by Tricia
Ah yes…we are on number 7. This one was the one I thought about telling everyone over the past weekend.
This one I am REALLY embarassed about. I think with working so much I had to let things fall through the cracks and this was one of them.
If you asked me to find a receipt to return something – I would be looking for hours. My paper files are an absolute mess for this year. I have about three places around the house where there are piles of papers that are just waiting for their homes.
Filing is definitely one of those things where it helps to keep up with it daily. If you don’t, you have a huge project on your hands. For me, it’s hard to get motivated as well as find the time to tackle it and get it done. I’ve let it go far too long.
Like I said, I’m pretty ashamed of this one. It doesn’t stop at the paperwork, either. My house is cluttered as well.
I feel a little better confessing, but at the same time I am so glad this blog is basically anonymous 😉
Well, I can certainly relate. My paperwork mess is probably bigger than anyones. Sigh…
This is something that is always on my list of things to do. One of these days I will really get organized. It usually only happens once a year though…tax time!
I feel your pain. I just finsihed decluttering several of my blogs, now I’m moving on to decluttering my home. The only problem is life gets in the way. I have appt.’s for several of my 7 kids. I have to work to pay for all the things that have to be: replaced, their braces, their eye glasses and more! I’m basically functioning on two hours sleep most days and I still can’t get it DONE!!!
I hope you have better luck than me!
There is not one soul out there who doesn’t have this very same problem. I struggle with it all the time, but I don’t know anyone who succeeds at keeping up with it. I vow every year to never get behind, but it never works. You are not alone on this.
Having paperwork everyone is frustrating. I have done 2 things that have helped me keep control of it a little bit. The first is that there is just one place for me to put receipts. I enter it in to MS Money and if it has a returnable item on it, it gets put in a pile to the left of the monitor. One place for everything. I have yet to lose a receipt that I needed using this method. The second thing is that I got a collapsable file folder thing for all important documents. It helps keep them organized and if (God forbid) anything ever happened to me, my husband would know that he needs that folder to get 95% of our important information. That way I only have to focus on getting that set of data in the right place and everything else less important can get pushed off. Doing the latter has really helped me feel more in control. I would just try little things to help feel a little but more focused. Looking at the big picture can just be way too overwhelming sometimes!
I have the problem too! I subscribe to FlyLady’s email list, and October’s new habit for the month is working on eliminating paper clutter 15 minutes a day. Her website at www.flylady.net is filled with tips for getting rid of all kinds of clutter, one babystep at a time. I still have a very long way to go, but her daily emails help.
Hello, yes paperwork isn’t something we can escape from unfornately. I have some tips for dealing with the paper flow on my site that may help you. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I may be able to help. Hang in there. Laura
I used to be able to keep up with it and last year’s records are pretty neat and organized. I think my main problem is that I could use 30 hours in a day LOL.
Thanks everyone for the tips!