Did you know the two most common questions I get are about paper and email?

Personally, I hate filing.

I’m not quite sure why people are surprised to hear this?

The way I deal with my filing issues is to keep very little paper.

Brilliant idea, right?

The most important thing to remember about filing is that the more you keep, the more you have to file.

And we all know we only ever access less than 20% of the filed paper ever again.

Let’s show you how I do my filing…

I toss the papers I really want to keep in this basket in a far corner of my study. It’s about 5 cm deep (2 inches).

I tossed a good number of those items.

The thing is that with the passage of time, so our intense need to hang onto things diminishes. Or at least for me it does.

I found I could toss the older things that had since been resolved.

E.g. We pay our telephone account every month. When I get the statement, I check to see if my payment is reflecting. If it is, I toss the old statement.

Look at this note.

I kept this note on the bottom of that tray so I could see how long it had been since the last time I filed.

This year I’ve only filed 3 times – 13 Jan, 30 June and 30 Oct.

Be honest – are you shocked?!

So now that my secret is out, how often do you file? Be honest, do you enjoy filing?

When people join my mailing list, I send a question out in the autoresponder with their Organising Success Pack that says something like, “tell me your biggest organising challenge”.

I love it when people respond because not only do I get to know them better, but I also get blog topics

Amanda in Australia writes…

I have one monster thing I still need help with and that is organising my filing cabinet.

I start and have done well I thought..but I have problems with working out what headings to have to make this job easier if you get me…I mean..I have one hanging file marked ‘phone‘ and in there I can quickly put all my paid phone bills..and another for ‘House Rates‘ etc..and ‘Electricity‘ those are easy..but I have so many other things to do with my work that I have no idea where to put them under what heading..that I pile them altogether and then can’t find them if I ever need them again.

Invoices for example..do I file them under supplier name? It sounds stupid as I was a receptionist and can file really well..it’s the working out the filing system that I am not having luck with at my home..how come I can do this at work and yet when it’s my own I am stumped???

My paper clutter is still my biggest issue. Ok..well best keep moving..you asked what my biggest challenge still is..there ya go!

Here’s my suggestion for Amanda

1. File the same way you think
Ask yourself, “if I were looking for this piece of paper, what would I look under?”

I happen to know Amanda makes hand-made soaps and toiletries so if she has several suppliers, maybe she’d like to have a file binder called Suppliers, and then have separate dividers to file according to the individual names.

Something to look out for is this: you don’t want to be switching file dividers all the time. E.g. I file my insurance by Homeowners, Content, Car, Life so that even if I switch underwriters (as I did at the beginning of this year), I don’t have to rewrite the headings. Yes, I’m lazy.

In Amanda’s case, especially if I only have one supplier per type of material, I would have one divider per material supplier.

2. First general, then more specific
Take a pile of those papers and a separate page to make notes. For each piece of paper, write down a general category and then specifically, what you may want to call it.

E.g. a credit card statement from Absa would be general – credit card; specific – Absa.

Go through the whole pile and soon themes will emerge. You might realise that you have 3 credit cards so you need 3 dividers, but only one essential oils supplier, so you just need 1 divider for the essential oils stuff.

3. Keep your system fluid
Before you make a new file or filing section, check to see if you already have something similar. If you realise that you don’t like the old name you chose, change it.

Also, if you’re a person who hates filing and you know full well you’re never going to punch any papers, get hanging files so you need to just drop the papers inside. See the picture above for examples of hanging files

Nothing is set in stone – after all, this is YOUR filing system and must work for you.

These buddy drawer systems also work well for the lazy filer. I have the big drawers but you get systems with drawers about one-third the size too which would suit invoices, etc. a lot better.

Hello. My name is Anne. I am so happy to have you join me this morning. Today I will be showing you my office in its various stages. And while we walk and see, we can talk about the benefits and rewards of having an office system like mine.

Please remove your shoes, grab a pair a slippers from the pile over there, and follow me. We will be walking though the living room and dining room to descend the staircase. Here at the bottom of the stairs you can see a wide open room that is quite bright from the sun streaming in the window. But this room, while large and bright does not appear to be an office. We sneak a look behind each of the three doors finding 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom… We see no office.

No, really, we are in the office. A closer look around reveals wall studs built into place. Electricity run to lights and plugs. There appears to be the skeleton of a closet off to the side. And this wide open space. This space with no insulation, no drywall, no paint, no window coverings. This is my office space. But it is unfinished, in partial completion, and is being used as a junk collection station.

And let’s go around this dark corner under the stairs. I want to show you my Long Term Storage Closet. I know that you will be timid to enter at first, squeezing in behind the stairs, next to the bookcases, but come along. There is much to see! We step into a large room. Each wall has rack upon rack upon rack of books and homeschooling supplies, office supplies, school supplies and crafts, Long Term Legal Files, even Long Term Linen Storage and Childhood memorabilia. I have science projects, family games, push pins and office equipment plugs. THIS is my long term storage.

Now, we haven’t see a desk or anything resembling workable area, so follow me back upstairs and I will show you where I work. Back through the dining room, living room, down the hallway past the children’s bedrooms and into the master bedroom. Although it doesn’t look like a bedroom other than the blankets.

As we walk in the door we immediately see paper holders on a large dresser to the left. Looking right I see a table that had once been a patio table. It now houses 2 large printers. Beyond the table is a large executive size desk.

It is a bit worse for wear and appears to have had its return section removed leaving a bare feeling on the left side. But above that is a large pile of papers from the kids this past week.

Leaning against the wall is a 3 file holder in black mesh. It looks like it could be useful. But with all the papers streaming out of their respective folders at all angles like fireworks… it certainly doesn’t seem to work right now.

I sit to use the laptop provided and immediately roll the chair over the wires plugging in said laptop. Whoops. I lean in to type and bump my elbow on another printer. piggy-back style on the printer is a cable box and a 20″ TV. Half the desk is covered by TV and the other half is covered by piles flowing into piles.

I pick up one of the piles and decide to file those papers. The closest files are in the lower 3rd drawer. I look in there, bit those files look like craft stuff. I glance around the room. Clear on the other side is a large file cabinet.

There is no file for this paper. I set it aside and take another. This one is a receipt for a large Christmas Purchase, Electronic. I dont see a file for receipts. Should I just stuff it in this file with all this other paper? And this BILL looks urgent. Do I need to file it too? Or should I leave it on the desk so I remember to pay it? I probably will file it. It goes in the red BILL folders.

Let’s see… It is a Bill, but what kind of a bill? a Gas Card. But from what company? OK, we go to the red section. I find the Bills. Behind that category it says “gas cards and stores” OR “Credit cards” OR “Signature loans”. It is a gas card. so back up to that section. Hm mm, now where in here does it go? Ah Ha, here. Lookie! I got one filed! Whew. At this rate it is going to take FOREVER to file this pile… and there is another stack of papers right here stuffed in the drawer and they all need to be filed too. UGH!

I should make files for this stuff, I suppose. But that means another trip around the house and through the basement to get file folders. Then again, if I am going to walk all that way, maybe I should just take the whole pile and shove it into a box down there to deal with later. uh, no, I can’t do that. I already have a couple boxes like that from the 90s.

Well, forget the filing. I want to scrapbook. Then again, there isnt any space to scrapbook. I will have to dig all the supplies out of the closet (stuffed in with the clothes) and haul them to the kitchen table. I don’t want to do that either.

This is horrible. Ridiculous even. I think we should just have a snack and watch TV. If we ignore this mess, it will go away, right???

BUT SERIOUSLY, there are no benefits or rewards to my office space(s).

Here are the challenges:

• Things I need are not at hand
• there is no space to work
• the filing system is confusing
• things pile on top of piles
• I have remnants of 2 at-home jobs, remnants of homeschooling (it has been 4 years since we stopped) and everyday family life.

I need help! I need to dig out and move forward. Lucky for me, Marcia has an Office plan!

Please continue to join me on my Office Organizing journey.

I will be decluttering, tossing, donating, filing, shredding, and finding a way to work in the space I have available to me.

See you next week for an update!

Hello all, Marcia here.

I think Anne’s very brave to share her journey with all my readers. Go ahead and encourage her in the comments. She’s doing a great job

And of course, you’re all very welcome to tackle your office over the next 4 – 6 weeks.