Hi everyone!  

It’s been so much fun to share with you the paper disorganization myths and misconceptions, and to see your comments, both private and public!  

Now, I know that there is no way that, in those five short posts, I have dispelled all the misconceptions that are keeping the paper clutter in your life. So now is the time to ask anything you want to ask about organizing papers, why you can’t, etc. I’ll be checking in on the comments to this post several times over the weekend, and will answer all the questions you have!  

“see” you there soon!  

Karin

Of all the misconceptions I hear from people, this is probably the one that has the most basis in a real, genuine problem.  

There is indeed a segment of the population that is highly visual in the way they process information. The saying “out of sight, out of mind” was probably invented for them. As a result, when they need to work on something, or remember something, it has to stay out. If it’s in a drawer, it’ll be forgotten.  

I know all about it, I’m one of those highly visual people myself. Yet my desk is very organized...  

You see, there are many ways to organize the papers you need in the near future on your desk without resorting to random (or not-so-random) piles.

For instance, my desk has two step sorters with colored files, all labeled, to remind me of the things I need to do. I also have a large clear deskpad on the desk, under which I organize the little post-its and notes I need to do something about. It all works beautifully, because nothing is out of sight, yet everything is organized. And if I can do it, you too can have a desk that is organized even to the lay person and that serves your needs.  

As for those drawers, you still can use them. They‘re ideal for two things:
- the papers that you refer to often in relation to another task, such as form, information, etc. You won’t forget to look at them, because something else will trigger your need to look at them.
- your files: the papers you are no longer working with can safely be put in drawers, there will be another trigger than the file itself to remind you to look at them in the unlikely case that you need them again  

Final installment of the series: Q&A. I most likely haven't addressed every single challenge to getting your papers organized that you have, so it's the ideal time to ask your questions... I'll send a post to remind you about it! And don't forget that Paper Mastery  is also there to give you all the tools and skills you need to become a Paper Master.  

Yours in Daily Mastery,
Karin

Your know what? I’m not going to lie to you. Going through all the piles of paper you have, and filing them all where they belong (trash included) does take some time. But you do have the time to get it done!  

People who tell me that they don’t have the time usually proceed by telling me that it’s absolutely impossible for them to set aside blocks of an hour, much less three hours, in their busy schedule to deal with their paper. If you can’t free up this time at all, we probably need to work together on your time management, but let’s set this aside for the time being.  

Who ever said that you had to set aside a large block of time to go through your papers?  

What about working on reducing your clutter for 10 or 15 minutes every day? You'd be surprised how much you can go through in just a quarter of an hour... And there are techniques  to allow you to organize your papers in stages, so that, even in the middle of your re-organization process, you still can work normally.  

Think about it: Finding 15 minutes every day for a few weeks (and I’m sure you can find those 15 minutes) to take care of your papers will eventually give you back an hour every day of every year... Isn’t taking this time worth it?  

Last installment: My papers have to stay all out. If I put them in drawers, I forget all about them!  

Yours in Daily Mastery,
Karin

Hi ladies!  

Thank you for all your comments, it’s so much fun when it becomes a dialog. Please keep them coming!  

Ok, now back to the series, and the third misconception: the fear of throwing away the wrong thing:

Believe it or not, this is something I hear quite often. This fear of throwing away an important document stops many people from throwing away almost any document.  

There was a time when this was a legitimate fear. If you threw away the deed to your house, there was almost no way to get a copy again. However, today, this is no longer true.  

With the advent of the computer and the internet, almost any document you may have is either re-findable (see misconception #1  ), has a backup in one of your vendors offices (such as your tax return at your accountant's office, or your closing documents with your lawyer), and very few and far between are the documents that are truly difficult to replace.  

The easiest way to make sure to avoid this pitfall is to call your lawyer, your accountant, your financial adviser, and ask them what papers you need to keep, and for how long ? or take advantage of the guidelines given to you in the Paper Mastery series  .  

As for the memorabilia, such as greeting cards, tickets to beloved events, etc., choose those that make you happy just looking at them. Anything that doesn’t have great memories attached to it, you can probably safely toss.  

Now you can throw papers away with a light heart, knowing that you‘re not throwing away some impossible-to-recover treasure or important paper.  

Next installment: I don’t have the time to get organized... It’s one I absolutely LOVE to hear - and to debunk!

Yours in Daily Mastery,
Karin

The notion that getting organized once and for all is hard is all-too-common, and completely false.  

If you think about it, you can see it for yourself: Is it really hard to take a piece of paper, put it in a manila folder, label it, and put the manila folder in a container? Unless you are handicapped in a way that prevents you from using your hands normally, you will probably agree with me that any of those individual actions is easy.  

Yet many feel that organizing papers is hard... Why is it?  

It’s because people don’t know how to create a system to keep their papers in order. No wonder, since no one teaches it. We pick up cues from our parents, our teachers, mentors, co-workers, but no one really teaches us the process from beginning to end. So there is a partial system, where some - or a lot of - papers get mixed, misplaced, or not organized at all. Yet, all it takes to create a paper management system that works is some simple guidelines, such as:
- Use no more than 5 broad categories in your filing system
- Never mix unopened mail with anything else (it’s a recipe for late fees).
- Always have some sort of container for your papers, so that they don’t just pile up randomly
- for easy filing, always use a hanging folder AND a manila folder, both with the same label. This way, your paper is always linked to its home (with the manila folder) and is easy to file back (just look for the identical label in the drawer)

it’s actually quite easy and intuitive to create a paper management system that works for you and is easy to maintain. It’s just a matter of learning the right skills and rules.  

And please, don’t believe that you can’t! Unless you have an OCD around owning or accumulating stuff, in which case you need to deal with the reasons why you keep clutter first, you can learn to organize your papers, just like you’ve probably long ago learned how to read, write and do basic math. It’s simpler than those skills...  

Next installment: I’m scared I’ll throw away the wrong thing.

 Yours in Daily Mastery,
Karin

PS: Want to learn those skills? Paper Mastery  is one way to acquire them in an easy, relaxed and fun environment... (don't forget to mention Fabulously40 if you decide to sign up, for an additional laser coaching session at no charge)

One of the first things I hear from clients who want me to help with their paper mis-management is this very sentence: I can’t throw all this away, I may need it! The feeling is perfectly legitimate and understandable, but in most cases it’s simply not true.  

You see, a full 80% of papers filed are never looked at again. Never . And this is true both at home - maybe even more so at home - and at work. So most of what you keep you can just throw away with no consequences whatsoever.  

People often want to keep documents just in case they may need them again:
- just in case I may want to make this recipe, even though I always go back to the same book, and never look at the recipes I’ve collected over the years.
- just in case this client comes back
- just in case I need every single one of the drafts of a document I created
- etc.  

Here is the thing, though: unless you know that you'll need this document again, have to keep it for legal, tax or (pardon my French) cover-my-behind-at-work reasons, or want to keep it for sentimental reasons, the paper you're holding in your hand is probably just taking up valuable real estate that you could use for better things.  

IIf you want to keep it because it has great information, keep it only if there is absolutely no other way for you to find the information again, or if you know you’ll refer to it often. If you are not sure you’ll need it, or will need it only very occasionally, and you can find it online, by asking a co-worker, or any other way, the hassle of keeping, storing, filing the paper is not worth the little extra time it’ll take you to find the information again... if you ever need it.  

Now that you have those elements to judge from, how many of the papers cluttering your space do you really need to have? What would your space look like if you threw away 80% of the papers in it, papers that are just hogging space anyway?  

Next installment: Getting and Staying Organized is Hard!

Yours in Daily Mastery,
Karin

PS: Still not sure how to get rid of all your paper clutter? Go to Paper Mastery  and decide if this is the right way for you to get your paper mess under control once and for all... (mention that you come from Fabulously40 when signing up and you'll get a second laser coaching session at no charge along with the program).