My Paper Chase

I'm reprinting this one because nothing has improved paper-wise. Even though I did get it all in good shape 3-1/2 years ago, it didn't last. The piles grow when I'm not looking.

January 17, 2018

I would say I’m average-organized. Maybe a little above average.  I have many friends who have announced, “You are SOOO organized!” Sometimes they add, “I can’t stand it.”

That is mostly due to my being an amputee. It sometimes slows me down, so I’ve learned to keep what I use on a regular basis handy, and to keep things that are used together stored together. So, in some ways, things run smoothly.

Then there’s paper.

I’m always up to my knees in the stuff. I try to organize it. I have folders in stand-up-racks on my desk. A folder for bills. A folder for take-out menus. A folder for tax info. Folders for stickers, health care receipts, and travel articles, in case we ever go anywhere again, not counting visiting our adorable grandson.

There’s one more folder ominously labeled “To Be Filed.”

This is where I stuff all the papers I don’t have time to file in the actual filing cabinet, papers that will probably need a new folder of their own. Papers I’m not sure what to do with. I mean, I often can’t decide off the top of my head if I’m going to want to go to, buy or participate in whatever is being offered. I also tend to save bits and pieces just because they’re interesting in one way or another, but have no actual value. And it’s where I dump odds and ends that I need to get out of sight quickly.

When this folder becomes too thick to shove back into its slot in the rack, even while muttering words my mother doesn’t know I know, I transfer the whole thing into the front of the file drawer that is in my old-fashioned wooden desk.

This last time, I found the space already occupied by four other filled-to-bursting folders. I faced the cold hard truth. I was going to have to woman-up and sort and file. BIG TIME!

I hoisted all five folders onto the desktop so I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know how big the problem was. My desk is in my good-sized country kitchen. I cleared off the table and counter, knowing that I still might have to open a card table or two before I was done. I took the oldest folder, carefully wiped away a spider web and opened it. Thankfully, there weren’t any desiccated bug carcasses like the last time.

Procrastination has one blessing–all the offers I was considering are completely out of date. Articles I thought were amusing or pithy are just old. Much of what I thought we might need for taxes or other accountings, I now know we don’t. The recycling and shredding bins bulge.

The evil twin in my mind whispers, “Look at how much better this is! You could put the rest away for another time. You’ve made a lot of progress!” I was tempted. Very tempted. But based on my belief that I should be able to find the paper I’m looking for in less than 2-1/2 days, I pushed on. I managed to get through all the regular filing and only quit when there was a small pile, less than an inch high. (Really!) They need new folders, but I have to think hard before I can come up with a label for each one that will make sense to me months from now when I want to find it again.

I plan to come back to that pile in the morning when I’m fresh. Honestly. I will. Honestly.

Maybe.

tored together. So, in some ways, things run smoothly.

Then there’s paper.

I’m always up to my knees in the stuff. I try to organize it. I have folders in stand-up-racks on my desk. A folder for bills. A folder for take-out menus. A folder for tax info. Folders for stickers, health care receipts, and travel articles, in case we ever go anywhere again, not counting visiting our adorable grandson.

There’s one more folder ominously labeled “To Be Filed.”

This is where I stuff all the papers I don’t have time to file in the actual filing cabinet, papers that will probably need a new folder of their own. Papers I’m not sure what to do with. I mean, I often can’t decide off the top of my head if I’m going to want to go to, buy or participate in whatever is being offered. I also tend to save bits and pieces just because they’re interesting in one way or another, but have no actual value. And it’s where I dump odds and ends that I need to get out of sight quickly.

When this folder becomes too thick to shove back into its slot in the rack, even while muttering words my mother doesn’t know I know, I transfer the whole thing into the front of the file drawer that is in my old-fashioned wooden desk.

This last time, I found the space already occupied by four other filled-to-bursting folders. I faced the cold hard truth. I was going to have to woman-up and sort and file. BIG TIME!

I hoisted all five folders onto the desktop so I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know how big the problem was. My desk is in my good-sized country kitchen. I cleared off the table and counter, knowing that I still might have to open a card table or two before I was done. I took the oldest folder, carefully wiped away a spider web and opened it. Thankfully, there weren’t any desiccated bug carcasses like the last time.

Procrastination has one blessing–all the offers I was considering are completely out of date. Articles I thought were amusing or pithy are just old. Much of what I thought we might need for taxes or other accountings, I now know we don’t. The recycling and shredding bins bulge.

The evil twin in my mind whispered, “Look at how much better this is! You could put the rest away for another time. You’ve made a lot of progress!” I was tempted. Very tempted. But based on my belief that I should be able to find the paper I’m looking for in less than 2-1/2 days, I pushed on. I managed to get through all the regular filing and only quit when there was a small pile, less than an inch high. (Really!) They need new folders, but I have to think hard before I can come up with a label for each one that will make sense to me months from now when I want to find it again.

I plan to come back to that pile in the morning when I’m fresh. Honestly. I will. Honestly.

Maybe.