Organizing Your Chaos Blog
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If you didn't know it by now, I love to organize paper! My first job that I had in high school was in a business office. My job was something that most people didn't like...filing paper into filing cabinets. Yes, it wasn't exciting, but I didn't mind it at all. I liked putting the papers in date or alphabetical order. I didn't know then how much I like having a sense of order to my life. The simple act of organized paper can eliminate unnecessary stress and frustration.
Now, thirty years later, I am helping overwhelmed women gain peace and calm in their lives by organizing bins, boxes, and bags of paper that overwhelm not only our spaces, but our minds as well. I've had the opportunity to work with Lisa Kelly Woodruff for over six years. Lisa owns Organize 365 and has created easy to follow solutions to organizing your home and your paper. Her new book the Paper Solution is being launched today!! You guys, THIS is the most comprehensive book on getting your paper organized! If you want to tackle your paper, this handbook is for you. :) Did you know that there are two basic kinds of paper? Actionable and Reference. Lisa explains what to do with the two kinds of paper that you have. With easy step by step solutions, you can get out from under the paper mountain that threatens to bury you. I've learned that as we get our paper organized, we begin to gain peace and calmness in our minds as well as our homes. The cost of living in an unorganized home can be high. It can cause family and emotional stress. I'm here to tell you that this can be changed! If you ready to get your paper organized, the Paper Solution is the place to begin! As a Professional Organizer, I know that it's possible to find what you need in 3 minutes or less. It may take time, but it can be done. One step at a time. Let's Do It Together!
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We all have things that we need to do that make our world go round. Everything from taking care of your family to what you do for work. How do you know what all you need to do? How do you remember where you need to be? With all the things that swirl around in our heads AND our responsibility to take care of our families, it’s no wonder we can get emotionally exhausted! I have used a calendar for a long time. Raising a busy family of 8 has had its challenges. I knew that there would be no way under the sun that I could remember all the things that needed to happen in our family. So I’ve been using a paper calendar for years. This was the only way that I knew to make sure that we were at the right place at the right time. If it wasn’t written down, it wasn’t going to happen! When the digital calendar became popular, I added it to my tool box. Adding the digital calendar (I use Google calendar) was extremely helpful because I was able to assign a color to each member of my family, and I could easily see who needed to be where. And, the bonus was that on my digital calendar I added the notification reminders. The “ding” gave me ample time to regroup and move on to the next activity. As soon as something is scheduled, I add it to my digital calendar. If I’m at my desk, I use my computer; if I’m out, I add it to my phone. This has eliminated the need to keep the reminder cards for a doctor’s appointment, for example, or papers with dates on them. I have less paper piles and know where I need to be. I use my paper calendar to see my week as a whole. This helps me see what pockets of time I have when I plan out my week using my Sunday Basket. I’ll never remember everything in my head, and I doubt that you will either. There aren’t any prizes being given out even if I do. :)  The tools I use to manage my family and my business are:
I would love to hear how I can help you. Feel free to email, I’m happy to support you! Let’s Do it Together!  How many times have we said “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have time” as a reason or excuse for not taking care of household projects? How many times have we told ourselves “I’ll do ____ when I have time”? We are moving into a period of time that will allow you and me to dive into household projects. We will have time because the world as we know it is slowing down. This doesn’t mean that everything will come to a screeching halt. However, with the restrictions that are being imposed, we will be at home much more than we have been.
Eating out in restaurants, for example, has been eliminated in many states. (I do, however, encourage you to continue to order from your favorite restaurant via carry-out.) Not spending time with family and friends at sporting, music, theater, and social events frees up time that you would be away from home. You now are given the opportunity to use this time to focus on the various home projects that you have put on the back burner due to being “too busy”. Here are some ideas of what you can focus on while you are home.
Declutter, discard, and then organize. As you tackle this area, you will not only see visible results, you will feel the stress that the disorganization created fade away. I promise you will have a spring in your step! Prioritize the above areas, and work your way around your home while you have the time! This may be the only time that you are encouraged to stay home! Kind of like a big “time out.” Embrace this opportunity to deep dive into your home spaces. Imagine how you will feel when the restrictions are lifted and your home is organized. The relief of getting those projects done is priceless. What area will you focus on first? Let’s encourage each other. :) Let’s Do It Together! Actionable paper refers to paper that has an action attached to it. This could be making an appointment, responding to an invitation, paying bills, planning a vacation, reimbursements, ordering information, prescription refills, coupons, etc.
Where does it all go? First, I would suggest that you make a pile of the actionable paper that needs to be taken care of this week. This will help you see that you don't need to focus on all of it. Just the most immediate and timely things. Finding a home for your papers is pretty important so that you can stay up on things, and not miss deadlines. I have been using the Sunday Basket paper organizing system. It has eliminated excess paper and given me a place to put everything each week. Papers are sorted into slash pockets, and stored in my Sunday Basket. If you don't have either, you can start with folders and a basket or container to hold your papers. It's important that all of the paper that comes into your homes goes into the same container. This way you eliminate losing things :) Create categories to hold your papers as you organize all the actionable papers that you have. This can include family members, bills, school, work, errands, phone calls, etc. This gives everything a temporary home until you take care of it. As you look through your papers each week, you can easily sort what has come into the house each week into their proper categories as well as having a handle on what needs immediate attention. Leaving papers in piles and not giving them weekly attention can cause us to fall behind, forget things, and become overwhelmed. I encourage you to take the time to organize your papers. The initial investment of time and money will be a huge help and eliminate the feelings of overwhelm going forward. I know it's not easy to get through all the paper, but grab a friend who's also living under a paper mountain, and share these ideas with her. We all need some help now and then :) I'll be back tomorrow to talk about what to do with the reference paper! Let's Do It Together! Part 3 in a 5 part series Actionable paper refers to paper that has an action attached to it. This could be making an appointment, responding to an invitation, paying bills, planning a vacation, reimbursements, ordering information, prescription refills, coupons, etc.
The actionable paper that we have is what can bog us down. These are are the things that we have "to do", take action on. The things that need to be done, and we don't want to stop long enough to do them. It's all of the things that we and our family need. Once you have all of your actionable paper separated from the rest of your paper, what do you do with it all? It probably is a big to-do list. So, now you need a system. A way to organize all of the things you need to do each week. A way to plan out what's next. Two Tips: 1. Weekly planning time. I have a time each week when I look through all the paper and then plan my next week. Did you know that for every minute you plan, you save 5 minutes? This means if it takes you 30 minutes to plan your week, you save yourself 2.5 hours of wasted time during your week! So, weekly planning is essential for me. I plan when I will run errands, make phone calls, meals, and shopping. This eliminates the "fly by the seat of my pants and hopes I don't forget something" problem. Every week I look at what has come into my house and then plan what needs to be done. Paper from kids schools, mail, bills, work, volunteer, social clubs, etc. Anything that has come into the house get looked at. THEN, I toss everything I don't need or want. This eliminates unnecessary papers from hanging around. 2. Take action on the things that are necessary to take care of this week. Just this week. The pile of actionable papers includes a whole lot of things that need to be done, but not all of it needs to be done this week. This is a GAME CHANGER for me. It allows me to only focus on the things that are "dated". The things that have a due date. This frees up my head space to take care of things in smaller increments and allows things to get done! You won't get overwhelmed by all of the things, and you are able to take care of just what is necessary for this week and I have much more productive this way. Give it a try! I have been using the Sunday Basket system for a long time, and I found that for me it works the best. I'll be back tomorrow to talk about where to put your actionable paper! Grab a friend and gather up your paper. Now, it's time to take some action! Let's Do It Together! Part 2 in a 5 part series How much paper do you have? File cabinets, boxes, bins, folders, bags, etc? Do you know what to do with all of your paper? There are three kinds of paper that most of us have.
Reference paper refers to paper that you need to keep, but you don't need to access on a daily basis. Some examples of this are mortgage, insurance, taxes, birth & death certificates, warranties, receipts for large purchases, financial documents. Sentimental papers can include photos, brochures from vacations, memorabilia, event programs, letters, kids art projects, and more. We can get so overwhelmed with paper that we don't know what to do with it. It piles up on the kitchen counter, desk, baskets, drawers, etc. The thought of going through all of the paper can be overwhelming. We can become paralyzed just thinking about what to do. If this is how you feel, you aren't alone. A lot of people want to get their paper organized and don't know how to start. I want to encourage you that you can do it! You can take a step on getting your paper organized. And, the first step is: Start! How do I start, where do I start, what in the world is the first thing? Begin with gathering all of your papers,and begin with a sort. You have one decision to make: keep or toss. Once all the paper is sorted, get rid of the toss (recycle or shred) and then you have only what you want and need and then can begin to organize what is left. This first part can take a lot of time, but once you have eliminated the paper that you don't need, you may be left with a much more manageable pile. Now, it's time to organize the rest! I'll be back tomorrow to talk about what to do with the actionable paper! Tell me, what's your biggest paper struggle? Please share with your friends who can use some help with their paper Let's Do It Together! Part 1 of a 5 part series |
Monique HorbI coach busy, tired, and overwhelmed women who struggle with "winning at work and losing at home". We work together to transform your life from chaotic to calm. De-cluttering your home, paper piles, and over-flowing schedule will you the confidence, time an energy to do what God created for you to do. Archives
August 2020
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