From the title of my blog maybe you can guess that I am not the best person at maintaining orderly files. I am 37 years old and I have never had a filing system nor had I ever completed all my filing.
Until today.
My "to be filed" bin was about 8 inches high and included some choice items from 2004 and 2003. It also contained every statement from each account I had opened this year (Fidelity Roth, Fidelity IRA, ING, Emigrant, HSBC ... well, you get the picture). The worse problem was my filing...er...crate. I had no system, which is why filing was so onerous. My main problem was that each piece of paper had multiple associations for me and I had trouble picking one and creating a system (that might be a symptom of the ADD...)
It's ironic that I am usually pretty good about a yearly cleanout of out of date papers (shredapalooza and recyclepalooza of course) and I would usually make progress on my filing during that event, but I'd never managed to truly have it organized or to feel I could manage my filing. It was time.
A year ago (that's right...a year ago) when I was starting this blog, I came across David Bach's suggestions for creating a filing system. Today, I used that as inspiration and LaLa and I spent the entire afternoon and evening wrangling paper. I'm a little pooped.
My system may need some refining, but now I can tell where something goes...and how to find it. Small miracles, people...small miracles.
I start 2006 fully filed. It's a beautiful thing.
It's never too late! I just finished filing a year's worth myself as well. I hope this 2006 will see me filing away immediately as things come in.
ReplyDeleteReality Bites, I actually bought GTD ::: cringe ::: LAST YEAR! That book looks perfect for me (I too found it via 43Folders) but I was so overwhelmed with trying to change so many things at once that I haven't been motivated enough to dig in and read it. I *do* think this is my year and I know I'll be "getting" to Getting Things Done soon. Thanks for the recommendation, its just more reason to crack it open.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin, I love the filing system that David Bach suggests. I crave organization, and his system is really simple. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehmm, the day that your wire in-basket has fewer papers than mine is a cause to celebrate... and motivation to clean out my in-basket.
ReplyDeleteKira, I like the idea of color coding (and I do like those associations you listed) but I found that to be even too much for me LOL While my system isn't monochromatic (I have different colored hanging folders vs. manila folder) its as close as I could get without buying new stuff.
ReplyDeleteI am finding the lesser amount of visual stimuli to be helpful for me. I *do* have ADD so this may be related. I *wish* the color coded thing worked well for me becaue I love bright colors.
Thanks for your comments!