The O.H.I.O.* principle has been very helpful to me in time management.
OHIO stands for:
Only
Handle
It
Once
In a time management seminar, I learned:
-
When going through my mail, sit next to the trash can. Immediately pitch extra mail. Only handle it once.
-
Schedule bills to be paid and record them appropriately. I find online banking to be a great time saver. Keep other material only if you can put it in a place where it will be later accessed.
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Develop a good filing system so that when important information like tax documents arrive, you can immediately put them in the right place.
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Avoid the basket full of assorted papers in which bills can be too easily lost. One late payment can cost a significant chunk of money.
I still haven’t arrived perfectly in OHIO, but I’m getting closer every day. And, it is saving me a lot of time.
*A book on forgiveness notwithstanding, I’m still bitter about a Hawkeye loss at the Horseshoe in 1986, in a Christian sort of way. So, I’m conceding nothing to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
