact definition of art depends on the precise endeavour, but craft can be more universally articulated and includes:

a) Structure. Ideas are much easier to develop when they are situated within a framework.

b) Process. A coherent work process increases output and a consistently refined process consistently refines and improves the quality of output. Improves methodology, knowledge and procedure to eventually maximise performance.

c) Incremental productivity. Breaks up a larger whole into smaller, more manageable pieces. Produces more output than a “do your best” approach.

d) Prolific production. Increases the probability of quality occurring. The most valuable creations tend to be produced when the creator is being most prolific.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com/

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Kal Bishop, MBA

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Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com/