Reply To: Paperwork organizing

[Blue Yugo]

My new favorite way to organize paperwork is to not have paperwork to file.  Okay, there’s always paper, but last year I cut down on a significant portion of it by switching most of my bills to paperless statements.  I used to shred the prior year in December, but I have so much less of it now, shredding papers has become a smaller, more manageable task.

Junk mail continues to be a problem and takes more time to shred, but 2 years ago someone gave me a fun little invention that cuts down on the amount of junk mail I have to shred…it’s a rubber stamp that is all random, cluttery characters packed tightly together to essentially “black out” all but the most stubborn addresses on junk mail.  Now, instead of separating and shredding pieces of junk mail, the task has been simplified by stamping over my address on many forms, postcard adverts, envelopes, etc.  I know…it’s not “filing” but it’s a paper task that can be made easier.

Filing cabinets…not my friends.  I once heard “Filing cabinets are where important papers get lost in alphabetical order.”  Yeah…like I ever bothered to put anything in alphabetical order.  It’s mostly a cache of old art work, 3 ring binders full of new art work, sheet music, and instruction books / owner’s manuals to products, 50% of which I probably no longer own.

I used to like watching those “Hoarders” shows on TV (when I had cable), and they’re great because a) they make me realize that my place is not really so bad, and b) it gives me a shot in the arm to clean up one or two “debris piles” or stacks of books, DVDs, whatever…even if the surge only lasts 5 minutes.

I also learned out of a book a “game” you can play when decluttering where, if you really lack motivation, commit to picking up just FIVE things.  It even suggested turn on a song while you work and have those 5 things picked up before the song is over.  I vary the “game” by maybe setting a timer for 10 minutes and committing to picking up not only 5 things but 5 categories of things.  Pick up one sock…or get more done by picking them ALL up.  Pick up one dinner plate off the TV tray, pick up ALL items that belong in the sink or dishwasher.  Once 5 categories disappear, there’s probably not much left.  Heck, as a bonus, with little left, just ride your momentum and finish the job.  If there’s more than one person living in your house, they can play too.

Option 2 is to adopt two cats.  I did, back in 2010.  I now keep some of my place a little more tidy because I don’t want the cats to get into things, but flat surfaces like atop the microwave, tv trays, and bookcases still suffer.  Oh well, at least I don’t have a dozen plastic bags or a teetering pile of junk mail on the floor any more.  (Thanks for asking…the plastic bags are now wedged between objects strewn in my baker’s rack, and the junk mail is now a teetering pile on the edge of my card table…but at least not on the floor.  The floor is now where I keep toy mice and tufts of cat fur between vacuumings.)

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