Organization Quest

Quest On!

Allrighty!  Well, that was a refreshing little breather. Taking a little time off--whether a long weekend or, let’s see, nine months or thereabouts--allows one to re-define goals, re-set priorities, and re-focus anew. With a long weekend behind us, a short work week ahead, and school starting for many tomorrow, it’s the perfect time for some goal assessment and to think about what you’d like still like to accomplish this year. 

My short list includes learning how to edit video, finishing up a scrapbook I started for Alpay last year on our trip to Turkey, working David Allen’s Getting Things Done system (yes!  after much resistance I’m giving it a try), and committing myself to the great One-Pile-‘O-Week venture, whereby I commit to going through one stack, pile, drawer, shelf, or box a week.  What about you?  What would give you a sense of accomplishment or just plain relief if you finally got it done? 

Above:  boats moored at Gumusluk, one of the, let's see, 400 or so pix that need a home in my scrapbook.

 

New Topic on the Quest: Medical Records

Today I saw a new doctor and had a blood draw, which doesn't sound nearly as traumatic as it should.  As I told the tech as she prepped my arm:  I'm both a barfer and a fainter and if we're lucky I'll do both.  She thought I was joking until she saw I'd pulled the wastepaper basket up close to be within hurling distance.  I always feel a little bad for the tech who gets me, but on the other hand, the other techs always look so pleased that at least I know I've made someone else's day.

As it turns out, I neither barfed nor fainted, thanks to the tech who has to be, like, the best blood-taker ever.  She gets top billing on my Gratitude List for at least a month.

The experience did get me thinking about medical records: prepping for doctor's appointments in terms of pulling together paperwork, keeping track of bills and insurance information, and accounting for tax purposes and flex-spending reimbursement.  Being in the process of changing doctors, I've realized how very useful it is to have certain information--providers names and numbers, previous diagnoses and test data--on hand, but there are other important components involved organizing medical-related records.

Many unhappy surprises could no doubt be prevented by ensuring that policy coverage and restrictions are understood.  Of course, keeping on top of insurance invoices is vitally important, as  billing codes can be erroneous, a fact that drove home when my insurance initially refused to pay for (several thousand dollar's worth of) services after my physician was wrongly identified as a "masseuse."  "That's a rub down," I said helpfully during one of the many calls I made to correct the matter.  "I think maybe you meant shake down instead."  Communication with the billing department pretty much took a turn for the worse after that, but in the end a code was assigned that accurately reflected the services provided, and my portion of the bill was adjusted accordingly. 

It's a drag to have to be on top of things all the time, but staying on top of medical records and invoices is a clear case where the potential benefits far outweigh the interim (and admittedly time-consuming) effort.

Minimizing Packaging Clutter by Archiving Product Information

With a 17-foot closet and, truthfully, not all that many clothes, it was a mystery as to how, exactly, my closet was always stuffed to capacity.  True, I'm a bit of a paper-keeper. I have boxes and boxes of nearly daily journals dating back to, let's see . . . 1974.   Still, I could never really account for the sheer volume of stuff I had until I dismantled my closet a few years ago and realized that empty boxes accounted for a a huge percentage of the stuff taking up precious room.  They weren't  storage boxes, either, but packaging from products I'd bought: camera box, computer box, the box that my cookware came in. 

In the past, I've found that I have, in fact,  needed some crucial bit of information--a lot number or Universal Product Code (UPC)--that's on product packaging, which is why I developed the habit of keeping such things. Since I don't need the actual box per se, but just some of the information on it, I realized that I could just cut the UPC or any other important information from the box and file it away.  In this manner, I've freed up what must be hundreds of cubic feet of space, and it's a lot easier to find the information in a file than tearing through an (overstuffed) closet, searching for a specific piece of packaging.  Just be careful when cutting those boxes, folks.  We don't want any more xacto knife accidents.

Paperwork Associated With Tasks: An Alternate Approach

Last night I outlined the new process that I've been using that seems to  work in terms of getting things done and not losing paperwork associated with tasks.  While I stand by my new system of keeping a limited number of unlabeled files with the thought of going through them regularly (i.e. at least three or four times a week as time permits) one of my goals with this blog is to try to generate additional approaches or ideas that might be useful to others. 

I can definitely see the appeal, for instance, of creating permanent "to-do" folders with set categories that are labeled accordingly.  I've tried this approach myself a number of times, but for me what happens is that as soon as I've "filed" something in that way, I experience it not as a "to do" but as "done".  What I like about  my new approach is how the striped-pattern folders hold a special meaning for me, specifically, "this is something you need to do."  And I like going through the folders often--at least every other day--and seeing what I can do in the time I have available.  This is altogether a different approach than the old "standing folders" strategy, which I'll outline below.

The idea of "standing to-do folders," is to identify those categories that you often encounter in terms of tasks or to-dos.  You then make folders accordingly.  One advantage of this approach is that since these folders are permanent--unlike my new system where the content of the folders is undergoing a constant turnover--you can actually label the folders, which is nice. 

To help you get started, here's a list of categories I might use, if I was using the standing to-do folder approach:

• Calls
• Correspondence
• Events
• Files to Make
• Numbers to Input
• Review
• Read

Even with this list, however, it's interesting to note that several items mentioned in yesterday's post don't really fit in any of these categories (i.e. the need to enable a PIN or to order airline tickets).  The refusal for such tasks to fit into easy categories is another reason why I think the standing to-do folder technique failed for me.  If any readers have had success with this technique, I would love to hear your story.

Task Files In Action: A Demo

When I went through the piles of papers on my desk, on my hatboxes, and tucked in three boxes this past weekend, I discovered a mountain of coulda-woulda-shoulda's; some, like filing my '08 flex spending claims by the April 30 deadline, weren't too late to do.  But the close call got me thinking about how I need to come up with a better way to manage my tasks so that they actually get done.

Yesterday I wrote about  the importance of separating out paperwork associated with tasks from that associated with archival records, and that I decided to use a limited number of pretty folders to help me organize the tasks at hand. To give you an idea for what kind of tasks I'm referring to, here's what ended up in the first round 12 task folders:

1. An explanation of benefits spanning February through March of this year, detailing a service I didn't recall getting.  I also had a question about the dates of coverage for the particular insurance.
2. A phone number to call to provide a reference.
3. A PIN number sent some time in March with instructions on how to enable it.
4. Paperwork that reminded me that I'd intended to write a thank you note to someone in early April.
5. An outdated list of my planned vacation days for this year.
6. A few numbers I intended to record regarding a goal.
7. A business card, several phone numbers, an email address, and two holiday card envelopes with return addresses, all of which all need to be written into my address book.
8. A scrap from an old notebook with information about an old  account I'd been wanting to check but forgot how to access.
9. A credit card bill from March that I'd been meaning to look over.
10. Things for which permanent files need to be created.
11. Notes on airline tickets I need to get.
12. An invitation to a charity event, a brochure from the ballet on next year's program, and a brochure on a summer outdoor concert series.

These are the items that I came across first when going through the stacks of paperwork.  I actually ended up with perhaps 30 more tasks that do need to get done at some point, but none of these other tasks were particularly pressing, so I kept to the first 12 folders I created.  In each, I added a piece of copy paper and wrote a quick note as to what, exactly, to do, (i.e. for #5, I wrote: "print updated list and input dates in planner." I then set aside some time after work on Monday to devote to the task pile.

In a little less than an hour, I called my insurance company (task #1, above), provided the promised reference (task #2), enabled the PIN (task #3), wrote and sent the thank you note (task #4), checked the old account (task #8), and decided which events I was interesting in going to (task #12) so I could hand the event file to Alpay for him to look at. In all, I completed items in half of the folders, which I then cleared out and filled with the paperwork associated with other tasks that were in danger of being overlooked before I had a system in place to capture them.

 
I actually decided to keep the files on my desk, in the place where I used to jam paper without first looking at it.  The difference:  this area is now reserved for task items, with priority to those in the folders (task paperwork not yet assigned to a folder is tucked behind the folders, as seen in the picture, above right).  As I make my way through the tasks in the folders, the paperwork is either tossed/shredded or filed, making room for new tasks to be transferred into folders. 

Filing Strategies: Separating Tasks from Records and What to Do With Each

Yesterday I wrote about filing strategies that just don't work. One common mistake is the habit of mixing paperwork associated with tasks with paperwork kept for archival or record-keeping purposes. Other efficiency-busters: "pre-filing" paperwork in a temporary file box instead of filing it straight-away in its permanent file; "stash-and-dash" filing, in which paperwork is not dealt with or processed but stored in attractive files or other containers with the vague, optimistic intention of getting to it, eventually; and "non-filing," or letting piles creep up to the point that  your entire desk reassembles a gigantic in-box. Happily, there's a solution for every problem, at least when it comes to organizing.  Here are some techniques that have been working out well for me:

Separate Tasks from Filing

Basically, there are three types of paperwork:

1. trash: envelopes, advertisements that come with bills, fliers for events you're not interested in, coupons for products you don't use or stores you don't frequent, duplicates, old or outdated materials, numbers or notes you no longer need, manuals, receipts, or warranties from products you no longer own, etc. 
2. things to file: receipts and records associated with taxes, warranties and owners manuals, notes and research for projects, account information, financial records, significant correspondence, appraisals, product information, insurance policies, cv or resume, benefit information, dental, health, and immunization records, etc.
3. things to act on: names, numbers, and addresses to input; accounts to reconcile; calls to make; correspondence (rsvps, thank you notes, job applications, birthday cards, recommentations, invitations) to write; numbers to check; questions to ask; decisions to make; products to register; policies to review; things to return or exchange; taxes or claims to file; new files to make.

Group Like with Like

As you separate the things you need to act on from that which you need to file, go ahead and make loose groupings of categories--all banking stuff goes together, as with work-related stuff or things associated for a particular class or hobby.  I stop processing paper once I have a good-sized pile--about 2" or 3"--that needs filing.  Because everything in the "file pile"  has already been vetted and confirmed (i.e. it's not trash and it isn't something that needs immediate action), I know what to do with it and where it will go.   (Note:  if I don't know what to do something or if I need to make a new file for it, the item goes into the "action/task" pile, instead.)  I then start digging through the file pile, pulling out five to ten items at a time to file so as to break the project into manageable chunks. With like items grouped loosely together in the pile, the filing goes even more quickly.

Stashing leftover unfiled items in a box or "to file" file doesn't work for me; I just end up forgetting about the stuff.  So I try to go through only the amount of things I'm able to process/file at any given time.  If I don't have the time to file everything I've processed, I've been leaving the pile on my desk to process as I have the time.

Put Grouped Action Items In Their Own Folder

This was the real toughie:  what to do with the stuff you need to do something with?  David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done recommends putting "action items" in their own separate folder, but I balked at the details: Allen recommends having unlimited (i.e. hundreds) of plain manila folders on hand, each containing their one designated task, the name of which you print with the aid of a label-maker.  Folks, this is just too much work.  Plus:  plain manila envelopes are ugly.  And:  wouldn't most people be overwhelmed with so many folders in front of them?

And yet: the system has its advantages.  To-do's are often associated with paperwork--numbers, receipts, notes, bills, proof of purchase, service records, etc.  And so it makes sense to have a file for to-do's, in addition to the more familiar to-do list.  But surely you don't need hundreds of files? Especially ugly files?  With computer-printed labels? 

As I made my way through my own piles, I decided I would: 

1. Group actions items like-with-like (i.e. numbers to file; files to make; concert tickets to order), one group of actions per file.
2. Use pretty files; in my case, I had some wonderful striped files I'd been saving up.  The smooth texture and lovely colors give a little lift to task-list chores, and they are pretty enough to store on or near my desk. I decided to use "interior" file folders for tasks, while archived information is stored in hanging folders in a nearby file cart.
3. Limit the number of action files.  In my case, I limit my action files to the 12 pretty ones that came as a set. I find this keeps me focused and prevents me from feeling overwhelmed.  Once the 12 files are all used, I set aside some time to do the tasks at hand, which assures things gets done and provides a steady turn-over for the task files. 
4. Skip labels.  Since I only have 12 action files open at any given time, I save time and don't bother with labels.  After I complete the task at hand, I either toss/shred the info in the task file, or I file it away permanently in a hanging file.  I then re-use the task file for a new task.
5. Drop a piece of plain copy paper or organizer paper in each of the task folders and quickly jot down the task, i.e. "Call insurance agent about rate increase."  I've found this helps immensely, as it's easy to forget what task, exactly, I intended to do.  In the above example, for instance, an insurance bill in a task folder could mean anything from asking about a good driver's incentive to arranging for more (or less) coverage, adding a driver, or clarifying a policy.  By writing the task out, you make it easier to delegate the task to someone else;  you also create a designated place to take notes and capture key information that may arise in the process.

Tomorrow I'll demonstrate task folders in action to provide a few examples and help you brainstorm ways you can use task folders to help get things done.

Processing Paper: What Hasn't Worked in the Past, and Why

This past weekend I decided to Get Serious about the paper mess that has yet again accumulated on and around my desk.  As I made my way through pile after pile, I realized the papers represented two main categories:  things to toss-or-file, and things to act on or do.

In fact, this distinction is a key point in David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, a fact that went over my head when I first read the book in the fall.  This time in dealing with my (considerably less supreme) paper mess, I could see the difference between the owner's manuals and tax receiptsand health records--archival information, in other words, that merely needed to be put away--and the flier from the ballet, an invitation to an event, a scribbled phone number, and the explanation of benefits from my insurance for a service I didn't recall having.  These were things that required action--to decide whether or not to get tickets, to RSVP, to input the phone number in my address book, or call to investigate the claim. 

Seeing both the archival information and what Allen calls "actionable items" jumbled together, I began to see the mistakes I've made in the past when it comes to processing paper.  In doing so, I could better understand how to apply some of the tips and techniques Allen proposes.

Mistake #1:  Jamming files willy-nilly with paperwork of all types, subjects, and purposes, in an effort to reign in paper mess.

This was bad, folks.  It's the paper equivalent of the stash-and-dash: just grab anything and everything and stuff it in these cute folders.  In my defense, I did not delude myself into thinking things were actually "filed" in this way.  My delusion was that "at least this looks a little better--and I'll eventually get around to filing this!"

What's the problem with this approach? What's right about it?  What needed to get tossed never got tossed, the archival information never got filed, and the to-do's never got done. 

Mistake #2: (semi) filing items in a temporary "holding" box after making the original keep-or-purge decisions.

 

 

I know:  some people can fit their entire filing system in such a box.  And if I could fit all my files in this box, there'd be absolutely nothing wrong with storing my archival information in it. But I am not one of those people, folks.  This could hold six months worth of files. Maybe.

What's the problem with this approach?  In this case, the problem is two-fold:  yet again, I have tasks intermingled with archival information.  The other problem is the rather pointless and time-consuming half-measure of semi-filing items under the letter in the alphabet, before transferring them to their proper/permanent file. 

Mistake #3: Treating the entire desk top like an enormous in-basket.

I have all this stuff to go through, where should I put it?  Oh, there's a place here!  In-between these two boxes!  Perfect!  I'll never find it now!

This approach begs two questions:  What am I thinking?  and: Will I ever learn?

 Tasks undifferentiated from archival information--is there a pattern here?  As we saw in Mistake #1, undifferentiated piles = to-do's not done, and files not filed.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see the three techniques that are helping to turn my paper mess around.

Using To-Do Lists: The Task Method and The Time Attribution Method

After a two-week slide in which pretty much all cleaning, organizing, or maintenance went downhill, today I got back on the organizational wagon and decided to get busy.

I find that when things are truly out of control, a little structure helps me get back to the straight and narrow.  A To Do list usually does the trick.  For organization tasks, I either assign a duration (i.e. "work on taxes for one hour") or an end goal ("clean refrigerator") to the item on my To Do list, depending on the complexity of the task on hand.  For simple tasks I just jot down the item, but for projects that are more involved, I'd rather commit to a time period, after which I assess my progress and identify the next step.

Because my study is where I paint, write, work out, dress, surf, compose the posts for this blog, watch TV, file, do paperwork, talk on the phone, and generally hang out, not to mention actually work two days a week when I work from home, I decided that it was my "ground zero"--the one place most in need of an organizational intervention. As with other amorphous projects, it really wasn't a matter of doing one thing (i.e. "organize medicine cabinet"), nor was it a fairly routine task I could write out as a goal, like "clean the bathroom." There were clothes to put away, the desk to clear, paperwork to handle, the floor to sweep, and myriad other tasks to accomplish, so I used the time attribution method, and kept it do-able: work on my room for an hour, and go through papers/file for another hour.  After a little more than two hours, the floor and desk were clear, the clothes put away, and I'd made a considerable dent in my filing.  What helped was to do the general cleaning first, so I had a nice clear desk to use as my paperwork command-center.  Afterwards, I let myself get out my paints for the first time in months and spent several hours happily absorbed.

 

31 Days to the New Year = 31 Days Left to Use Flex Spending

A while back, I mentioned how organizing can save money.  Taking advantage of a Flex Spending Account to pay for your (and your family's) health care or dependent care with pre-tax dollars is one way to save money, but it only works if you can accurately guess how much you'll spend in any given year, and if you make sure you use every penny in your account before the deadline at the year's end.

If your flex spending account is set up like mine, at this point you still have a whole month to use up any existing funds in your account. The company who administers the flex spending account at my company recently sent out a reminder, along with a list of qualified flex spending expenses, which I found helpful and thought I would pass along to you.  Remember:  expenses must be for the NON-COSMETIC treatment of a specific medical condition in order to be eligile.  Don't forget to turn in the receipt!

(Note:  Although I believe that the IRS determines the rules governing eligible flex spending expenses, you should check with your account administrator to guard against any misunderstandings or costly mistakes.) Eligible expenses may include:

Over-the-counter purchases

• Aspirin, Tylenol, or Advil
• Antacid
• Bandages and related items
• Cold and flu medicine and prevention
• Condoms and spermicides
• Motion sickness treatments
• Cough syrup
• Pregnancy tests
• Cough drops
• Asthma medicine
• Canker and cold sore treatments
• Laxatives
• Acne treatments

Office visits

• Medical office visits
• Dental office visits
• Chiropractic office visits

Co-pays

• Medical co-payment
• Dental co-payment
• Prescription co-payment

Dental care

• Dental care for non-cosmetic purposes
• Teeth-grinding prevention devices
• Orthodontia (braces and retainers)

Vision care

• Contact lenses and cleaning solutions
• Eye examinations
• Eyeglasses
• Sunglasses (prescription only)

Therapy

• Psychoanalysis
• Psychologist fees
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Speech therapy
• Alcoholism treatment
• Drug addiction treatment

Preventative care

• Flu shots
• Vaccinations
• Immunizations

Childbirth and Fertility Related

• Childbirth classes
• Fertility monitor
• OB/GYN fees

Monitoring equipment

• Diabetic monitor
• Blood-pressure monitor

Misc.

• Mileage to receive eligible health care services
• Medical records charges
• Smoking cessation (programs, counseling, gum)
• Acupuncture
• Hearing aids and batteries

Close Call On The Cookie Front

The not-so-new Bettter Homes and Gardens Cook Book

Yesterday I posted my ambitious list of weekend organizing plans centering on getting the kitchen ready for some serious cookie baking next week.  And I did choose the lucky 12 cookies that made this year's cut:

1. Sugar Cookies
2. Spritz
3. Gingerbread People
4. Domino Refrigerator Cookies
5. Monster Cookies
6. Peanut butter Cookies
7. Mexican Wedding Cakes
8. Thumbprints
9. Chocolate Crinkles
10. Chocolate Truffles .  Maybe!  Or:  Lemon-Pecan Slices
11. Miniature Date Pies
12. Jewel-colored Jam Tarts

Exhausted by the grueling cookie-selection process, I decided to pass on organizing the kitchen cupboards today, but didn't entirely slack off:  what has actually been bothering me lately is the mound of paperwork that has gathered under my desk since last winter.  Somehow the under-the-desk-mess escaped the shred-or-file fate of the Supreme Paper Mess I confronted this summer.  I also wanted to tidy up my room some, knowing that it was now-or-never, or at least now-or-after-the-new-year.  And so I settled down and used my first-pass strategy of focusing on the toss-or-keep decision. 

Imagine my surprise when, among the old catalogs and flyers, coupons and receipts, pictures and letters and bills and manuals, I came across the sugar cookie recipe, which I hadn't even realized I was missing in the first place.  It's one of the few cookie recipes on my list that actually come from a book, in this case an ancient, binder-bound copy from Better Homes and Gardens in which the woman all have elaborate manicures and wear aprons.  While I have perhaps two dozen copies of my mother's banana bread and Mexican Wedding Cakes recipes--because God forbid I lose them, they'd be forever gone--I'd never bothered to make copies of the retro Better Homes and Gardens sugar cookie recipe, because I figured it was in a book and thus safe.  But that recipe is actually unique itself, calling for grated orange peel among other surprising ingredients.  I've never found one anything like it,  which explains in part why store-bought sugar cookies are so inedible.

The close call scared me straight.  I solemnly swear to organize my recipes--and make copies of my favorites--once and for all. 

Organizing Receipts: Part II

Yesterday I wrote about filing important receipts, which basically fall into three distinct categories:

1. receipts for valuables associated with warranties or that are needed for insurance purposes;
2. receipts needed for tax purposes; and
3. receipts of recent purchases to aid in returns

But what about all those other receipts that inevitably collect in coat pockets and wallets--grocery store and gas station receipts, ATM receipts and the like.  What to do with them?

While digging through my Supreme Paper Mess, I decided that I don't need to keep restaurant/fast food, gas, or routine grocery receipts if I paid cash. Having experienced identify theft problems, however, I do like to keep all receipts for which I've used a card, so I can check my purchases--or ATM statements--against my credit card or bank statements.  Once that's accomplished, I can then get rid of--which is to say, shred--any receipts which don't fall into one of the "important receipts" categories listed in the above.

Since the "unimportant," credit card receipts are only needed for a month or so, it's not worth the time or effort to do much with them.  I got a 13-pocket organizer a while back.  Recently I realized that if I can train myself to go through my wallet for receipts every day or every few days, I can just slip the latest receipt in back of the appropriate monthly pocket, which will make auditing the bank and credit card statements much easier and more pleasant than my current method of digging through an unruly, crumpled mess.

Organizing: Receipts

In the midst of a paper-organizing frenzy, I decided to get busy on a project I've been putting off for years:  figuring out, once and for all, a way to organize receipts. 

The challenge was finding a solution that's attractive.  Maybe if I was naturally organized, I wouldn't need to bribe myself with luscious colors, wonderful textures, and just plain fun products. Call me superficial, but when it comes to organizing systems, appearances count a lot. A practical-but-homely approach just doesn't cut it. Collecting receipts in an envelope, for instance, doesn't work for me. Even if I number the receipt and keep a list of the receipts on the envelope, the sight inside such an envelope always fills me with dread and annoyance.

Tooling through the Container Store, I came across Semikolon's multi-media box.  At 6-1/4" high x 7" wide, it's a perfect size for 4" x 6" index cards.  The cards are, in turn, big enough to accommodate the width of most receipts.  The receipts themselves can easily be folded to fit the card's length.  Just staple the receipt to the card and jot down the store, a summary of the item(s), and the date along the top of the card and file according to date or category.  Easy, fast, practical, and with the buttery-smooth, two-tone media box, filing receipts is no longer a dread-filled chore.

Above, left: Semikolon's multi-media box.  Above right: the box comes with four dividers and six slots to accommodate larger or smaller categories.  My categories include tax receipts, receipts for valuables (for insurance purposes) and/or products with warranties, and recent purchases.

Above, left: receipts on cards with notations.  Above right: close-up of folded-and-stapled receipt, along with notation.

Back to the Dread List: Using an Organizer to Manage the Details

The original Dread List I posted back in August is in serious need of an update.  This week, however, I did manage to tackle something that's been hanging over my head for quite some time.

In my previous life as a demonstrator for card- and scrapbook making supplies, I had a credit card vendor's account, which meant I could accept credit cards for payment of supplies.  This was years ago, and yet, I somehow never got around to canceling the account.  At $4.95 a month, the fee wasn't exactly a show stopper, but after a few years, it does rather add up.

What does that have to do with organizing, you ask?  In a word, everything.  Because I had let my filing system slide and was organizer-less at the time I opened the account, I didn't have any of the information handy in order to close it.  Unlike our shared accounts, which Alpay meticulously maintains, my vendor account had been neglected.  The paperwork for it was . . . somewhere.  Without it, I didn't know my account number, wasn't sure of the cancellation policy or what my responsibilities were for closing it. I didn't have the customer service number, and wasn't even sure of the name of the service I had used.  In other words, I was in a pickle. 

Happily, the service recently underwent some changes and issued a letter, complete with account number and customer service number.  It took about twenty minutes to find the letter, call the number, wait on hold, and cancel the account.  The woman who helped me through the process suggested I call back in five business days to ensure that the account has been closed.  With my new organizer in place, I jotted down on a 3x5 Circa card the relevant information, including the account and service numbers and the name of the person who helped me, and put the card in front of next week's calendar.  No need to add the customer service number to my address book, as hopefully I won't ever need it again. Nor did I want to write the task onto a specific day on my calendar, as it doesn't really matter which day I call to confirm.  Once the cancellation is confirmed, I'll pull out the 3x5 card and shred it. 

Canceling the Vendor Account

More Binder Fun: Organizing Clips And Work Samples

Yesterday we saw how binders can help organize craft projects and materials; they work equally well for organizing clips and work samples.

Most writers keep copies of their published work, or "clips," to send to prospective editors, agents, or employers.  Nowadays it's possible to pull together an electronic portfolio for such purposes, but it's still nice to have hard copies on hand of your work, whether or not you're a writer.   Application materials or work samples for other professions might include reports, certificates, letters of reference or commendation, student evaluations, business plans, materials for projects, programs, or curricula you helped developed, or any number of things specific to your profession.  It was my friend, the writer and educator Lori Catallozzi, who showed me how such materials are so much more efficiently organized in binders than in folders.  For one thing, files require that you pull out items in order to look at them.  It's much easier to just flip through a binder to immediately see your options. 

I follow Lori's system of making several photocopies of my work, which are then slipped into a top-loading page protector for easy accessibility.  Behind the clip, I tuck the original source material facing the other way, so I can see the front when the page is turned.  Coupling the source material with the copies makes it convenient to make more copies when the need arises. It's a fun project to do, and a satisfying one at that.  No more digging through stacks of magazines to find the clip I want!  No more lost source material!  If only all organizing was so easy.

Left: a photocopied clip in a top-loading page protector. Right: the original source material tucked behind the clip so the magazine cover is visible when the page is turned.

Organizing with: Folios

When I was 19, I spent the summer and fall semester in Paris.  So many things struck me as agreeably new and different:  the concept of cheese as a dessert course; having different verb forms distinguishing friends and family from strangers; scarves used as a means of personal expression, rather than just to keep warm. It was also the first time I saw a folio, a kind of cross between a folder and an large envelope, with a decorative band or ribbon ties to keep the contents secure and tidy.  Folios are attractive options to folders, equally suitable at home, in the office, or at school, and particularly useful for corralling paperwork pertaining to a particular project.  I also use them to archive my loose-leaf journal entries, which I've been keeping more or less every day since. . . let's see. . .1974.

Folios are hard to come by here in the States; multiple Google searches were not fruitful.  I've had occasional luck finding folios in paper or art supply stores. Semikolon makes a nice, slim folio, while Resource International offers more storage with a 1" size. 

Happily, once you have a folio to template off of, it's easy to make your own folios.  Slim folios like Semikolon's lie flat, which makes tracing the outline easy.  All the cutting and scoring is done with an exacto knife on a large cutting mat. The real trick is finding a piece of paper large enough and sturdy enough to be functional.   I use a sturdy "cover" card stock from Paper Source.  The 20" x 26" size is plenty big, the color selection is great, and at $1.50 a sheet, the price is right. I then cover the card stock with a pretty, decorative paper using good old-fashioned rubber cement as the adhesive.   My favorite part is coming up with decorate fasteners and ties; I tend to favor the ribbon-and-two card stock discs approach, although I've also successfully used velcro fasteners with beaded pulls. No matter how many folios I have, it seems I could always use a few more. 

from left to right: hand-made folio made with card stock and red-and-pink polka dot paper; card stock and Japanese plum blossom paper folio; card stock and lilac lace paper folio; folio made with card stock and green leaf paper from Nepal; store-bought vinyl folio (discontinued); another folio made with card stock and Japanese paper (can't get enough of those plum blossoms!); Resource International 1" folio in slate gray; and Semikolon folio.

Close up.  You can see the double card stock disc and corded ribbon fastener on the polka dot folio.

This Weekend: Back To The Dread List

While I've made great leaps and bounds in de-junking and organizing this past month and in maintaining the various progress made, the items on my Dread List and Put-Off List have pretty much languished.  I could probably come up with a convincing explanation as to why clearing out and organizing the medicine cabinets in the master bath is Just Too Hard, but nobody likes a whiner. So instead I'll offer up what's on this weekend's to-do list:

1. Clean/organize the medicine cabinets in the master bath
2. Clean/organize the under-sink cabinet in the master bath
3. Spend an hour or two going through/filing the various papers unearthed from the craft closet project
4. Clean the bathrooms
5. Tidy up my study
6. Make an apple pie

My Label-Maker: A Love Story

Sometimes when I refer to my label-maker, the person I'm talking to will say, "I don't see the point in a label-maker; I wouldn't know what to do with such a thing," which is a little like saying "I don't see the point in a F430 Ferrari; I wouldn't know what to do with it."  I used to think that if these people won the lottery, they wouldn't know what to do with their winnings if their life depended on it; I've since taken the somewhat more charitable view that maybe people really don't know what to use a label-maker for.  Since I'm here to serve, I thought I'd offer up a few examples.

I got the idea to label all the little bags of yarn and buttons (top left) that come attached to clothes from the Real Simple article on the subject. And as Regina Leeds points out in the best-selling Year to An Organized Life, no matter how neat your handwriting, file labels that are machine or computer-printed (top right) will always appear more tidy. 

The general rule I follow is if something needs to be opened to see what's inside,it probably needs a label.  This goes for all my binders, notebooks, and journals, thus saving me the aggravation of digging through otherwise identical books (bottom left).  This also applies to magazine caddies, (bottom right) which look tidier when their spine is facing the viewer. 

It was Alpay who suggested I label the drawers in the craft closet (below) after years of listening to me open one drawer, then the next, then the next, in a frantic attempt to find some supply or embellishment, often times the size of a thimble.  "That can't be good feng shui," he began to say when disorder presented itself in a particularly annoying way.  This was after I carefully explained to him the precepts of feng shui and how they apply to a customized shoe closet.  I got my shoe closet, so I guess labeling drawers is a small price to pay. 

File Maintenence

In August, I dealt with the Supreme Paper Mess in my study. After I was done, my treat was to unwrap the adorable little document box I'd gotten at the Container Store some weeks before and put it on my desk to work as my new paper catch-all, the rule being that when it's full it's time to file.

It took three weeks for the box--a 12 1/4" x 10 1/4" x 4" affair--to get slightly overful.  By that time, my desk had slid towards its former slovenly appearance as well, so this weekend I turned my attention to set things to right.

It took about 20 minutes to clear my desk and another hour and 45 minutes to file the things from the document box, which is about right:  I seem to be able to file about 2" of paperwork an hour. In the end, I was completely caught up and ready to move on to the next thing on my List.

More Filing Strategies For The Filing Inept: The Two-Pass Approach

When it comes to filing, I favor a two-pass approach: As I make my way through a pile of papers, I first make the decision whether or not I’ll keep the item. I’ve found that when I make the save-or-toss decision en masse in this way, the second part of the process, which is the actual filing, goes much more quickly.

Yes, yes, yes, I'm aware that this flies in the face of Conventional Filing Wisdom, which, as discussed in yesterday's post, only works for people who don't actually need filing guidelines. But to paraphrase the subtitle of a popular how-to book series, if you're like the rest of us, trying to do everything at once--deciding what to toss and what to file, categorizing and preparing the keepers and then actually filing them--is over-ambitious.  It's much easier to sift through a pile in front of a shredder with save-or-toss the only decision to be made.  Those who are predispositioned to be a grind can make piles-by-topic of the things that need to be filed.

Before the second part of the process, the filing part, I gather up my supplies:  scissors, stapler, binder and paper clips, and my label-maker.  I also make sure I have a variety of interior and exterior folders in each of the colors I use, so I can make new folders if need be.  If the items have multiple pages, I put them in order and staple or bind them as needed before filing them away. 

Lickity Split, of course, is always happy to lend a helping paw.

Filing Strategies For The Filing Inept

One of the fundamental rules of filing mandates you never read, scan, puruse, or otherwise allow yourself to be absorbed in what you are filing, nevermind the fact that you probably wouldn't have bothered to save something in the first place unless it was at least a little bit interesting.  Such rules don't work because the people who make them up don't understand how a filing backlog can happen in the first place; their own files consist mostly of financial papers.  It never occurs to them to keep a running file on a variety of interests, hobbies, ideas, and projects.  These are people who don't appreciate the entertainment value of decyphering a faded receipt; neither do they see the point of keeping old magazines or catalogs.  A performance review from a former job or postcards from a friend's 1995 trip to Mexico hold absolutely no interest for them. 

If you happen to be one of these people, then you can follow conventional filing rules with great confidence, because Suze Orman or Julie Morgenstern can tell you exactly how long to keep your tax returns and that will be that.  But the rest of us need to come up with filing stratgies of our own. 

As I dealt with my Supreme Paper Mess , I was continually assailed by articles, newsletters, brochures, manuals, project lists,  alumni magazines, product information, old cards and letters, and journal entries, among other things, whose interest value rivaled the Olympics.  Many of these materials had landed in the To File pile that consisted of the floor of my study precisely because I had intended to go through them but hadn't found the time. 

I didn't want to derail my efforts by settling down with a cup of coffee and a two year old copy of University of Pittsburgh's alumni magazine; neither did I have any intention of throwing it out before getting a chance to look through it.  The compromise I made is one that has ended up working surprisingly well:  I created a To Read folder.  Whenever I have a few minutes, I pull an item or two out of the file and puruse to my hear's content. 

I'll take a catalog or magazine to work to look through on my lunch hour.  Most often when I'm done, I toss the whole thing; occassionally I'll clip a specific item or article.  When I go home, I'll file the clipping in the appropriate folder. 

I also like to choose a few things from my To Read folder in the early evening, after I come home from work but before I'm ready to do anything new.  I'm not a big TV watcher, and it's nice to develop a routine for such transition times.  Time spent in a waiting room, waiting to pick the kids up from an activity or from school, commute time via train, or before-bed reading time are possibilities that might work for other people.