Your Inbox: A Temporary Resting Place

Whether your inbox is a typical stacking tray sold by office supply retailers or a large cardboard box, you need to designate a place to put all "incoming" papers. This includes items that need action from your daily mail (as discussed last week), genealogical documents brought home from libraries or archives, and any other paperwork that has not yet been assigned a home. However, the inbox should only be used as a temporary resting place, not the "I'll get to it later" collection point.

How do you use your inbox as a temporary stop on your paper's journey to its final home? Designate multiple containers for papers with specific purposes. For instance, your inbox can be accompanied by a "To Spouse" box, a "Data Input" box, a "To File" box, an "Action" box, and a "Pursue" box.

The "To Spouse" box is the place to put items that are meant for your significant other, but could also be labeled "To Children" or whatever is appropriate for your situation. These papers can include items you need to discuss with a spouse or child, including insurance and financial decisions.

The "Data Input" box is for genealogical documents waiting to be entered into your software program(s). When you come home from a library or archives, you can bypass the inbox and put these documents directly into the data input box to save you some time processing the items in your inbox.

The "To File" box is for papers you need to retain for tax, legal, or historical purposes. Be brutal in deciding what items need to be retained. Ask yourself what could happen if you throw away a piece of paper. Sometimes it's easier to toss paper if you know you can get it again from somewhere else.

The "Action" box is for items requiring action--action that you don't have time for immediately. This box needs to be checked routinely so items can be moved out and either tossed or put in a final destination.

The "Pursue" box is for items that have sparked your interest and you need to follow through on at a future date. This box is perfect for research leads and ideas in relation to your current projects.

Physically, these "boxes" can take the shape of stackable trays, stackable drawers, or individual containers. There are several catalogues devoted to organizing supplies that may help you to make your decision for setting up your inbox system. "Get Organized" (800-803-9400) and "Organize Now" (800-631-2233), my favorite organizing catalogues, have multiple options for those looking to containerize. Reliable Office Supply http://www.reliable.com, Staples http://www.staples.com, Office Max http://www.officemax.com, and Office Depot http://www.officedepot.com also sell a variety of containers to assist the organizationally challenged.

Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGRS, is the managing editor of Genealogical Computing, editor of the Board for Certification of Genealogists’ newsletter OnBoard, the creator of Clooz—the electronic filing cabinet for genealogical records, and a frequent contributor to Ancestry. She can be reached via e-mail at liz@ancestordetective.com.

>Index< | <<Previous | Next>>

Original Article on ancestry.com