[Note: This is the first, in an occasional series on this blog, devoted to helping/inspiring you to get rid of clutter in your life. Heaven knows, most of us have too much of it! --Juli]
It all started with this gift:
A pad of pretty notepaper, a coordinating pen, and a lucite paper holder, tied in a red ribbon. (Thank you, M.!)
But then I tried to put the paper-and-holder combo in one of my desk drawers, and I found this:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5K-avC9eS-VASZl4uYu5C2cvACj-fIouT3SKuSgRdB-OctRg9YbBg5APUPa7m7GMMhyphenhyphenteYEp9Rop2dXmKsiO8syDhXcsVlKvtrUQx_wqLjhhdr1MXnAFSlB7WlIyXCdzhMRpOpoei9w6u/s400/P1130748.JPG)
Eeek! and this:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVkUBAByWFYFo17cYijK6oc2EyG2uPYSEY9XGvSnMDeuXP4277u_vG0SKgBmyCpKYFyA5ZTH94jITj09CVOfTcZnYg898KnT1WqRztUw1HpLBFvKeP3ahAIsCbdK7-hdIkAPDk_Bpzvvk/s400/P1130751.JPG)
Yikes! and this:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPs7fUrQCvO_pY3Q5Kontv-3ue-DFt7_VdReFPlVgrqefScfbYf43eqMnLAcZ88c7Ham3jMzk2CgbE0_QC1gDs45SO8tfyUNFrfsMTi286l3uQNbXJfUasRFOi28rm93qcLuJDOkJW0fS/s400/P1130750.JPG)
Oh, man. There's just no room. So I poked around my desk drawers to see what I could axe. What's not pulling its weight? What makes no sense being in a drawer? And I found this:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7OlO5JjOsi3LhLjVlAI-KwGR1jSAzI8e2jp2fDObaQQ6g3k8Zkf45UU3voMJYbxeq5HEYNH6AvIj1XIz04g5FWrmxZSLKA3fySMUsN7QWj7qcSMpUgkzZH6JNcokQa0nl0OW-YJp3kQo/s400/P1130745.JPG)
Sheesh. It doesn't take a genius to realize a shallow drawer right above one's lap is not the best place to store papers. A LOT of papers. Two inches' worth of papers, as it turns out:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYGbwkkPZBHqQiq6Xqe0TyKCdOShs5tk7Wx0LPgW2rpLKP_uQLpRNeFJymjczWZ48cQByyPr7OFk3CJKy3iTFZosKGfpSG9bcZWZw7fNXUzjHm3rACbs_9KxTTYlavoStFpz8z1n0Xz-H/s400/P1130747.JPG)
I have a pretty good paper-storage system. I've got four hanging-file drawers, and they hold vertical files with all sorts of stuff I've deemed to be too important to throw out. (Maybe a little too
much stuff.) But they're all a standard size, and they're labeled, and--most important--the files are alphabetized.
So.
I think that's pretty good for a person whose neatnik side constantly wars with her hoarder heritage.
When I see a stack of papers two inches high that hasn't been filed into my nifty system, I've got a problem. Either 1)I don't know what files to put the papers in, or 2)I need to create some new categories of files, or 3)I'm a lazybutt who hasn't gotten around to her paper filing recently.
Or, all three.
This time, it turns out it was mostly option #2--I need to create some new categories of files.
Quickly sifting through the paper mountain, it looked like I had four or five categories all mixed together. So, I cleared the decks on a counter top and put papers in piles, one pile per subject. I used little yellow sticky notes to avoid getting piles mixed up.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXKkQnuq2Z99zjULJgp9_fgKnOnPt2883Rh2kwgwwO3ukAhsOKB3QhRLCduF5FvwCwCUlnElXmg7oRqlYopu08Dy_pzPNMcyJ9jrnDCyQ95OZjlY1Himhn68YqAtdaim8IwLJXicbWCxDV/s400/P1130762.JPG)
Turns out I had four new categories, plus some miscellaneous stuff that defied pigeonholing. Ignoring the miscellaneous for a moment, I made four new files:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lH1O00nSFcPAg_7tjL_zkLsMRbawuc0zGcNV89mgi2oAh9RZnVvOi5kEZiUwVdpzmcuVOYsOMxCqZnhIbqy3asZAlENPWcss0kmK2mWG7ExHQd_FHq0hqqNojf6QHK9Bq6SHZrFuLYnc/s400/P1130764.JPG)
Then and only then, I went through each file and tossed out stuff that was redundant, unnecessary, or simply out of date. For instance, in the "Writing: things to write about" file, I had notes and handouts on how to get published--from a writing seminar I attended
15 years ago!I think the publishing industry has changed just a *
little* bit since then.
Once all the files were winnowed down, I popped the four new files in the hanging-file drawers. Yay! I'm happy. And look how skinny the completed files turned out to be:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsmxc37sikTVMcpkpci2phM_ItIFvuN2Fr2Aa3j3Z7jqRNqpUip2Zf3HNUqQybqlideNtBwRVu46800Mg21CcBlIUmAz_h4b45BzkXI4GB81HQ4GwQjrJpZI0p1eZGIabPsYrK1vcGpeLZ/s400/P1130763.JPG)
A personal file system--as opposed to one for work--can be as quirky and arbitrary as you want it to be. It's just for
your use, after all. No need to impress the boss or co-workers.
For instance, I have a file called "Dogs and Folks." It's filled with scraps of paper describing dogs and owners I've met on my walks, whose names I want to remember.
Some of these folks make the jump from passing acquaintance to fast friend. I won't be needing this card any more:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX3_73PDdo13Gm8EHO8jy8YvmdPbnS1e6OgKgzKUnWGEwUrnX6QVeof6RJgikBHB4VURLO1E1p8YxAppx3ECbzFZqh0pn2AgsneqyszTeHkHrt7rTyGACoTIv4yNb4Ithga0E42VhLcnud/s400/P1130766.JPG)
...because C. and her Cavalier King Charles spaniel, "Charlie," are good friends now and walk the canyon with Pao and me twice a week.
So, go ahead. Make yourself a file called "Awesome Photos of Old Cars," or "Sentimental Sh** I Refuse to Part With" or "Recipes I'll Probably Never Try" or the ever-eloquent, ever-mysterious "Misc."
Just get those papers
in a file, and put them somewhere vertical with other like files.
Then sit back and enjoy a job well done. And, in my case, enjoy a place to put my pretty new notepaper:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBetFSdWeyy3OjL62T-UQXueEvjC8B0VizgfbyPM4K9wgZIrOJrmjgHYItrhOpPQPboiI_uzC9SWQn-bA9Ozq8sdKLDPeZ_SXEwC5FdziCK5B4EjT4y-2wlm4cLgw2f4U96_p_kPyg-BCf/s400/P1130753.JPG)
Now if I could only force myself to weed out that pen and pencil collection....
FIRST thing on my to-do list after the Christmas Crazies are over is to tweek my filing system I worked on this summer when we remodeled our home office; you've given me some GREAT ideas for making it productive, user friendly, and all MINE! Thanks! xoxo
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm glad of it. It was a revelation when I realized my personal files didn't all have to be like "Contracts, Pending" but could be totally tailored to my life and idiosyncracies.
ReplyDelete