Paperwork Organizing

May 3, 2024

Paperwork organizing is something that plagues many people. Despite living in a digital world, paper keeps accumulating on a daily basis. From staying on top of the mail, going through decades worth of old files, or creating a system to keep track of current paperwork, dealing with paperwork can be very cumbersome and stressful. Decluttering and organizing paperwork, especially for people with ADHD, can be life changing. It can help your brain feel more organized, and can greatly ease anxiety. It can tame feelings of overwhelm. But most importantly, it can give you a sense of control and accomplishment. Organizing paper is usually one of the most complex things in your home to organize. If you learn how to organize and manage the paper in your life, you will have the skills to organize anything! In this post, I’ll give you my top tips for wrangling your piles of paper.

-Pick a place to start. Do you start with paper that’s out in the open, or do you start with paper that’s already in your filing cabinet/file boxes? Ideally, I recommend sorting/purging/organizing your old files that are filling up your file cabinet, so that you’ll have room for new paper. BUT… that’s not always the most visually gratifying, because you may still be left with piles of paper out in the open. But if you can, do your best to get rid of as much paper that’s in your file cabinet, so that when you do go to deal with your pile of paper out in the open, you know exactly where it can go. Going through the file cabinet first also helps familiarize yourself with what you have. There’s a good chance there’s lots that can go, so that will help give you a good hit of dopamine.

-Hone in on purging first. Find the areas that you can declutter the easiest, and move on if you get stuck. Decluttering first will give you more room to work with. Sure, you’ll find stuff that you need to keep along the way, but put more of your focus on purging.

-Make a “to file” pile. Unless it’s easy for you to file as you go, just put everything you want to keep in a pile. If you’re on your own, trying to file everything as you go can actually make the process take longer, because it’s essentially multi-tasking. When you ask your brain to switch back and forth between the tasks of decluttering and then deciding where it goes, there is a lag time between those two tasks. You’ll be more efficient if you can focus on one task at a time.

-Pace yourself. Going through paperwork takes time, and can be very mentally and emotionally taxing. All the decisions of what to keep and let go of are a lot for anyone’s brain to process. Paperwork also has the ability to bring up lots of memories, fears, regrets, and feelings of uncertainty or inadequacy. And think about the size of a ream of paper. That could mean 500 decisions that only take up 2” of space in your file drawer. Oof! That’s a lot of effort for not much reward right away. But the more you do, the easier and faster you’ll get at it. You’ll also build your confidence and feelings of competence. The benefits of being free of all the paper clutter are totally worth it, but you gotta stick with it!

-Remember, it doesn’t have to be “all or nothing”. If you have a hard category, leaf through it and see if there’s any low hanging fruit that can be thrown out, and then move on.

-Supplies: When you’re just getting started with dealing with your paper, all you really need for decluttering is a bag for recycle and a bag for shred. If you’ve got someone helping you, they can shred as you go. Otherwise, let your shred pile accumulate and then shred it another time. Once you’re ready to start putting things where they belong, if you’re using a file cabinet or file boxes, make sure to have plenty of file folders, hanging folders, and plastic tabs. If you think you might need more filing cabinets, you may want to consider temporarily using cardboard or plastic file boxes so that you can accurately estimate what size file cabinet you’ll need.

-Here’s how I like to file: I prefer to use all the same color folders and hanging folders. I create a hanging file for each category. Within that hanging folder will be one (or more) individually labeled file folders. I clearly label the plastic file tab (usually with my label maker). Then, when I’m done filing, I can rearrange the plastic tabs so that they are all easy to see. I’ve found this way to be the easiest to find what you’re looking for, and to be the most inviting when needing to put things away.

-No file cabinet? No problem. File cabinets are the conventional way of storing paper in the most efficient way so that it takes up the least amount of space but it can still be accessible. But they don’t work for everyone. I have helped people organize their paper into boxes, expandable accordion folders, binders, clip boards, cubbies, and even plastic Ziplock bags. You may also want to use a combination of a traditional file cabinet with another method for paper that you have to access more (or less!) often.

-Group like items. Sometimes paperwork from one category ends up in multiple different locations. If that doesn’t make sense for your situation, group similar papers together. When you can see everything all together, it will make it easier to recognize duplicates or paper that can go. Once you see everything all together, you may realize some things can get archived (if you can’t ditch them all together).

-Organize and label your files. There is no “right way” to do this. It really depends on how much paper you have, and how often it needs to be accessed. Try to stay as consistent as possible with your labels. You can also just use Post-It Notes as temporary labels until you decide how you want to group and label your files.

-Shred your paper. There are four main ways people like to shred their paper. 1- Shred it on your own, at home. Invest in a good quality shredder, and you’ll have fewer jams and the machine won’t heat up as quickly. If you have a good quality shredder, it makes shredding fun. Cheap shredders are small, lightweight and easy to store, but the upfront cost savings usually does not balance out the frustration that often accompanies them. If I know my client doesn’t have a shredder and wants to work on paper, I’m always happy to bring my own shredder which works well. 2- Take your paper to be shredded. Places like Staples and Office Max will charge you by weight, and then you put it through a slot on a locked bin so that it can be taken off site to be shredded. Or if you’ve got a free shred service through work, even better! 3- Find a local shred event, and arrive early. Many real estate offices or local clubs hold community events to provide free shredding services to their neighbors. They usually have a limit on how many boxes you can bring, and sometimes the truck fills up before the event is scheduled to end. I usually hear about these events through social media and I try to spread the word as much as I can. 4- Call for a shred truck to pick up your shredding at home. The price for this can really vary, so call and get a few quotes to find the best deal.

-Digitize if you want to. Digitizing paper isn’t a magic bullet solution. It takes time, skills, and patience, especially if you have any hope of finding what you’re looking for later. If you’ve got lots of paper to digitize, you can use a document scanner that can scan multiple pages all at once. Or if you only have a few pages, use an app on your phone such as Turbo Scan which will convert the images into pdf files. However, if you digitize your files, you’ll also have to create a filing system on your computer so that you can find them later. The majority of my files are digitized, aside from one file box of paper (that’s about 3/4 full) and a few bags of sentimental cards that are neatly sorted. I love teaching people how to digitize their paper, but usually we have more pressing decluttering and organizing issues to deal with first.

-Purge and archive annually. Once you get your papers decluttered and organized, make a point to maintain them once a year. Tax time is often an easy time to remember to do this. Shred taxes that are over 7 years old and purge or archive older files. If you’re unsure of what to keep or let go of, talk to your accountant, financial advisor, or search for paperwork retention guidelines online.

If you need help organizing your paper, I would love to assist you! Contact me to schedule a consultation.