Managing Snail Mail
In the U.S., over $56 billion is spent on the production and distribution of more than 41.5 billion pieces of mail advertisements, according to the Worldwatch Institute. It’s not dubbed “snail mail” just because it takes longer to reach us, but because it can slow us down – if we let it. You can control some of it through the information of stop the junk mail’s website: http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm. But you don’t always have control over what comes to you. Here’s what you can do in sorting it through:
Use the “20-10-70 rule” to help you discern media’s relevance and what to keep or toss:
-20% is: a. applicable to you right now or will be within the next three months. b. information you can’t get again. requires specific action you will take within the next three months.
-10% is: a. informative for learning and development. b. Limit your reading to the a/b/c rules above. c. beware of too many magazines, newspapers or books that pile up and cause undue stress and forced reading, distracting you from your primary reading.
-70% is where most paperwork and info needs to end up rather than take up precious space on your office desk or bedroom night stand, – the trash can.
Information can be liberating, but it can also be a ball and chain if you don’t manage it well.
What are some methods you’ve found helpful in managing snail mail?
Tags: information management, junk mail management, Time Management
