Did you know the two most common questions I get are about paper and email?
Personally, I hate filing.
I’m not quite sure why people are surprised to hear this? 😉
The way I deal with my filing issues is to keep very little paper.
Brilliant idea, right?
The most important thing to remember about filing is that the more you keep, the more you have to file.
And we all know we only ever access less than 20% of the filed paper ever again.
Let’s show you how I do my filing…
I toss the papers I really want to keep in this basket in a far corner of my study. It’s about 5 cm deep (2 inches).
this is a view from the top – I spread it out a bit so you can get an idea….
I tossed a good number of those items.
The thing is that with the passage of time, so our intense need to hang onto things diminishes. Or at least for me it does.
I found I could toss the older things that had since been resolved.
E.g. We pay our telephone account every month. When I get the statement, I check to see if my payment is reflecting. If it is, I toss the old statement.
Look at this note.
I kept this note on the bottom of that tray so I could see how long it had been since the last time I filed.
This year I’ve only filed 3 times – 13 Jan, 30 June and 30 Oct.
Be honest – are you shocked?! 🙂
So now that my secret is out, how often do you file? Be honest, do you enjoy filing?
I don’t like it either, but as for many organizing tasks, I love the end result even though I hate the process! I too file a couple times per year, I have a nice ikea cardboard box where I keep my papers, and even some small items that should be put away in the office. But I should learn to toss more papers, it would definitely make my life easier.
Chloe, exactly. I do love the end result.
I should offer my cat to anyone who needs motivation to toss or file paper. I can’t leave any paper out or he’ll eat it. Literally chew up pieces of it and swallow it.
Sarah, thanks for the laugh. At least your cat helps you declutter.
I have too much paper, and I know it, but as I currently don’t have much in the way of an accessible filing system, I get a little behind in taking care of it. I really need to get a shredder, and a scanner for my computer, so I can just scan the things I need to keep, and either long-term store or shred the physical papers.
Melanie, the easiest thing is to start not keeping as much. It makes the whole process a lot easier!
This is the one area of my life that I just can’t seem to manage so well. I think it’s because I wait too long in between file sessions. I used to do it once a week but then I kind of lost the momentum and and and. I am getting lots of statements via email now (most places have an option where you can choose posted or emailed statements) so there is less paper coming into my house which is already a good thing.
My next purchase (after washing machine) is going to be a scanner so I can put all my stuff into folders on my computer. I am currently using my work scanner for the occasional recipe and I am hesitant to scan in my bills and things. One never knows who can see what…