Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

Getting Granular

I love to get philosophical and ask you look at the big picture when I try to help you with your clutter and disorganization, but sometimes, it’s useful to focus and get into the minutia.

 

One of the biggest struggles for many of my clients is paper. It doesn’t matter how many things you try to do digitally, paper always seems to pile up even as you try to conquer it.

 

I thought we’d start this year with some practical tips for managing paper.

 

1. Keep your paper in one place. No piles on the kitchen counter, no unopened mail on the bookcase, no half-sorted bills on the coffee table. Keeping on your papers in one spot will help you keep focused. When you suddenly need a certain document, you’ll know where to look, because all the papers are there. Ideally, it’s a desk but it can be a file cabinet or a file box on the kitchen table, just as long as it’s all together.

 

2. Purge the trash. When I sit down to help a client tackle a pile of paper, the very first thing I do is get rid of all the envelopes, flyers, junk mail and solicitations. You get rid of a lot that way, and then what you have left is less daunting.

 

3. Do a quick sort. Identify papers that are for things you have to do promptly: Bills to pay, medical bills to submit to insurance. It should be the stuff that isn’t really that hard. You just have to do it. For some people, it makes sense to make separate files: To Pay, To Submit, but usually I prefer a single folder that says: To Do. If you don’t like a manila folder, get gold one, or a pink plastic envelope. Filing can be fun! I promise!

 

Now you get to the sticky stuff.  The stuff that lingers is either hard, like the budget your financial planner asked you to fill out six months ago, or annoying, like the plane tickets and itinerary from the trip you had to cancel because of Covid and have to make sure you were credited for. Things that take time and concentration.

 

Sometimes these things need their own folder, because they are going to linger on your desk for a while. Maybe the budget is going to involve sitting down with your spouse for several hours over the course of several different evenings. But for something like checking up on your trip refunds, I like to just leave it on the top of your desk (or work space) so that you do them. The key is knowing that although you’re dreading it, once you settle down with it, it will only take a half an hour. And honestly, isn’t one of your New Year’s resolutions to spend less time on social media? There’s your half hour.

 

That leaves the miscellany, those things you might want to do, or need to do, but have no timeline or urgency. Do a second purge and ask yourself if you can find the information online, are you realistically going to go to that event? Be ruthless, and when you’re done, look at what is left. What files do these things suggest to you? Do you need a file marked Events? Or one marked: Resources where you can put the clippings or flyers that will remind you about the place that sells really great sheets so you can find it when you actually need sheets?

 

Everybody’s file systems are different, but the goal is the same: to organize the papers you need or want to save in a way that you can find them when you need them.

 

And remember: It will always be easier to find anything if you have less.

 

So, start the New Year off right. Purge, file, tackle those annoying and daunting tasks that you’ve been avoiding. They might not be as hard as you think, and even if they are, they’ll be done, and completion is its own reward.