Purge The Paper!

Lisa Phillips: Director and Corporate Organizer, ASO Training

A few years ago with the popularity of home computers, there was talk that we would go to a “paperless society”. While the paper factory shrieked with horror, the truth is that we have created more paper than ever before. Look around! You have paper everywhere….from newspapers, to the ever-ending stacks of mail, and to the thousands of sheets we print from the computer. E-books are the craze, but who wants to sit at their computer to read 100 pages? Doesn’t it make sense to print it out to read later? The invention of ‘Post-it Notes’ now has us sticking paper everywhere from the car dashboard, on a co-worker’s desk, and tucked inside our planners.

When employees were asked what would they like to see changed in their office environment, the ‘paper overwhelm’ was number one on the list. Let’s look at ways to dig ourselves out from under the mounds while staying on top of the stack before we lose all oxygen!

• Have one central location where all the paper enters your office and home.
• Decide immediately what action needs to be taken…discard, delegate, take immediate action, file for reference, or file for follow-up. Then do it!
• Set up a filing system that makes sense to you. Don’t over-analyze the categories. Make sure that others can figure out how you think in order to find something. You may want to use different colors of labels and files for ease in finding documents.
• When deciding what to keep, ask yourself these 5 questions:
  • What is the worst thing that could happen if I threw this away?
  • Could I get another copy if I ever need it again?
  • Can someone else handle this task, thus relieving you of the paper?
  • Will you really read or act on this?
  • Is this information current or out of date?

These same principles can be related to your email box as well. Discard means “delete’, delegate means ‘forward’, take immediate action means ‘reply’, file for reference means ‘move to a folder’ you have created, and file for follow-up means ‘leave it on your screen’. If you have any “white screen” in your inbox, then I would say you are handling your email pretty well! Three simple things to remember:

1. Decide what action needs to take place
2. Direct the paper to the appropriate place
3. Maintain the habit every day

Now breathe….purging paper has never been easier!

How Can It Be Clutter When It Is Just So Cute?

Lisa Phillips: Director and Corporate Organizer, ASO Training

With the end of school comes an influx of papers…papers that have been stored or hanging since the leaves were red and gold. Anything and everything that your child has drawn, cut or colored is now in a pile staring at you…one cuter than another! While a 13 gallon plastic tub may seem like the perfect place to keep every ladybug, self portrait or turkey made with their tiny little hands as feathers, you probably realize that with multiple children and 12 years of school—you will need an entire garage to store the artwork that you just can’t seem to let go. After all, they are only in 2nd grade once, their teacher was so creative, and you see such potential for them to pursue a life as an artist…how could you not keep the yarn dolls, the construction paper ropes, and the macaroni necklaces? As hard as it might seem, there is a method to preserving your favorites and theirs!

At the beginning of each school year, designate a plastic bin for each child to keep every piece of artwork that comes home. With the younger years—it is hard to decide when it is something the child has just created, so best to keep it all. Making decisions on what to keep or toss will be easier when some time has passed and you can see it all together.

A hard fast rule—anything with food on it—out it goes! (Cheerios eyes, candy corn noses, pasta jewelry, etc) It won’t be so cute when the bugs come to visit! Another criteria may be anything with natural materials; nuts, leaves, twigs, which do not stand the test of time. Extra large pieces also do not store well so take that into consideration.

Look at pieces that will hold a memory—their hand drawings, their first number book, pictures where they have written their thoughts (“I love my mommy because….). These definitely go in the “keep” pile!

Distinguish between pictures they drew themselves versus a “color in the lines”. Keep the “one of a kind masterpiece” and let loose of the xeroxed Santa Claus. Further reduce the amount by picking your favorites and letting the child pick theirs. Remember, what might hold a special memory for you may mean nothing to them!

Technology and trends bring many different options in creating keepsakes. Think of “scrap booking” some of the favorite pieces. Consider taking a digital picture of the artwork then having these pictures made into a bound hardcover book…one for each year! Framed pieces make terrific grandparent gifts that will be treasured forever.

Just like going through piles of pictures to bring back memories, your child’s drawings will make you remember the “good ole days” when everything they did was so cute! Hang on to that thought as the teenage years approach—when the difference between “clutter” and “cute” isn’t quite as blurred!