Have you considered the amount of time wasted in your office coping with paperwork and clutter?

Statistics show the average worker spends 150 hours a year looking for misplaced information. If that worker earns $20 an hour, that’s $3,000 a year wasted in unproductive activity. In addition to paper, there is the seemingly endless stream of e-mail and electronic files. If you can take control of this area of your business, it will greatly reduce your costs — and frustration level.

According to Aileen Cooke, president of Toronto-based Simply Put Organizing, getting organized is a learned skill for most people — even those with the best intentions. Cooke visits homes and offices to help individuals organize their lives and their businesses. She works side by side with clients until their space is organized and clutter-free. Simplicity is key; she strives to remove excess files and information, leaving clients with lighter loads to manage.

To get a better handle on organization in your office and personal life, Cooke recommends The Paper Tiger software. The revolutionary new way of filing and retrieving information harnesses the power of your own computer to help you get and stay organized; it can be applied to paper, collections of audiotapes, CDs, photographs, maps, training materials, memorabilia — anything you need to keep on file. The Paper Tiger promises to find anything in five seconds or less, and it delivers.

This software was developed by Barbara Hemphill, a U.S. pioneer in the field of organization and the author of Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Home, Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Simplify Your Work Day, all published by Reader’s Digest.

Hemphill was approached by a software maker to turn the methodology she espoused in the books into software. The first version came out in 1996, and version 3.11 is now available. This latest version of The Paper Tiger interfaces with Google Desktop, a Google application that searches your computer, allowing you to find your electronic files easily. The new Google tool works in the background, silently indexing e-mails, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, pdf files — just about any file you have on your hard drive. Using the Paper Tiger interface, you’ll be able to find not only your paper files but also your electronic files.

Cooke is one of only two Canadians who have been trained by Hemphill, and she is an “authorized” consultant for the software.
The Paper Tiger software is extremely user-friendly. You’ll find it will reduce the stress level in your office because your team members will all be using the same filing system. And because everyone in the office speaks the same filing language, you’ll be reminded in advance of what needs to be done to which file and when it is due. There will be fewer missed deadlines and less money spent on express and overnight mail.

Because confidentiality is important for financial advisors, information should always be filed rather than left in full view on a desk. The Paper Tiger makes filing so easy that paper will be more likely to be put away. You’ll be able to meet regulatory requirements by retrieving appropriate documents when they are needed — in five seconds or less. When staff turns over, new employees will easily learn the system.
Office files will become instantly retrievable, eliminating duplication of information — because everyone in the office will know where to find that one copy. IE