How to Sort Through Business Cards

(Oh, Hello Friend)

I kinda feel like my desk looks like this...times 50.  I've got lots of business cards to get through and follow-up on.  So I took my own advice:  take 10 minutes each day to tackle a task.

I separated them into 3 categories: record contact info, email a follow-up or email a referral.  The contact info was quick and easy to enter.  Then the follow-ups weren't too bad.  Each was a simple message of "nice to meet you, let's get together soon".  After I knocked out those piles, I moved on to referrals.  They took a little more time because it was usually an e-introduction or needed more info.  But over the week, with an average of 10 minutes each day, I got it all done.

Piles of paper clutter can be very daunting.  Yet if you break it down into 10-minute tasks, it'll be much more manageable.  And once you score down your cluster of business cards, try collecting the keepers in one of these cute card organizers.

Tell me, Appleshiners, what's cluttering your desk today?

PS- Look at this before/after of a Tribeca office or this before/after of a home office.  They were lot's of work but had great results!