Unclutter the Paperwork at the Office

Uncluttering and organizing the paperwork at your place of employment involves the same processes as uncluttering and organizing the paperwork in your home (or is it the other way around?)  The biggest difference is that at work you probably have to get permission from higher-ups to go through and organize paperwork.

If the clutter at work is horrible, you could be suggesting an action that everyone thinks should be done, but that no one wants to take on.  You too may be thinking that the people at work should be more organized, but unless someone (perhaps you) suggest ways to get organized, you are just going to be frustrated.

• Everyone should have an inbox on their desk which represents the things they need to work on (not just the day's mail).
• Decide (this could require a meeting or some guidance from others), what paperwork and files are no longer valid and can get shredded.  Pull this old paperwork from the file cabinets and be surprised by all the space the office cabinets now have. 
• If some files need to be held for a certain number of years, remove them from the active files and put them in boxes that are labeled with the year, contents, and the date when they can be disposed.  Move these boxes to a room where these files won't be confused or mixed up with the stuff that is currently important. 
• Be prepared to go through file folders page-by-page in order to have the most current and relevant information in each folder.
• Use a label maker and make neat, printed labels for each folder.  This is a simple technique for adding to the organized appearance of your filing system.
• Create a uniform filing system.  For example, if you are using hanging file folders, will you put the plastic tabs along the front of the file or the back of the folder.  Folders should be the appropriate size for your file cabinet - if the cabinet holds legal-size folders is it because you have legal-size paper in those folders?  Otherwise, you are wasting space.  Also, avoid a mix of letter-size and legal-size file folders in the same cabinet as it makes it too easy for folders to end up in the incorrect place. 
• As the new system develops, talk to people about how to find and then put away folders in the cabinets. 
• Encourage everyone to clean their own files.  When someone starts organizing things, with hope, this inspires others to create a similar organization. 
• Know that you and your coworkers will need weekly, monthly, or yearly time schedules to clean up and update files.

Uncluttering and organizing the files at work doesn't make your company money, and so this may become a low priority.  However, your company can save time and stress when they can get their hands on the most current information that they need, when they need it.

I can help you organize personal or business paperwork, including the files associated with elderly relative or their estate.  If you live in Massachusetts, in one of the following towns, contact me at SusanCaplanMcCarthy@gmail.com to discuss how I can assist: Canton, Foxboro, Franklin, Holliston, Mansfield, Medfield, Medway, Milford, Natick, Norwood, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Westwood, and Wrentham. 

15 Minutes to Organization

If you are struggling staying organized, one of the first things you need to figure out is where to put something.  After you can answer the question, Where Does This Go?, you next need to come up with a system that will encourage you to maintain the organization you create by decluttering. 

• Know where something goes.  Don't accept, "Oh, this will go in the file cabinet" as an answer.  Know that you have a labeled file so you can file a paper and then retrieve it when necessary.  Yes, it takes time to create that file; but, once done, you will be more organized because in the future you can put things in their proper place.
• Buy organizing materials only if necessary.  Think about reusing or repurposing drawers, bins, baskets, etc.  If you declutter, you'll find that you have a lot of empty containers that used to hold and organize stuff that you no longer need. 
• Put your organizing tools in the correct place.  (If you've answered the question, where does this go, you know where the correct place is.)
• Devote 15 minutes every day to putting stuff away.  If you get too involved and get tired pushing yourself to do more than 15 minutes, then set the timer on your smartphone or computer and make sure the volume is turned up high. 

Fifteen minutes may not seem to be enough time to get organized or maintain organization, but this is nearly two hours a week.  Would you rather spend two hours on Saturday putting stuff away?  Although it takes time to get organized and to maintain your system, a little bit of effort every day can remind you of your goals for organization.

Where Does This Go?

I find organizing easy and maintenance hard.  When I stop and ask why I have a more difficult time maintaining organization it usually comes down to having a place to put the things that I otherwise just "dump."

Look around your house and notice what items end up in disorganized piles on tabletops, counters, and the floor of closets as well as things that swirl around inside your drawers. 

Next, ask, where should these items go if they weren't just dumped where you found them.

If you don't have an answer to that question then you've discovered your problem, that you own items that don't really have a proper spot within your home. 

To solve your problem, you need to figure out an answer that may or may not involve some sort of organizational tool.  Before you go out and buy anything, decide where your stuff should go, one item at a time.  Ask, where would I (my partner, my kids) go looking to find this item?  Why isn't this item already there?  What do I need to do or provide so the item goes where we are going to look for it?

If you want shoes by the front door, do you have a shoe rack or a basket for every member of your household to store their shoes by the door?  Also, do you have a chair, bench, or stool where people can sit to take off their shoes without wandering into the kitchen or living room in search of a chair (and then leaving their shoes where they took them off)?

Instead of accusing housemates of slovenly habits, ask them what they need in order to put something away.  You might have to ask a series of questions in order to solve some issues.  Why don't family members hang up their coat ... oh, because there are no empty hangers or hooks where they can hang their coat. 

Although an obvious question, where should this go, it is a question that can reveal clues to maintaining organization in your home or office. 

When Life Leaves You Disorganized

It happens.  Life gets in the way of living and you are faced with your own, or a loved one's hospitalization, illness, death; job loss; returning to school; caring for children, grandchildren, or parents; moving, etc., etc.

You devote all of your energy to getting through each day with its added demands.  Every so often, you take a breath and realize that you've lost your routine and things are piling up and you don't know where to start. 

• Bring all your paperwork together in one place, be it a basket, bin, corner of your desk, table, shelf, floor in a room.
• Go through your current files and pull out out-of-date statements, bills, policies, etc.  Tossing stuff doesn't take that much time and you'll clear up some space for the stuff you need to file.
• Pick up a piece of paper from your pile and glance at it.  Do you need to do something with it, like pay it, mark an event on your calendar, call someone, etc.? If you've already handled that task, file the paper (or toss it).  If you have to do something, do it now.
• One piece of paper at a time, file everything.  Set a timer and stop after 15 or 30 or 60 minutes, whatever you can handle.  You know you are pushing yourself when you start to feel uptight or you are losing your focus.  You don't have to play days/weeks/months/years of catch-up in a single evening.

If working through your paper clutter on your own is too much, you can hire me to help you declutter paperwork and set up a filing system.  I can help at your home or small business.  I also understand the challenges of going through paperwork when a relative leaves their home.

At this time, I am available to go to the following towns in Massachusetts: Canton, Foxboro, Franklin, Holliston, Mansfield, Medfield, Medway, Milford, Natick, Norfolk, Norwood, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Westwood, Wrentham.  Email me at SusanCaplanMcCarthy@gmail.com

Maintaining Organization

At some point, you've probably buckled down and organized your paper clutter.  You got rid of irrelevant papers and files, you started new file folders, you put paperwork in its place.  Two weeks later you couldn't find your desk for the new mess that had accumulated. 

While getting organized is tedious, it isn't difficult.  I've always found that maintaining organization takes more effort. 

Why?

Because once you force yourself to sit down and get organized, you can get through the task in a few (or perhaps, several) hours.  Maintenance requires daily effort.  Like maintaining weight loss, maintaining organization isn't about willpower.  Instead, think of keeping organized as a habit, similar to brushing your teeth. 

Chances are that you don't complain about spending two minutes brushing your teeth every day; so, your goal in staying organized is to make it a habit. 

• Make it a habit to put all paperwork (mail, school notices, ads or articles torn from the newspaper or a magazine) in a single box/bin/basket.  This isn't a clean-up technique.  This means, you tell your kids, spouse, roommate, etc. to put paperwork in this basket instead of handing it to you.  This also means that you don't drop the mail on the kitchen table, you drop it in the bin.
• Select a time, say while the dishwasher is running or after you've said goodnight to your kids, to sit down and go through the papers.  If the bin isn't already at your desk/file cabinet/checkbook/calendar/recycle bin, bring it to this location and sit down.  Don't sit in front of the television as a bribe for doing this task - it will take you longer. 
• As you touch each piece of paper, record dates into your calendar, write checks, file papers you need to refer to again, toss those papers you don't need.  As you file papers, you can update the folder by tossing out older paperwork. 

You may grumble that you don't have time for this.  This habit of going through your paperwork will take no more than fifteen minutes a day, five days a week - you can probably give yourself the weekend off.  You can also avoid feeling overwhelmed by paperwork because you haven't maintained your organizing system and now you have months (or years) of paperwork to go through.

One bin + 15 minutes of daily effort = less stress and more organization

Everything in Its Place

If you've ever struggled to find a piece of paper that you needed and then considered yourself hopelessly disorganized because you made a mess trying to find it, I have a question for you, "Why couldn't you find the piece of paper?"

Was the document misfiled?
Was it filed at all?

If paperwork is overwhelming you because it is piled in stacks throughout your home, does that paper clutter have a proper home?  By that, I mean, do you have labeled file folders that fit in a file box or drawer? 

This may seem like an obvious solution; but, if you don't have a place to put a piece of paper that you want to refer to again in the future, then you are missing an essential element to getting and (perhaps more important) staying organized. 

Start by getting a box of file folders and a cardboard box to temporarily store the files.  I say a cardboard box because you don't really know if you need a small bin or a four-drawer file cabinet.  Don't spend money on the wrong thing. 

Then, find and bring every piece of paper in your home into one room, on or near a single flat surface where you can work.

Next, pick up whatever piece of paper that happens to be sitting on top and ask if it is something that you would ever need to refer to again. 

If the answer is "no," toss the paper.  If the answer is, "yes," then take a folder and label it with the topic.  Specific is good; general is bad.  "My Town Credit Union; Checking" is better than "Bank Stuff."  Remember, a file folder is a place to hold paperwork that you want to find again quickly and easily. 

Never label a folder, "Miscellaneous."  Really, what would you put in there?  If you want to find it again, even if it is a single piece of paper or a half sheet of paper, give it a folder with a specific label. 

Keep going through each and every sheet of paper.  Eventually, you'll be able to file papers into file folders.  As you do, you are creating a file system that will work for you.

Although this is time consuming, it isn't a complicated task; but it can be overwhelming in the beginning and prevent you from seeing how you can start.  Just work your way through each sheet of paper and you'll find your own sense of organization.

Never Touch a Piece of Paper More than Once?

You may have heard the tip that you should never touch a piece of paper more than once.  This suggests immediate action, open a bill and pay it, record information on your calendar, file a page for reference.

Although this is a lovely, useful tip, it is one that I've never managed.  As I mentioned the other day, an in/out box is a fantastic solution to gathering in one place the papers that you know require a second step. 

The next important step is to have a place to put those papers after you've handled the task associated with them.  In some cases, the next step is to toss the paper in the recycling bin.

However, if it is your home owner's policy or a receipt you need for your taxes, then you need a file dedicated to those papers.

If you need to get your hands on a piece of paper in the future, then you need a place to file it so you can get to it quickly and without a lot of stress because you don't know where it is.

Setting up a file system can take more time than you think it should.  Going through and tossing unnecessary papers is the easy part.  Organizing your papers, so they aren't clutter but accessible files, can take two-to-six hours, depending on what (if any) system you have. 

So, more about how to create a filing system another day ... along with the one file label you want to avoid.