Over the holidays, I took time to organize my home & office papers. It’s something I love to do at the end of each year so I’ll start off the new one on a clean slate. Every year that I do this, I’m always amazed at how much paperwork has accumulated, even though I’m good at processing, streamlining and eliminating it as I go along! Which made me think as we start not only a new year, but a new decade…how much paperwork will pass through each of homes and offices during the next ten years? From mail and magazines, to bills and receipts, not to mention the paper we generate ourselves, we would build a mountain out of paper throughout the course of a single year if we aren’t careful.
In this Age of Information, it is perfectly understandable that we all feel overwhelmed at times. All the information that constantly comes at us shows no sign of slowing down. What is exciting about it though, is that we have the latest news and up-to-date information, literally at our fingertips. With each passing year our world is becoming more advanced than I could have ever imagined possible and it’s happening faster that I can keep up with!
Therefore, it’s important to slow down long enough to be able to take the time out to focus on what is such an important aspect to staying organized. Life is much more relaxed and manageable when we set aside time on a regular basis to organize our paperwork and information.
January is national “Get Organized” Month and there’s no better place to start than getting all of your print and electronic paperwork & information in order. Make yourself a cup of tea, put on some good music and spend a few hours of this new decade preparing your space so it can better handle the demands that are inevitably going to be placed upon it by. Check out my January Organizing Tips section of this newsletter for some great ways to get started.
January’s Organizing Tips: Keeping Information In Check
Streamlining:
1. Go through the stacks of magazines you have lying around the house. Tear out only the articles you find interesting or useful, and keep in a binder for later reference. Recycle the rest.
2. Check and update your files. Discard any outdated information from years past? Clean out the old to make room for the new.
3. Tackling email. If your inbox is overflowing, go through it and delete what you can. Create folders in your email with different subjects to separate out the ones you need to reference later. Make a goal to answer emails right away, continually delete what you can and keep your inbox clean.
Processing:
1. Sort mail as it arrives. Mail has a tendency to build up, and fast if you wait too long to deal with it. Process mail on a daily basis. Toss what you can right away; inserts, outer envelopes, etc. Put bills in a separate place until they need to be paid.
2. Keep up with receipts. It’s easy to lose your receipts if they’re given a chance to find their way to the bottom of your purse of pocket. When you get home for the day clean out all receipts and put them in a box labeled “RECEIPTS.” Keep track on a monthly basis and input expenditures into a financial software or system.
3. Make a binder for sentimental items. Thank-you cards and birthday cards that you want to keep need to be kept in a separate place from other important paperwork and mail.
Eliminating:
1. Spare your printer and the environment. Print out only what is necessary, many articles and information can be found online, save to a folder in your email instead.
2. Shred important information. As you update your files, shred and purge items that are no longer needed. Remember to shred old bank statements or anything with personal information
3. Stop getting junk mail. Save yourself the time of throwing these papers away, sign up at www.donotmail.org.
Contact Jodie Watson:
If you have any questions, would like to schedule a free professional organizing telephone consultation, or would like Jodie Watson to speak at your next corporate function, group meeting, social event, or retreat, call at (818) 590-7800. You can also contact Jodie on Facebook and Twitter or visit her website at Supreme Organization.