“If we are going to learn how to tame the paper tiger, do we get paper whips and chairs?” This was Gayle’s question before we attended a seminar yesterday on getting organized. The seminar was titled “Taming the Paper Tiger in the Digital Age”. The speaker was Barbara Hemphill with The Paper Tiger Institute. We received some good information, some things were not new but it is helpful to get a refresher from time to time. Her basic message was that organization is a very personal thing. Everyone has to find what works for them and turn it in to a habit. The system you use should “Save You Space Time Energy and Money”. She did not advocate, like so many reality shows these days that you should throw away everything and completely purge your files, closets, computers, etc. Keep anything you want as long as you are aware of the trade off in space, time, energy and money. If that trade off is worth it to you, keep your things. They should be stored in an organized fashion, but you don’t need a dumpster to be organized. “Clutter is only postponed decisions” Everything that is lying around the house, office, car, etc is just awaiting a decision. Should it be filed, tossed, or have some immediate action taken for it…..once those decisions are made, the clutter is gone. Those decisions can be hard to make and for many people are put off and put off until the piles are seemingly everywhere. For some people, the inability to throw things out is an indicator that they have suffered a big loss somewhere in their past. The things take the place of whatever was lost and it is almost impossible to let go of those poor substitutes. For me personally, the information given was a great motivator to get things organized. Having a small business means things need to be organized so nothing falls through the cracks. Business can be lost easily without a system for keeping up with it. What are some organizational things that work for you? Share your tips; they might help someone else tame their paper tiger. Jenn