I’ve just been through the journey of moving my dear 91-year-old father into assisted living. It went well and he’s happy. I went through everything in his condo that he didn’t take with him. My big takeaway? Weed out your files!
Tagged with: declutter, estate organizing, paper management, paper piles
Keeping up with the snail mail is a challenge for a lot of my client. Sometimes it goes unopened for days or weeks. I had a couple of experiences this week that made me grateful that I make a habit of opening the mail every day. (For some reason, I’ve always loved opening mail, so it’s not a hardship.)
Tagged with: clutter, habits, mail, paper management, paper piles
It’s the fifth and final day of my Tiny Projects challenge! It’s been fun to look around and identify little projects that pack a punch. Today, I spent a half hour on the Elfa rolling file cart that lives under my desk.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, closets, organizing, paper management, tiny projects
Paper is one of the toughest things for people to make decisions about. I wrote this post eight years ago to help you figure out whether you need to keep a piece of paper. These five questions are still valid today.
Tagged with: fear, paper management, paper piles, worth repeating
I spent the day yesterday working with a client on years of accumulated paper so this post, in which I discussed liberating myself of excess paper, resonated with me today. I wrote this post in October 2015 and have not missed a single piece of paper I let go of during that purge four and a half years ago!
Tagged with: decluttering, paper management, worth repeating
I wrote this post in October 2015 and reading it today made me appreciate the big task I accomplished in getting rid of all those papers and memories. Here’s the good news: In the three and a half years since I let that stuff ago, I haven’t missed on thing. Not one. Letting go is liberating!
Over the weekend, I faced down the challenging of decluttering a file cabinet full of old papers and memories. I love having these experiences that put me in my clients’ shoes and help me better understand what they’re going through.
Tagged with: decluttering, paper management, worth repeating
Much of the U.S. is dealing with some lousy winter weather today. Here in St. Louis, a two-day ice storm is forecast and both the national weather service and the state transportation division have instructed people to stay off the roads. I’m not going anywhere. Seems like a perfect weekend to catch up on a few things.
Tagged with: paper management, paper piles, pockets of time, timer
Over the weekend, I faced down the challenging of decluttering a file cabinet full of old papers and memories. I love having these experiences that put me in my clients’ shoes and help me better understand what they’re going through.
Tagged with: decluttering, paper management
Paper is one of the toughest things for people to make decisions about. Three years ago, I wrote this post to guide you on letting go of paper. It’s still relevant today.
Sometimes when I work with clients, I realize that they’ve hung onto a lot of paper out of fear. They’re afraid that they’ll toss or shred a piece of paper and find out later that they need it.
Tagged with: fear, paper management, paper piles, worth repeating
I’m a big believer in dividing files into categories. While some folks like to file folders all together in a straight A to Z formation, I prefer to put like things together. So business files are separate from personal files, for example. Depending on the number of files you have, you might have separate categories for Health, Financial, Hobbies, etc.
Tagged with: diy, organizing resources, organizing solutions, paper management
I filed my taxes last weekend. Once that was done, I had to think about what to do with all the supporting documentation. I don’t like to spend much time organizing those papers because I’m fervently hoping that I’ll never have to look at them again. (The only reason I can think of that I would is if I were audited.)
Tagged with: paper management, taxes
I’m leaving tomorrow for another trip to see my parents in Walla Walla. On July 25, 2011, just after I’d returned from a trip to Walla Walla, I blogged about the swell travel organizer I use to keep track of my paperwork while I travel. I’ve used it for every trip I’ve taken since (which must be at least a dozen) and the durable organizer continues to work well. I so I figured it was worth re-running my review, originally published July 25, 2011.
Tagged with: paper management, smead, travel, worth repeating
On Monday, I bloggd about 5 questions to ask yourself before getting rid of paper. My intent was to encourage you to part with most paper, because you can get it again if you need to.
Tagged with: paper management, paper piles
Sometimes when I work with clients, I realize that they’ve hung onto a lot of paper out of fear. They’re afraid that they’ll toss or shred a piece of paper and find out later that they need it.
Tagged with: fear, paper management, paper piles
A couple of years ago at the NAPO conference I was given a small package of Filertek dry-erase hanging file-folder labels. To be honest, these reusable tabs seemed to solve a problem I didn’t have and I brought home the sample and then never used it.
Tagged with: filertek, filing supplies, office supplies, organizing products, paper management
My friend, social media expert Jacquelyn Kittredge, told me about Paper Karma, a free app that helps you stop junk mail and unwanted catalogs.
Tagged with: decluttering, jacquelyn kittredge, junk mail, paper karma, paper management, paper piles
I don’t know if you noticed, but if you’re under 60, the Social Security Administration has stopped sending you your annual statement that details what you will be earning in Social Security payments after retirement or disability. The statements are now available for online access, however.
Tagged with: michele clark, paper management, social security
I went on a week-long trip to visit my parents in mid-July. It involved air travel, car rental, and hotel stay (my parents live in a small condo, so I don’t stay with them).
Tagged with: paper management, smead, travel
I have this clean desk policy that I’ve been blogging about since 2008. Basically, I make sure I clean my desk off at the end of every business day. It’s glorious and it helps me hit the ground running when I arrive at my desk in the morning.
Tagged with: clean desk, paper management, paper piles, pendaflex
I was looking back at posts from a year ago and was reminded that on April 5, 2010, I posted the results of a poll I did on the blog about how you handle your mail.
Tagged with: mail, paper management
Tomorrow’s the free shredding event sponsored by NAPO-St. Louis and Shred and Protect Document Services.
Tagged with: events, napo st. louis, paper management, paper piles, shred and protect
One of the things I did during that glorious week between Christmas and New Year’s was clean out my files. My recycling box is full but I also have a large pile on top of my shredder.
Tagged with: decluttering, identity theft, napo st. louis, paper management, shred and protect, shredders
Do you have trouble getting all the information you want onto file folder labels? Whether you use a label maker, labels printed on your computer, or handwritten labels, it can be tough to fit everything you want on the label to make it meaningful.
Tagged with: file folders, organizing products, paper management, smead
I’m usually excited when the mail comes. Don’t ask me why; gone are the days of surprise letters or cards from people. And that’s okay, I love email. But I always scurry to the door when the mail arrives.
Tagged with: mail, paper management, paper piles, products
Just yesterday, I was interviewed by the fabulous journalist Michelle Rafter for an article called Paper Chase: Should It Stay or Should It Go? about how long to keep certain types of records. It’s already up on the website Second Act, which aimed at people who are (like me) 40 years or over.
Tagged with: michelle rafter, paper management, press
A couple of weeks ago, I put together a poll on how folks deal with the daily onslaught of postal mail. The results are in and I think they’re kind of interesting.
Tagged with: habits, mail, paper management, paper piles
Dealing the mail that comes to the house can be a huge hassle for many people. Most of my clients have difficulty dealing with it and I know I’ve let it pile up in the past. I’m thinking of developing some sort of product to help people with their mail and I’m curious how my blog readers handle their mail.
Tagged with: mail, paper management, paper piles
Shredding is so important. I’m often shocked when I meet new clients to learn that they don’t own a shredder. They think tearing up sensitive documents is sufficient. Then I’ll share with them a little experiment done on one of the morning shows that a client told me about. They took a credit card offer and tore it up. Then they taped it back together, photocopied it, filled it out and got the credit card. To me, that’s proof enough that shredding is essential. Identity theft is too devastating to mess with.
Tagged with: identity theft, napo st. louis, paper management, shannon zipoy, shred and protect, shredders
I was re-reading Judith Kolberg’s excellent book, Conquering Chronic Disorganization
Tagged with: elfa, judith kolberg, paper management, paper piles