TCFBO #020: 31 Days & 12 Months

Read Time: 2.5 minutes

Here’s a simple system you can implement today that will ensure you have the right information at the right time and can forget about it until it’s the right time to focus on it.

We’re not sure where the sytem originated from but we were shown it a long time ago by a smart guy we know who had run multiple businesses and had to deal with an overwhelming amount of paperwork – contracts, correspondence, invoices etc.

And although it was originally set up to deal with paper-based information, once you understand the concept you can just as easily set it up for digital information and in a way that suits you.

Here’s how we set up the paper-based system.

Then we printed out 31 sheets of paper labelled “1st” to “31st”.

Next, we printed out 12 sheets of paper, each one labelled with a month of the year.

Then we put one sheet of paper in each of the plastic punch wallets starting with “1st” all the way to “31st” and then “January” through to “December”.

Here’s how we use it.

Let’s say it’s the 2nd of October and we receive an invoice that needs paying on the 16th of October.

As it’s due in the current month we’ll stick the invoice in the wallet labelled “16th".

If the invoice needed paying in November and the current month was October, we’d put the invoice in the “November” wallet.

Or let’s say we were out shopping in October, and while we were out we found and bought the perfect birthday card for a friend who’s birthday is in March.

When we got home, we’d stick the card in the “March” wallet.

Or maybe a draft legal contract arrives that we’ve got to read through and check.

There’s no specific date we have to read it by, but we’d like to get it done within the next week.

We’d take a look at our diary, figure out which day we’ll have time to go through it and then put the contract in the wallet for the day of the current month we intend to deal with it.

We’re sure you get the gist.

Now, you could always use a drawer instead of a lever arch file and suspension files instead plastic punch wallets.

It doesn’t matter.

Just set it up however works best for you.

We find the lever arch file works well for us because we can have the folder sitting on a shelf right next to the desk in the office which makes it easy to grab.

Plus we don’t have that much paperwork so a lever arch file is sufficient.

OK. So all the paper is happily filed away and you can forget about it.

There are only two things you now must remember to do.

1) Open the folder every day and look at what’s in today’s wallet.

2) At the start of a new month, take everything out of that month’s wallet and put the items in the appropriate daily wallets.

A quick word of warning though if you’re implementing this for the first time.

If you don’t have a lot of paperwork to deal with, there’s a risk your mind will say:

“Hey, there’s no need to check that folder today. There’s nothing in it.”

We’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt and missed something important that we’d forgotten was in the folder.

And that’s the point.

You’re supposed to forget about what’s in the folder…

…until the day you need to deal with it!

It’s a great little system but it only works if you use it! 😉 

Let us know how you get on and we’ll see you next week.

Paul & Philly

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