Organizing, Redesign & Staging

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Organizing Paperwork on a Regular Basis

A key to staying organized is regular maintenance. Often I find that clients can get organized, but they can't stay organized. For example, a person will take the time to put systems into place, declutter, the whole 9 yards, and then life happens and the organizational level diminishes to null.


While it is wonderful to get organized, if you want continued success, you need to follow through on a regular and consistent basis. This is most applicable to paperwork, both at home and in the office/workplace.

The old adage "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" works well to illustrate the problem. You (or a professional organizer) can organize your papers, filing, bills, etc., but unless you deal with it regularly, the system will crash and burn. I suggest to clients that they pick a regular time of day or during the week to make sure to manage their desks or paperwork. At that time, you'll want to file things to be filed, check on the status of bill paying, deal with actionable items, clear off your desk or work space, and update your calendar or planner.

Being routinely on top of paperwork is how you'll stay on top organizationally-speaking!