Use that In-Box!

By Natalie Conrad

Remember the in-box, that old tray that was used to gather papers? Do you still have one? Who needs it, right? Everyone needs an in-box! The type of in-box you use is not important; how you use it is!

The in-box needs to be a rectangular box-like tray that holds 8 ½ x 11 papers. Everything that arrives in your office is to be placed there. Incoming mail, reports from staff, paperwork you bring in from a meeting – everything. This in-box is your collection point for your office. As things come in they are all placed here until you can review them or make a decision as to the next course of action. One advantage of having things land in the in-box first is that when something new and urgent comes up, your in-box is the first place you look for the paper. No more "I think it's here somewhere" and searching under various piles of paperwork and files. The in-box in the automatic first checkpoint if it is a new item!

Now that you have things in your in-box, what do you do next? In order to be effective, you must go through your in-box often, perhaps not as often as you check email, but at least once per day or every other day. When you are going thru your in-box, here is the key:

Make decisions - Do not put things back into the in-box!

Not making a decision about the items in the in-box causes you to have to constantly deal with urgent matters instead of the daily priorities and project deadlines. It's no wonder you always feel like you need to catch up! Here are two examples of things you might find in your in-box and how to decide the next step.

The Item:		The Next Step:
An industry newsletter		Put in a folder labeled "To Read" OR email the editor and ask that you get the electronic version instead
Work document		Determine the next action and put a reminder to do it in your computer or planner, then file the document with the related meeting items or project file

Your in-box is a tool for productivity. Be sure to get to the bottom of the in-box each week, making decisions about the next course of action. Using the office tool properly and staying on top of it, will enable you to control your work flow and the information that is coming to you daily!