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• Go through your current files and pull out out-of-date statements, bills, policies, etc.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.

In and Out with Paper Clutter

Even if you do your banking and a lot of your communicating online, chance are you still feel overwhelmed by all of the paper in our "paperless" society.  At the moment, I'm working on settling my father's estate and buying a house.  And that doesn't even include work.

Although I have a lot of information stored on my computer, I also find it helpful to print out copies of documents ... and I have a lot of paperwork that people hand to me ... not to mention paint chip samples and pages torn from magazines. 

I have a plastic tote filled folders.  If my husband comments on something, I can pull out a file folder in the time it takes me to walk over the file box.

I've also learned that my stack of unfiled papers can go from nothing to I-can't-see-the-top-of-my-desk within hours.  Most stuff doesn't get filed right away.  Sometimes, it doesn't even get filed within a week (and I start to get anxious ... isn't there something there that needs to get done?).

I've made a conscious effort to keep all the paperwork in one place so when I do have time to go through it, I can evaluate everything at one.  I keep one pile, in one place, of paperwork that needs to get filed.

One pile/one place may not seem like a big deal, but ask yourself where your piles of papers are?  Do you have a stack on the kitchen or dining room table ... and your desk ... and your bedroom bureau ... and on a countertop in the kitchen ... and ....

I'm not talking about your filed papers (although you should have your files in one place), I'm referring to that paperwork that needs to be read or paid or filled out before you can mail it or file it or do something to it.  It is all to easy to allow numerous stacks of papers to form around you house.  This can equal missed deadlines and the stress of seeing all these papers demanding attention whenever you turn around.

So, today, buy an "in/out" tray at the office supply store, grab that basket or plastic bin that you already own, heck, take a shallow cardboard tray and move all your paper clutter into this box.  This doesn't put the paperwork where it ultimately belongs, but it does allow you to see what needs to be done.  Think of it as pre-organizing.

The next step, is to address each piece of paper ....

A Year of Files

Ever wonder where to put that bill that isn't due for two months or the coupon that won't expire until the summer? 

One of my favorite paper filing tips comes from David Allen's book, Getting Things Done.  Although a lot of his tips are geared to executives, I've used his system of monthly files for two or three years.

Basically, you label one file folder for each month.  If you have to file a piece of paper that you need to refer to in an upcoming month, you tuck the paper into the appropriate folder.  If I have something that is due or expires within the first few days of a month, I usually file it in the previous month's folder, so I respond in a timely fashion. 

These twelve folders sit in my active file box and I always keep the current month to the front.  When the month is over, I tuck the folder to the back so the files are always being rotated. 

I've found this filing system useful not just for bills and coupons/gift certificates, but for magazine clippings for crafts, recipes, and other sundry details than I want to remember to take advantage of next year.

David Allen also suggested keeping thirty-one folders, for each day of the month, but my work doesn't require anything that exacting.  However, the twelve monthly folders are a tip I'd highly recommend you take advantage of.