Monday, March 3, 2008

Making My Home a Haven: Dealing with Piles of Paper

Well, I've already confessed my paper issues. So when Crystal designated today's Making Your Home a Haven Challenge task to tackle a pile - be it laundry or mending or paper, it should be no surprise that I knew I needed to concentrate on paper.

I set my timer for 30 minutes and first concentrated on the floor of my office, because I think the most contributes to the room looking like a disaster area. In only a few minutes, 3 piles were gone and the floor was mostly picked up (my pile of tax papers is still on the floor waiting for me to get to work on it). Since I still had time, I next went to work on my desk, which had piles on both sides of the keyboard, as well as the back corner. How does this happen so fast???

When the timer rang, I had gone through all the mail and pitched most of it, and had a small pile to deal with (mostly bills to pay). I took a brief break and gathered the trash, then set the timer for another 30 minutes. I finished paying bills and reconciling bank statements with only a few minutes to spare, so I did a little more tidying then called it good. For now at least. The desk still looks kind of bad, but at least I'm not stressed about bills lurking in the mail pile.

I think what I most need to do to get a better handle on my office paperwork is just to work at it every day for 15 minutes or so, rather than letting it pile up and become a tower. I think this week I'll try to spend that time every night and see if it makes a difference in the overall state of my office and stress level.

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