Paperwork organizing

[Anonymous]

Bought these years ago, so not sure where you can get them, I have been using them again. It’s single folder, with a clear plastic front, and the back is red, opens top and side, and the side is wide so if you put it in a file cabinet it will stand out.

I use two, one is for stuff I have to do that doesn’t involve money, and the other is for important bills and things related to money (like tax forms).

Anytime I have a pile of papers, they are really easy to find.

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[Anonymous]

Sounds like a good idea. Clear, see through stuff is great. I am not good with things I cannot see. If I can’t see them then they don’t exist in my brain! My biggest downfall is permission forms for school and similar. The important documents like tax stuff and bills are filed by hubby, but the school stuff is my domain and I suck at it. I really need a good system to deal with that sort of paperwork and it MUST be something visible, so that I can see it and be prompted to act by the sight of it. I am thinking of some method where I can file the paperwork in the order in which it is due, but not sure how to go about this just yet. I think I need to go shopping and see what’s available.

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[nellie]

Because my desk usually looks like someone accidentally dumped a box of papers on it and I’m terrible at keeping it looking tidy – I ‘m a piler after all – I decided I had to come up with an easy system to keep it clean. So after clearing it ruthlessly by taking everything off and sticking it in a box so that I wouldn’t get bogged down, I re-organized only with stuff that really has to be there. Printer, screen etc.

Then I bought a clear plastic file holder that is attached to the wall. It has three separate slots for the lack of a better thing to call them. THis is for current projects and urgent stuff like a bill I forgot or something with a deadline. EVerything else goes into a file cabinet.

It works pretty well. I wish I could say I don’t pile anything anymore but that’s not true. But it does work quite well. At least I have a system I can fall back on and the urgent stuff is still out in the open where it serves to remind me of its looming deadline and doesn’t get lost under everything else. . But best of all my desk is clear enough to work on and I can spread stuff out on it.

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[Anonymous]

Great idea, Nellie, if you’re in an office or near a wall (I have one that is magnetic, but I need a metal file cabinet, which I don’t have at work – YET).

Krazy, you could also try a clear page protector and magnets to hold it to the fridge. You probably go into the fridge a lot, so that might help. Just be sure to get powerful magnets, the cheap promo ones won’t hold much in place. Try a science or hobby store for the real deal.

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[Anonymous]

I try to only use clear bins, envelopes, etc. now. IF I do use an opague bin, I put a list on top that tells what’s in it.

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[nellie]

Just got my flylady email which I’ve not been reading for a while because I was travelling. Anyway, October is Paper Clutter Challenge month. Anyone want to join in?

http://www.flylady.net/pages/focus_oct.asp

Also the message to day was about trying to get organized for the holidays early this year by following the flylady system. Think I’ll give it a shot Maybe I’ll start another thread. But not now, have to go sort some paper

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[billd]

I organized several months worth of paper work a few weeks ago. Pretty cool to box it up and light it out in the yard.

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[Anonymous]

I don’t like holidays. I wish I did. I used to, but I don’t anymore. :>( But I’ll go see what Fly Lady says. I was on his list for awhile, but all the emails drove me nuts, even if she said I didn’t have to read ALL of them.

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[Anonymous]

I have put into place a simple file system, broken down into five parts: This week/Later/Discuss/Done/Blank….

Once a job is done from THIS WEEK it gets moved into done. A new set of tasks=Discuss etc etc

My wife found it in ADHD and Marriage book which i recomend if, like me you are smack bang in the middle of a chore war!

I even nick-named the file system “My Replacement Brain” as it works in much the same way as a non ADHD brain

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[nellie]

Pest_ so where does the “done” stuff end up in the long run?

I think this all works as long as you keep it up. My wall file system was great as long as I kept up with the projects but then I started piling again. Haven’t looked much at the papers on the wall lately! My pile isn’t too bad but if I don’t address it soon it will be!

I’m starting to think it’s not so much the system as the motivation to keep on top of paperwork that needs to be addressed.

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[Anonymous]

“motivation to keep on top of paperwork that needs to be addressed” – that’s the problem all right.

RANT START – Last month we got a collection notice from the cell phone company, I was shocked, because I treat all bills like hot potatoes and “warehouse” them with online banking as soon as I get them. But I couldn’t print out the invoice online, and forgot about it, too many emails in my inbox, next month same thing, forgotten again. I called Bell and complained when I got their collection threat (which was mailed 5 days after the drop-dead date), and they said “you should contact our tech support” – well, I had to figure it out for myself, it turns out that the problems coincided with a change in internet browser (I switched from Chrome to Firefox to use the internet blocking add-on) – Bell doesn’t support Firefox! (pretty sad for a communications company). I had to tell tech support, they were useless. END RANT

Anyway, after my husband cooled off from his near heart attack and I didn’t have to use the yellow pages to find a divorce lawyer, I figured out that I was way behind on my filing of paid bills (they were stuffed in a pile on an unused dining room chair – the dining room is my office at the moment), and that if I’d been up to date, I’d have figured it out.

Today I had to purge 2011 files into bankers boxes for my business, so I decided to tackle the paid bills pile.

Problem – no room to sort them. Thank goodness the kitchen floor was reasonably clean, so I spread them out as I sorted them by payee. The nice thing about a pile is it’s usually in chronological order, provided it doesn’t fall over (which happens a lot).

7 months worth now filed. Hopefully I will keep on top of it this year.

Next job – take the box of sensitive documents to the UPS store and pay them to shred it.

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[Hopeful_in_Ontario]

Paperwork for different groups I attend.

I keep a few reusable grocery bags and keep the papers and binders for each group/club in their own bag. Each has their own clipboard and extra paper for taking notes. It can get messy, but I can take the papers out and file them in the binder and put them back in their own bag. Makes it easy when I can just grab the bag and go, knowing everything is in the bag.

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[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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[Patte Rosebank]

@no_dopamine, Bell is useless.  So is Rogers.  But they’re so big that they don’t have to care.

Have you considered finding a new internet provider?

If so, I can highly recommend Teksavvy.  I started with their internet service, and then switched my home phone to Teksavvy too.  My parents did the same with their phone service.  This isn’t a VOIP phone, but an actual landline.

The difference in price and (most importantly) customer service is huge.

It’s worth looking into, especially after Bell’s lack of customer service & appreciation.

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[Author]

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