Organizing your office

[nellie]

no_dopamine I know what you mean about too many categories. I think one tends to over complicate systems. I made sure the categories in the file gizmo were more general For example, in the past I had “To File” sorters for various categories like financial, vital records, paid bills etc. Now I just have one “to file” slot. When I have time I take the whole stack and file it properly. The other way I was doing double the sorting work.

I think what bogs me down is anything with multiple steps. Recently I’ve looked at my workflows with an eye to cutting out steps that aren’t necessary. It seems almost silly but I’ve even applied this to my household laundry!

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[Anonymous]

LOL, nellie, to placate my husband, I sort things into white, coloured and dark (we have a laundry sorting bin) but when push comes to shove, I put anything and everything into one wash!

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[Anonymous]

The 80/20 rule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle) is a life saver for me. You can do 80% of the job with 20% of the effort, but it takes 80% of the effort to get the other 20% done. When I first heard about it, I was like “wait, you mean I don’t have to squeeze every last ounce of fun out of this? I can do the job just good enough and move on?!?” (Put another way, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.)

the way I use this is, when I realize that I’m obsessing or trying to make the perfect system, I step back and ask myself, what is it I’m trying to solve for. Am I trying to design a filing system that will be 100% perfect and every paper will fit perfectly into every category? No, I’m just trying to be able to find stuff easier. So my systems tend to be: “Critical stuff (passport, marriage license, mortgage, etc.)”; “Recurring stuff (checklists, stuff I refer to frequently, etc.)” “XYZ stuff (anything that generates enough paperwork to have it’s own file, like my car’s maintenance or the dog’s vet file)” and then “Miscellaneous.” Once MISC gets too big, I look through it and create a new XYZ category or two.

The 20% here is the MISC. file

I also file in layers: To be dealt with; to be filed and just in case.

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[Anonymous]

@no-dopamine: “I get totally overwhelmed and it paralyzes me” “just one collection of books I fully intend(ed) to read. I have another bookshelf full of more, and there’s a pile on the end table next to the couch – all mine. I have a book addiction” ” I used to be a voracious reader (even as a child) but lately I can’t find the time to read them” (PS DON’T GET A NOOK . . . !!!!!) ” I do love to organize but I can’t act on the organization. And I often start to organize and forget what the heck I’m organizing” “Does that happen to anyone else?”

i am the queen of “organizing.” (perhaps the co-queen”!!) . my husband GOES NUTS when i come up with a TOTALLY NEW AND IMPROVED way to organize our lives!! (every 3 months or so . . . with many $$ going to office max or organizer stores . . .and “systems” sitting in SECTIONS:” DO-NOT-TOUCH” in our home (with PILES everywhere to “sort” and “organize” and ONE MORE SYSTEM -NEW AND IMPROVED- to “improve our lives” but-actually-creating-more-systems-and-CLUTTER-and-DISORGANIZATION-and-CHAOS-and-feelings-of-SHAME-and-PARALYSIS . . .but DO-NOT-TOUCH-because-I’M-LIKELY-TO-FORGET-WHAT-I-WAS-THINKING-OR-DOING . . . ) . . .

yeah, that happens to me. often. far too often. I. AM. OFTEN. PARALYZED.

so much to do, so little time . . .

(my NEXT change-my-life event is the I-PHONE- that is going to change-my-life) on 7/21 . . . . . .

(right, i know . . .)

THANKS ALL FOR this FORUM!!!

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[Anonymous]

nellie: fantastic ideas! I am really tired of not having a dining table ie anywhere to eat which is not at my computer. I am sort of starting organizing. I bought this 3 slot metal container for mail. first slot is: must do ASAP (ie pay bills). second slot is: must deal with soon. third slot it: at my convenience (i have to go through it eventually because it will fill up!).

I bought this huge paper file folder box because I have all sorts of papers in piles and important papers all in unmarked random folders. (ie. i almost lost my professional license…yeah..not good.) I purchased it, but it sits on the floor of my office. I am still patting myself on the back for the mailing container. one thing at a time, right?

ways not to organize one’s desk:

1) use multiple unmarked folders for papers which do not belong together

2) make a huge pile on top of a scanner you actually need to use

3) using the floor as extra storage space

smftwo… I got an Android phone and it is the best thing everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I am making to do lists, grocery lists, and putting stuff into the calendar. and playing with it because it is awesome. it is hard work, but I am making huge efforts to put stuff in the phone as I think of it. I had the same (next change my life attitude as well). I have laughed at my disorganization for so long, but I really just feel done with it and frustrated. one day at a time.. a lot of mental effort…

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[Anonymous]

LOL sugargremlin!

ways not to organize one’s desk:

1) use multiple unmarked folders for papers which do not belong together

2) make a huge pile on top of a scanner you actually need to use

3) using the floor as extra storage space

GUILTY (read printer for scanner)

Nellie: we are SOUL MATES. I am unable to resist planning how to organize! My job is to let go of it, which is why some of the mess exists, to learn to live with it (I used to be very compulsive about organization and clean living space, but then I met my ADD husband). When I talk about organizing and cleaning up, he just says it will end up in more piles, just organized piles (he’s the PILE MASTER).

And I have many books on organizing. As my husband says when asked if he’s read all of the books on his bookshelf “some of them twice” 😉

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[nellie]

no-dopamine totally! I think we’d get along splendidly

RIght now my scanner has a pile of stuff on it and I have to do about 2 hours worth of scanning for a project I need to finish by next Wednesday. SO this morning when I got up I decided it would get done before noon. Well I thought maybe I should clean off the desk and the scanner and started to plan it out. Then realized WAIT!!! i’m going to get bogged down so actually managed to just plan out the project I have to do. I will have to live with the mess. Will post later on how I make out BTW did you see the list video where he is supposed to be paying bils and starts organizing the pencil drawer? Soooo me!

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[Anonymous]

Hi Nellie,

No, I haven’t watched the list video. But way too often I run to the next room for a pad and paper and sit down to write something really important that I need to remember to do, and completely forget what it is.

I would be the one who needs to organize paperwork or make phone calls or pay bills and who decides that cleaning the toilet or dusting the tv or something else is way more important. I have a big need to have a clean, non-cluttered, quiet and harmonious environment so that really pulls my attention.

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[nellie]

Can you hire someone just to do the grunge work – ie clean floors, bathrooms, dust? I normally do have someone to come in to do that although it doesn’t help with the disorganization but at least they clean around stuff.

I think I mixed up the video names. The list one is funny ( and so true) as well, but the one I mean is Chunking is Dangerous:

http://totallyadd.com/chunking-is-dangerous

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[Anonymous]

Posted elsewhere, no, my husband won’t allow it, we are way cluttered and we can hardly pass each other to get from one room to the other at the moment. But my move-out of the business from home to a separate commercial space is almost done so now we will have more free time and space to devote to cleanup and declutter. But I can always motivate him by threatening to hire someone! We did clean two floors last Saturday and they could be lightly cleaned again, it made me feel way better to do just that.

Trying to decide whether or not to have a garage sale (hate them) or donate to Goodwill or just take it to the dump. Burning it all has crossed my mind before, but it’s now illegal to burn without a permit and a proper unit with a chimney stack 🙄

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[Anonymous]

GREAT, loved it, funny, so ME. http://totallyadd.com/chunking-is-dangerous and I like where he talks about things getting done by magic, that’s very true for me. I have no idea how I got something done at times, it will just pop into my head how to do it and then I do it.

Pick the task that needs the most attention

This is my problem, tasks that scream at me for attention are not what needs to be done. I also have trouble prioritizing since everythign seems important to me. I started letting my husband prioritize for me, when I plan the day with him and start to do something silly or crazy (aka interesting not boring), he says NO, we don’t need to do that now. You need to do THIS. So I find it really helpful to have someone to prioritize for me.

Like Dr J says, once I do get started, the car is in motion pretty damn fast. And that’s the hardest part, getting started.

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[nellie]

I tried a garage sale last year after years of saying I’ll never do that again. It ended up not being worth the effort money wise and I hauled all the stuff back in the house. I suppose if I thought I’d make thousands it would motivate me but I think I’m happy just to donate stuff. I figure if I hired an organizer it would cost me money, so in a way just giving it away is cheaper and worth the zen feeling of a de-cluttered house! Only thing is I have all that stuff in boxes downstairs and haven’t been overly motivated to haul it out again. I think my biggest hurdle is letting the things go just incase I “need” it!

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[Anonymous]

nellie, you might try the two-year-rule with the stuff in boxes. If you haven’t used it in two years, you probably won’t.

Again, I’m good at dishing out advice, but bad at following it myself: I still do have a box that is still unopened from the first time I moved way back in 1977 or so (and I have moved that box to many, many residences since then).

What’s helpful to me is knowing that nobody in my family really wanted any of my parents’ possessions (not children or grandchildren or inlaws), so we ended up getting rid of just about all of it. So there is no guilt in thinking that I am saving it for anybody. I remember my mom thinking her grandkids would want some of her mom’s china or her mother-in-law’s china but no, kids these days want everything new.

So thanks for your reminder that garage sales are not worth it (my time is worth something too). I needed to hear that and my husband will thank you for it!

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[nellie]

Glad to oblige

Mind you there are people who are great at getting rid of stuff at garage sales and make lots of money at it . Wish it was me but oh well. I’ll get organized once I’m organized I always tell myself

I agree with the two year rule. My other mantra is that I can probably buy another one at the dollar store or at least somewhere under 20 bucks. That often does it for me. When I’m in the mood to get rid of stuff, there’s no stopping me, but as you pointed out, it’s the getting in the mood that’s the problem…

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[Anonymous]

Yes, nobody ever sings “I’m in the mooood for de-cluttering” 😆

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[Author]

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