The Three Boxes

About once every 18 months or so, I would have to ask my assistant to come in on a Saturday with me and help me clean out my office. I was a pack rat. I just felt like I needed to hang on to “stuff”, just in case I needed it for the future. Most of it, I never needed ever again.

When Sarbanes-Oxley came along and record retention went from ensuring that the right records were retained, to making sure everything was gone that wasn’t absolutely necessary, I had to get even more aggressive about keeping my files clean. I took a course on how to best clean out your office. You start with three labeled boxes in the middle of your floor. The first one is labeled; "trash/shred". The second one is labeled; "file somewhere else other than in my office". The third one is labeled; "refile in my office". Every file and drawer in the office is emptied and is to be put in one of the three boxes (or piles) before anything goes back in a drawer or a file. If you are disciplined, what happens is that only the essential stays and all the rest gets trashed or moved out to be determined over time if it is needed (like clothes in our closets, if we haven’t worn them in a year…they can go) or not.

With the three boxes, a feeling of fresh and new can come into your office.

What better way to mark the middle of the year?

(For a further faith-based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/2013/07/day-1187-three-boxes.html)