My desk was a mess, my office also. Who knows how much time I wasted looking for something. It was in one of my piles, but which one? I had a large box of things to file. When I had time, I would file them, but I was quite adept at procrastination.

I am animated (A-3 for those of you who have had people styles). I am not known for being organized.

Please note the first paragraph is written in the past tense. My desk is no longer a mess. I no longer waste time looking for things. The piles have disappeared. I always file things. Let me tell you how this has this happened? The Three-Box Method. This is the only method, although simple, that eliminates clutter entirely. The method is based on the following premise, handle it once.

Handle It Once ~ How it Works

• Clean off your desk. Empty all of your files onto a table. Your desk should be totally empty now.
• Pick up all the piles off the floor and place on the table. (At this time, you may want to take a dust rag or some cleanser to your desk and the drawers. It would also be a good time to clean the floor.)
• Get a large trash container and place it next to the table. Make sure that while standing you can easily toss into it papers, lists, articles, etc.
• While standing, go through every piece of paper on the table. File, if and only if, you feel you will need it again.

Placement

In Box
Your incoming mail is placed in your In Box.

Action Box
Place into the Action Box anything that requires you to do something. If the action is to read an article or rep