Do you feel overwhelmed by stacks of documents that seem to re-appear within hours or days of your past attempts to straighten up?

Do you or your family find it difficult to locate a document when you need it?  Do you waste time, get frustrated, and sometimes overlook bills and other important documents, resulting in late fees or other costly penalties?

Well, you’re not alone!  Paper is truly the biggest organising challenge in most households.  So how would you feel if you could find any document in, say, less than two minutes?  Awesome, right?

Well, luckily, I have laid out the whole process below for you:

Start by creating a document retention guidelines list, where you specify how long you need (or want) to keep the various categories of documents you’re dealing with.  If in doubt, I suggest you speak to an accountant or a financial professional, as document retention requirements will vary based on your home country.

Clear an area big enough to allow you to sort your papers into various piles. Then go through your home and gather all the papers from your dining table, your kitchen countertops, your desktop etc. into one place.

Start with the most recent and active documents, likely the ones you’ve found on a flat surface such as your desktop or countertops.  You’ll deal with your backlog and your current files later.  After all, they’ve been there for months or maybe years, so they can wait a bit longer, don’t you think?

Take one paper at a time and decide what you need to do with it:

1. Do you need to keep it? No? Throw it right away.

2. Do you need to keep it because you need to take some action? Yes? Write the action in your to-do list. Reassess whether you can get rid of the paper.  If you do need to keep it until you’ve completed the action, put it into an action file.

3. Do you need it to keep it but for reference only? Yes? Sort the papers you decide to keep into piles. Make sure all the papers face the same way, with the most recent one on top.

Use post-its to label the piles.  Choose a name for the file with retrieval in mind, based on whatever words would first come to your mind when you would want to retrieve the file. For example, you may refer to your car by Your name’s car, or by its plate number, or by its brand and model etc.

Once you’ve sorted your papers into piles, combine them in categories. There are various ways to categorise.  You could have a category for health records, and inside that, a file for each family member. Or you could have a category for each family member and inside that, a file for health records, school records etc.

Create a master index of all your files. Indicate the category they belong to, how long you’ll keep them, and their location (paper, electronic, or safety box).  Print it and keep it with your files.  Give one to your spouse.  That way, you’ll not only save time to file or retrieve a document but also avoid creating duplicate files.

Keep your action files into a magazine holder on your desk as you’ll need to access them frequently. Your reference files can be kept in a filing cabinet, or on a shelf in magazine holders or binders.  Whichever option you choose, remember to FILE, NEVER EVER PILE. A pile attracts clutter, and makes it difficult to find a document when you need it.

Work with your files for a week or two in case you need to change the name of a file or a category, or move a file from one category to another.  Then label your file folders properly.

If you file some of your documents electronically, use the same filing structure and naming convention for your paper files.

Maintain your filing system by purging regularly.  If possible, apply the one in one out rule: when you file your latest phone bill on the top, discard the oldest one at the bottom.

So what do you think?  The approach is quite straightforward, right?

Now, if you have been accumulating papers for a long time, and feel overwhelmed at the idea of getting started on your own, you’ll certainly benefit from using the services of a professional like myself to guide you in the process – so that you can save time, but most importantly, change habits and behaviours that have created the disorganisation in the first place.

Work With Nathalie

Let go of your clutter and feel in control of your home and life again! Contact Natalie Ricaud today!