Paper

I am experiencing a little mental whiplash. Just as we are dealing with a client with a mountain of paper to organize and reviewing invoices for our business tax filing, my brain got jostled by an article in a technical journal that touted the “paperless” society we are rapidly becoming. The techno-savvy probably have a leg up on the rest of society in finding ways to minimize hardcopy, but most of us are still drowning in paper. The major reasons for paper accumulation according to our clients are:
1. I hold on to things longer than necessary for fear I will need information and not have it.
2. I don’t have time to take care of mail and other papers when I get it so it gets lost in a pile.
3. I have no idea what to keep so I keep everything
4. I have a lot of interests, so articles and resources about projects pile up

These are all valid problems but can be handled with a little knowledge and planning. Here are a few suggestions for getting your papers organized.

Today:
Designate a landing spot to put the mail you receive today. Put it in three piles: bills, correspondence and junk mail. Discard the junk mail immediately, shredding any items containing personal information.

Create a file for correspondence and place your correspondence in the folder.

Leave your bills where you can see them until they are paid or until you are able to make a file with payment dates that you can maintain. One idea is using an expanding folder with pay dates 1-15 and 16-31 and a place for stamps, envelopes and address labels or, if you pay online, a list of addresses and passwords

Then:
Maintain the landing spot on a daily basis, filing and discarding as you receive documents.

Create file folders for broad categories. For example you might use Financial, Medical, Household, Personal, Current bills and Miscellaneous. After you have done the initial sorting you can refine the categories so items can be more easily found. Starting with narrowly defined files can waste time and supplies.

Start with the most current pile first and put into the file folders. As you go through your papers you can discard the older documents as long as the information is reflected on the more current documents. For instance a more current credit card bill may reflect a payment on a previous statement.
If there is not any order to your current paper storage, pick a spot to start and work your way around the space counter clockwise. When going through a filing cabinet mark where you stopped with a sticky note and jot down any thoughts or questions you had up to that point.

Set aside time to tackle the papers each day until you have completed the project. If your paper dilemma is overwhelming, consult a professional organizer who can help you develop a plan or assist you with hands on organization of your files and a strategy for managing paper. She can also assist you in determining retention timelines for your important documents.

Beverly and Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net