In this 30-day challenge, we've learned workflow management, email management, and clutter busting. We didn't get to some of the bigger challenges, like tax organizing and that sort of thing. But I'll do another organizing challenge next year, and I hope you'll check in then.
I'd especially like to thank our guest bloggers this month: Wonderful professional organizers June Bell and Janine Adams and fung shui and design coach Alison Marks. You've been so much fun to work with and I thank you a million times for all the great suggestions you've shared for addressing a problem that stymies most of us at one time or another. I'll add links to their Web pages and blogs to the main page so you can find them in the future if you need to.
And now, a summary of what we've learned this month. Kind of like a clutter-busting table of contents:
Figuring out your organizing priorities.
Overcoming organizing overwhelm so you can get started.
Set realistic goals to avoid perfectionism and paralysis.
Organizing systems for email, filing, and mail.
Staying productive on Election Day.
Learning to let go of things you don't need anymore.
Five biggest organizing mistakes to avoid.
Identifying organizing tools and prioritizing organizing in your end-of-year shopping.
Using the buddy system to tackle the hardest organizing challenges.
Creating workflow organization.
Creating systems to manage paper.
Secrets to successful paper organizing and sorting.
I hope you enjoyed the challenge as much as I did.
As I look around my desk today, I can see a tremendous difference from the day the challenge started. I still have magazines under my table, but the massive piles to the left and right of my computer have been replaced by a plant on one side and a small pile to the left. (Progress, right?) I have a heavy-duty shredder that makes getting rid of unnecessary paper easier. And I feel better in my office.
How about you? What changes have you noticed as you've applied these principles?
Showing posts with label paper paralysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paper paralysis. Show all posts
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
30-Day Organizing Challenge: Secrets to Sorting
Day 28's goal: Corral the Clutter
Yesterday, guest blogger Alison Marks shared the big picture for how to deal with paper. But then there's that moment that you're sitting there staring at all your paper and not sure how to tackle it. To address that issue, guest blogger and professional organizer June Bell is back and she's getting specific: What to keep, where to keep it and how to sort it. As always, leave comments below, or ask June questions directly by emailing her at junebell (at) aol (dot) com.
Bills. Receipts. Magazines. Catalogs. Copies. Clippings. Notes. Lists. Documents. Paper is everywhere, blanketing our tables and desks and filling our mailboxes, in boxes and out boxes.
Taking even a baby step toward conquering paper clutter may inspire you to take another and another … with increasingly positive results as you progress.
To reduce the amount of paper in your life, first, limit the amount of paper that you let in:
Junk mail. Sort mail by a recycling bin. Immediately toss anything you don’t want (for me, that’s supermarket circulars and any unsolicited ads).
Newspaper. As a veteran newspaper reporter, I hate to suggest that people ditch their subscriptions and read the paper on line. But if you’re battling piles of newsprint, this might (sob) be an option for you.
Magazines. If you’re not excited to find a new issue in your mailbox, consider canceling your subscription or not renewing it. When a new issue arrives, recycle or pass along the previous one. And instead of keeping the entire magazine, just tear out the articles you want to read or save.
Catalogs. Contact the Direct Marketing Association to have your name removed from mailing lists. You can also call catalog companies individually as you receive catalogs.
Tax-related paperwork. Set aside a shirt box or shoe box for all W-2 forms, dividend statements, 1099s (if you’re self-employed), brokerage statements, etc. Just drop them into the box throughout the year so that when you’re ready to start on your taxes, you’ll have everything you need in one place. Note: This is one category where you don’t want to discard as much as possible!
Office papers. The vast majority of what we file disappears into our filing systems, drawer or cabinets, never to emerge again. So before you routinely file (or add to a growing pile), ask yourself:
o How likely is it that I’ll need this again?
o If I do need it, can I get it somewhere else, such as from a manager, the Internet, a family member?
o What’s the worst-case scenario if I toss it?
A stack of paper usually represents a bunch of decisions you need to make: Take a cruise? Buy supplemental life insurance? Read a prospectus? So set aside time to make decisions on these items, or delegate those decisions to someone else.
Gradually you’ll reclaim the horizontal surfaces in your home or office.
Yesterday, guest blogger Alison Marks shared the big picture for how to deal with paper. But then there's that moment that you're sitting there staring at all your paper and not sure how to tackle it. To address that issue, guest blogger and professional organizer June Bell is back and she's getting specific: What to keep, where to keep it and how to sort it. As always, leave comments below, or ask June questions directly by emailing her at junebell (at) aol (dot) com.
Bills. Receipts. Magazines. Catalogs. Copies. Clippings. Notes. Lists. Documents. Paper is everywhere, blanketing our tables and desks and filling our mailboxes, in boxes and out boxes.
Taking even a baby step toward conquering paper clutter may inspire you to take another and another … with increasingly positive results as you progress.
To reduce the amount of paper in your life, first, limit the amount of paper that you let in:
Junk mail. Sort mail by a recycling bin. Immediately toss anything you don’t want (for me, that’s supermarket circulars and any unsolicited ads).
Newspaper. As a veteran newspaper reporter, I hate to suggest that people ditch their subscriptions and read the paper on line. But if you’re battling piles of newsprint, this might (sob) be an option for you.
Magazines. If you’re not excited to find a new issue in your mailbox, consider canceling your subscription or not renewing it. When a new issue arrives, recycle or pass along the previous one. And instead of keeping the entire magazine, just tear out the articles you want to read or save.
Catalogs. Contact the Direct Marketing Association to have your name removed from mailing lists. You can also call catalog companies individually as you receive catalogs.
Tax-related paperwork. Set aside a shirt box or shoe box for all W-2 forms, dividend statements, 1099s (if you’re self-employed), brokerage statements, etc. Just drop them into the box throughout the year so that when you’re ready to start on your taxes, you’ll have everything you need in one place. Note: This is one category where you don’t want to discard as much as possible!
Office papers. The vast majority of what we file disappears into our filing systems, drawer or cabinets, never to emerge again. So before you routinely file (or add to a growing pile), ask yourself:
o How likely is it that I’ll need this again?
o If I do need it, can I get it somewhere else, such as from a manager, the Internet, a family member?
o What’s the worst-case scenario if I toss it?
A stack of paper usually represents a bunch of decisions you need to make: Take a cruise? Buy supplemental life insurance? Read a prospectus? So set aside time to make decisions on these items, or delegate those decisions to someone else.
Gradually you’ll reclaim the horizontal surfaces in your home or office.
Friday, November 21, 2008
30-Day Organizing Challenge: Prioritizing Paper Management
Day 27's goal: Tame the paper.
To wind up the organizing challenge, we'll be spending two days this week on paper paralysis. Today, guest blogger, life coach and feng shui consultant Alison Marks will talk about getting your paper organized. Marks is also the author of The Little Book of Sanctuary: A Beautiful Home is Simply a Choice and the forthcoming and workbook set, “From Clutter to Order in 8 Weeks.” For more information, please visit www.InsideOutDesignCoaching.com or email her at alison at InsideOutDesignCoaching dot com.
I’m a collector. And a piler. So what am I doing writing about organizing paper?
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with systems. Having elegant systems doesn’t change my inherent nature as a piler and collector. It does, however, serve as a protective line of defense that keeps me shielded from chaos and overwhelm--at least most of the time.
A lot of people think that their world of paper is an endless black hole. The truth is that no matter how much you have, there’s only so much of it. If you learn to think in terms of systems, it’s not so hard to get organized enough to have a clear desk and be able to get your hands on anything you need quickly.
Here’s how to start:
Decide what the big chunks are.
Think about the different kinds of papers you have based on how you use and interact with them, not based on content. They really will only fall into a few (3-5) major categories – what I call “big chunks.” Most people have these big chunks:
- Active papers and files – includes anything you interact with frequently
- Storage files
- Reference files – information about topics you are interested in, sort of like a personal library
- Great ideas – used especially by business owners and people working on big projects
This will serve as the big framework for your organizing system. Now you know the first question to ask yourself when you want to find something or put something away: “Is it an active item, a reference item or a storage item?”
Do a gross sort.
Gather all your papers and sort them into the big chunks. This means all your papers – yes, every single sheet. Your mail, magazine articles, old files, old letters, great work ideas, conference notes, random business cards, post-it notes, financial files and papers – ALL of it.
I recommend investing in some bankers boxes for this task. They are easy to drop things into, easy to temporarily label, easy to stack up when you need to take a break, and usable for storage once you get things further sorted.
As you’re sorting, you’re likely notice that you want to start creating subcategories. By all means go ahead and do that where it will help you right now (for example, you may want to have a box for things with a deadline that you need to tackle soon). Otherwise, don’t get caught up in sorting within the big chunks yet.
Map it out.
Where does it make sense for each of your chunks to live? Think in terms of how you work. Your long-term storage files can go in the garage, while bills to be paid should be kept together at hand near your desk. Physically move the boxes to that area.
Containerize.
Now that you’ve gone through all your papers, you have a sense of both what kinds of things you have and how much of them you have. Now your job is to find the best home for each group of like items. Containers are anything that hold something else – files, boxes, binders, desk drawers, racks, shelves, sections of things, boxes, etc.
Label.
There’s something magical about labels. Even if you’re the only one using the space, labeling all the homes with a description of what lives inside will help you locate what you’re looking for and will ensure that your system stays in good working order. Labels also help you recognize when your papers are creeping over and above their containment zone. That way, you'll know when you need to make changes in the system to accommodate your constantly changing reality.
Set up a good in-box system.
Practice good time management habits that help you stay on top of current to-do items and maintain your system over time. There are many good systems out there – one I like is David Allen’s Getting Things Done.
There are a lot of ways to make this process more complicated, but it rarely needs to be. Being aware of how your systems support you and following these simple steps will help you get a handle on your paper once and for all!
To wind up the organizing challenge, we'll be spending two days this week on paper paralysis. Today, guest blogger, life coach and feng shui consultant Alison Marks will talk about getting your paper organized. Marks is also the author of The Little Book of Sanctuary: A Beautiful Home is Simply a Choice and the forthcoming and workbook set, “From Clutter to Order in 8 Weeks.” For more information, please visit www.InsideOutDesignCoaching.com or email her at alison at InsideOutDesignCoaching dot com.
I’m a collector. And a piler. So what am I doing writing about organizing paper?
Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with systems. Having elegant systems doesn’t change my inherent nature as a piler and collector. It does, however, serve as a protective line of defense that keeps me shielded from chaos and overwhelm--at least most of the time.
A lot of people think that their world of paper is an endless black hole. The truth is that no matter how much you have, there’s only so much of it. If you learn to think in terms of systems, it’s not so hard to get organized enough to have a clear desk and be able to get your hands on anything you need quickly.
Here’s how to start:
Decide what the big chunks are.
Think about the different kinds of papers you have based on how you use and interact with them, not based on content. They really will only fall into a few (3-5) major categories – what I call “big chunks.” Most people have these big chunks:
- Active papers and files – includes anything you interact with frequently
- Storage files
- Reference files – information about topics you are interested in, sort of like a personal library
- Great ideas – used especially by business owners and people working on big projects
This will serve as the big framework for your organizing system. Now you know the first question to ask yourself when you want to find something or put something away: “Is it an active item, a reference item or a storage item?”
Do a gross sort.
Gather all your papers and sort them into the big chunks. This means all your papers – yes, every single sheet. Your mail, magazine articles, old files, old letters, great work ideas, conference notes, random business cards, post-it notes, financial files and papers – ALL of it.
I recommend investing in some bankers boxes for this task. They are easy to drop things into, easy to temporarily label, easy to stack up when you need to take a break, and usable for storage once you get things further sorted.
As you’re sorting, you’re likely notice that you want to start creating subcategories. By all means go ahead and do that where it will help you right now (for example, you may want to have a box for things with a deadline that you need to tackle soon). Otherwise, don’t get caught up in sorting within the big chunks yet.
Map it out.
Where does it make sense for each of your chunks to live? Think in terms of how you work. Your long-term storage files can go in the garage, while bills to be paid should be kept together at hand near your desk. Physically move the boxes to that area.
Containerize.
Now that you’ve gone through all your papers, you have a sense of both what kinds of things you have and how much of them you have. Now your job is to find the best home for each group of like items. Containers are anything that hold something else – files, boxes, binders, desk drawers, racks, shelves, sections of things, boxes, etc.
Label.
There’s something magical about labels. Even if you’re the only one using the space, labeling all the homes with a description of what lives inside will help you locate what you’re looking for and will ensure that your system stays in good working order. Labels also help you recognize when your papers are creeping over and above their containment zone. That way, you'll know when you need to make changes in the system to accommodate your constantly changing reality.
Set up a good in-box system.
Practice good time management habits that help you stay on top of current to-do items and maintain your system over time. There are many good systems out there – one I like is David Allen’s Getting Things Done.
There are a lot of ways to make this process more complicated, but it rarely needs to be. Being aware of how your systems support you and following these simple steps will help you get a handle on your paper once and for all!
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