Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

Trash the File

The other day, I went into my “Summer Projects” file to get the receipt for some chairs I’d had reupholstered that were ready for pickup. While I was flipping through the folder, I realized that I didn’t need it anymore.

Somewhere back in May or June, I made a file for things I hoped to accomplish around the house this summer. Some of them, like painting the living room and reupholstering the chairs, got done, and some of them, like renovating the bathroom, didn’t.  Here’s the thing, it is the third week of August, the time for summer projects is past. I pitched most of the paint-project notes, saving the paint colors I used in my “décor” file. My bathroom renovation notes can go in my “décor ideas” file, which is nice and thin since most of it lives on Pinterest. I’m sitting on my reupholstered chair, in my newly painted living room, it’s all good.

Papers pile up, it’s confusing and messy, so you make files. When you make a file for a project like a renovation, or a child’s school admissions, or a trip you want to take and and then you complete the project, you need to purge those files—otherwise, files pile up and it’s messy and confusing.

There are only few files you keep forever: closing documents, birth certificates, but most files have an expiration date. The trick is to pay attention. In the science of habit-formation they talk about “cues” or “triggers.” In order to develop new habits or break bad ones, you need to know what triggers you to perform any given habit. Do you eat chips when you’re stressed? Do you automatically unload the dishwasher while the coffee brews? The trick to keeping your papers from piling up is knowing the trigger for you to trash your files.

For me, the drawer getting tight is my cue to do a quick winnowing of files. And it’s my habit to always throw out or shred a ton of files at tax time, not just tax-related files. It’s easy, and it makes all the difference in making my file system work well all year long.

So, let go of the information about the trips you did or didn’t take this summer. Spend a few minutes purging the piles your desk or countertop, let go of the passe and the irrelevant. And if you see something that you want to do this fall, the third week of August is a perfect time to start that “Fall Projects” file.