S/o off of the decluttering thread. What about paperwork?

[Excelsior! Academy]

How do you handle papers that were never sorted well in the first place? You can't really toss them with the thought of replacing later. Some papers are hard if not impossible to replace.

[Ellie]

How do you handle papers that were never sorted well in the first place? You can't really toss them with the thought of replacing later. Some papers are hard if not impossible to replace.

 

I organize my papers according to "File--Don't Pile!" by Pat Dorff. Best.paper.handling.method.ever. I can put my hand on any paper I need within a few minutes; if I go awhile without filing, it only takes me a few minutes to catch up (unsorted papers go in a single place waiting to be filed).

[Guest submarines]

How do you handle papers that were never sorted well in the first place? You can't really toss them with the thought of replacing later. Some papers are hard if not impossible to replace.

 

I should put this in the unpopular opinion thread, but I'm going to put them all in one big box for now, so that sorting doesn't interfere with the flow. I'll deal with them later. A good plan would be to dedicate 10 minutes a day to sorting and just do it in those small chunks.

[kbutton]

I organize my papers according to "File--Don't Pile!" by Pat Dorff. Best.paper.handling.method.ever. I can put my hand on any paper I need within a few minutes; if I go awhile without filing, it only takes me a few minutes to catch up (unsorted papers go in a single place waiting to be filed).

 

Okay, I looked at the website, and the idea of cross-referencing and indexing scared me. Seriously. I know how to index and can't imagine a method at home that wouldn't rule my life.

 

I have so much crap that I have to keep for a limited time (but not permanently) that it drives me bonkers. Does this method address that kind of dilemma?

 

Can you describe a bit how this method works (it sounds more like it helps you create a method?) or what you like about it?

 

Also, does it work for visual people? I pile so I can see things. It's that simple. If I file it, my brain is gone (or it means that I am completely finished with the item). I already have a pretty minimal and flexible filing system, and it still doesn't work with my day-to-day clutter.

[regentrude]

I am filing once, in the right place. No need for index and cross-referencing if you know in which category each document is going to end. I can find every piece of paper immediately, and it is not complicated at all.

We file in binders:

house(utilities, phone, appliances etc)

bank (statements, credit cards, mortgage),

taxes (tax returns of previous years; any relevant document that we will need to prep taxes for current year)

insurance

medical

purchases/receipts/warranties

career (diplomas/transcripts/work papers)

 

Chronologically in each binder. Stuff gets filed right away.

If I had a random pile, I would begin by sorting the pile into the respective categories and use labeled envelopes or document storage boxes, so i did not have to hole punch now.

[kbutton]

I have been thinking of filing in binders for some things--it's like a pile with boundaries, a home, portable, etc. Hmm...

[Ellie]

Okay, I looked at the website, and the idea of cross-referencing and indexing scared me. Seriously. I know how to index and can't imagine a method at home that wouldn't rule my life.

 

I have so much crap that I have to keep for a limited time (but not permanently) that it drives me bonkers. Does this method address that kind of dilemma?

 

Can you describe a bit how this method works (it sounds more like it helps you create a method?) or what you like about it?

 

Also, does it work for visual people? I pile so I can see things. It's that simple. If I file it, my brain is gone (or it means that I am completely finished with the item). I already have a pretty minimal and flexible filing system, and it still doesn't work with my day-to-day clutter.

 

If you lived close enough to me, I'd just come over and help you go through and organize your papers. :-)

 

Things look worse before they look better when you start. You have to get all your papers together and sort them into piles. That's when you know for sure what you really have,  what you can toss, what needs to be kept, and what needs some sort of action.

 

You decide on categories. It doesn't matter what you call them (although I used pretty much the categories suggested in the book). It doesn't matter if there are only a couple of pieces of paper in a category.

 

You need some file folders. In the front of each file folder, you tape a "PaperDex." I also used hanging folders; the file folder for that category goes in the front of each hanging folder, so you can see its tab, and you write the name of that category on the tab.

 

For each category you'll need a "PaperDex."

 

I have a Personal Business Master Index. My "Personal Business" categories are numbered "PB-101," "PB-102," and so on. PB-101 On the Master PaperDex for Personal Business, I have the following: 101: Home Improvement Receipts; 102: Home Insurance Policies; 103: Dental Insurance; 104:[Mr. Ellie's employer] Stock Info...and so on. I have 22 Personal Business folders.

 

When I get papers that need to be kept, I put them on the top of the roll-around filing thingie that is tucked under my desk, and when I have a few minutes, I file the papers.

 

Papers that need action (bills, invitations, etc.) are filed in the Action Notebook. I love the Action Notebook. :-)

 

I have two of them: one for paying bills, one for invitations, vacation information (air plane reservations, car rental information, etc.), and so on.

 

The bills are filed behind the numbered tabs, on the day they need to be paid. Bills that will be paid next month (or the month after, or whatever) are filed behind the monthly tab when they're due. I move them to a numbered tab when we get to that month. I keep the bill-pay Action Notebook tucked away where it's more private, KWIM?

 

Invitations and other things are filed in the other Action Notebook, which could be set out on a counter or a desk for easy reference. I use a three-ring notebook with a calendar ("Monarch" size), January through December tabs, and 1-31 tabs. Each month I move that month's tab to the front of the numbered tabs and put the tab we just finished at the back. Things that are happening this month go behind the numbered tab for the appropriate date. Things that will happen in the future are filed behind the appropriate month tab, and moved to the front when I do the swap-out. :-) On the calendar, I only have to write "wedding," "leave for vacation," "museum field trip," etc. Tickets to the ball game? In the action notebook. Wedding invitation? In the action notebook. Directions to potluck? In the action notebook. I can find them, family members can find them.

 

When I get the mail each day, I stand over the trash can and open everything. Junk mail goes right in. Bills--I open them right away, toss any extra papers and envelopes, tuck each bill into its mailing envelope (if I use them), and so on. Then I walk everything to the Action Notebooks or the files. Bills are filed where they belong until they are paid. Other things are filed in their appropriate places. Papers which need to be filed are either filed right away or laid on top of the filing thingie. Once a month or so I file those papers, maybe 10 minutes of my time (but I know where they are if I need them before then).

 

It sounds like a lot when I type it out, but really, paper handling takes me all of five minutes, and I don't have papers lying on the kitchen counter or the kitchen table or being forgotten somewhere.

 

The initial set-up took me a couple of days...11 or 12 years ago.

 

I spent a few days with a friend helping her do the same thing. She had two or three file drawers of papers, including things like the rental agreement for an apartment she had lived in 20 years before. o_0 When we finished, it was one file drawer of papers she actually needed.

[kbutton]

Ellie, you are so kind to type this out, and if you lived nearby, I would probably take you up on the offer of help. I have sorted, filed, and purged a lot of the long-term static stuff, so most of the "worse before better" stuff is actually out of the way.

 

I could do an action notebook. That would solve a lot of the trouble...if I can make it work for hubby too. At some point something needs to work for hubby! I love him dearly, but let's just say that it's a challenge. I am actually aiming for something like this system but have had to figure it out on my own (and under skeptical eyes) without knowing exactly what I'm looking for--these are some good solutions to try. I do fine with bills as long as I check the mail--we had a couple of emergencies where someone else (probably a kid) deep sixed something vitally important. I do my bills online near paydays, so I don't file by due date (it's just paid and unpaid, and I keep the earliest bill due on the top of the pile--as long as I always do this, it works really well).

 

My personal calendar currently functions something like your paper-dex (poorly and in an overburdened capacity), so I am clearly crying out for one--gotta try that next. It sounds like your paper-dex is (or could be) a set of files in a binder. As long as I don't have to use a filing cabinet or bins for unsettled/in transition business like this, I think I can work with a binder and an action notebook because I can move them around and frequent use will make sure that I see what I need to. I have lots of folders, binder, and plastic document sleeves!

 

I also have a separate file for stuff I can't throw away but isn't needed often. It's in hanging file folders in stackable bins. I am also trying to scan some things and save them electronically when practical. Hubby has a hanging file bin for work-related education, etc. also. Truthfully, I think I would have been able to do this long ago if I were the only one to consider, but our family is complicated, quirky, and unpredictable. It's taken brain power away from my ability to just push through the organizational challenges.

 

If only we could do this with our phone books--we live on the boundary of two counties, two area codes, between two large metropolitan areas, and no one phone book has what we need. The crucial numbers are not always on the internet either, lol! We have an annotated list, but something always comes up that we need a book for, and we have to look through several to find the right thing. The pile of phonebooks is about a foot high.

[Ellie]

Ellie, you are so kind to type this out, and if you lived nearby, I would probably take you up on the offer of help. I have sorted, filed, and purged a lot of the long-term static stuff, so most of the "worse before better" stuff is actually out of the way.

 

I could do an action notebook. That would solve a lot of the trouble...if I can make it work for hubby too. At some point something needs to work for hubby! I love him dearly, but let's just say that it's a challenge. I am actually aiming for something like this system but have had to figure it out on my own (and under skeptical eyes) without knowing exactly what I'm looking for--these are some good solutions to try. I do fine with bills as long as I check the mail--we had a couple of emergencies where someone else (probably a kid) deep sixed something vitally important. I do my bills online near paydays, so I don't file by due date (it's just paid and unpaid, and I keep the earliest bill due on the top of the pile--as long as I always do this, it works really well).

 

My personal calendar currently functions something like your paper-dex (poorly and in an overburdened capacity), so I am clearly crying out for one--gotta try that next. It sounds like your paper-dex is (or could be) a set of files in a binder. As long as I don't have to use a filing cabinet or bins for unsettled/in transition business like this, I think I can work with a binder and an action notebook because I can move them around and frequent use will make sure that I see what I need to. I have lots of folders, binder, and plastic document sleeves!

 

I also have a separate file for stuff I can't throw away but isn't needed often. It's in hanging file folders in stackable bins. I am also trying to scan some things and save them electronically when practical. Hubby has a hanging file bin for work-related education, etc. also. Truthfully, I think I would have been able to do this long ago if I were the only one to consider, but our family is complicated, quirky, and unpredictable. It's taken brain power away from my ability to just push through the organizational challenges.

 

If only we could do this with our phone books--we live on the boundary of two counties, two area codes, between two large metropolitan areas, and no one phone book has what we need. The crucial numbers are not always on the internet either, lol! We have an annotated list, but something always comes up that we need a book for, and we have to look through several to find the right thing. The pile of phonebooks is about a foot high.

 

I have been working *for years* to get Mr. Ellie to think first of the Action Notebook. ::head desk:: The whole first year he'd say, "Where is the [insert what he wanted]?" "In the action notebook." "oh." The second year, it was "Where's the...oh..." Even now he hardly ever thinks to look there. ::head desk:: Once in awhile I give him fair warning that I will be cleaning off his little computer desk, on which he has neat piles of paper. :glare: For several years he was the treasurer of his Gideon camp, which meant bank statements and whatnot. So when I had given him fair warning, I put together all the bank statements and whatnot, probably a couple of years' worth. Several months ago he managed to find someone else to be treasurer and had to get all those papers together. Guess which years were all nice and tidy and together? The ones I had done. The other years were a mess. Did he learn a lesson? No. ::head desk::

 

Happily, I keep track of all our personal papers, and the action notebook. We've been married 39 years; eventually I will have him trained, lol.

 

But I digress.

 

If you were to do the File--Don't Pile! system, you'd have a file folder for the stuff you keep in a notebook, and there would be a notation in it that those records are kept in the notebook.

 

The paperdex is an index of which papers are in that category. I have 22 folders in my Personal Business category, numbered 101 to 122. When I want something that's in the Personal Business Category, I take out the Master Index and look on the paperdex to see which file it's in, rather than flipping randomly through all of the folders. Someone else could do the same.

 

I would hate that pile of phone books, lol.

[nd293]

I have two boxes for hanging files. They are attractive looking wicker-style baskets, and are on the lower shelf of the hall table. Each hanging file is labelled, and files are grouped (you can slide the labels along the upper rail of the file, so it easy to see the group that related to bank accounts, to the house (mortgage and rates), to insurance, etc. The box closest to the door has all the most important documents - that's the one we take with us in case of fire.

 

I've been using the system for a while, but I got lazy, so I've just redone things - rearranged categories, printed new labels. As I was going through I reviewed papers, made any phone calls about missing documents (I tend to periodically get over-enthusiastic about the decluttering), reviewed insurances etc. It was a very useful process, although the top of the hall table was a mountain of papers for weeks.

 

My goal was to look at one existing folder a day, and to file 10 random papers from The Paper Mountain (sometimes this meant making temporary files, sometimes the papers went directly into existing files).