I’ve been wanting to go through all my files. Each year, I go through the monthly bills, utility and credit card files and clear out the previous year, but it was time to go through ALL of them.
We moved a fews years ago and had some renovations done. Everything from that time ended up in one folder, which was a collection of what I had and what my husband had. Since that time, anything to do with the house went into that file.
It has been a process and instead of doing it all in one day - I’ve been doing a little here and a little there. I’m about half way through and have been able to get rid of a lot, which helps keep me going. It can be mentally exhausting, especially the personal files, so I try and be mindful of me energy. After a couple of hours I take a break. Pushing through is not always the answer, because that’s often when I don’t make the best decisions.
The biggest concerns I hear about paper are: how long do i have to keep this? and I want this but don’t know what to do with it.
You can be plowing through things and then find one piece of paper that you want, but have no idea what to do with it. The same thing happens when sorting through things. It is what often stops people from continuing. They shut down.
My advice has always been - as you go through things, just decide what is important and what is not. Make a pile for those things that you want and aren’t sure what to do with. After the sort it done, we go back through those things and work them into the system. Usually by then, it is much clearer.
We moved a fews years ago and had some renovations done. Everything from that time ended up in one folder, which was a collection of what I had and what my husband had. Since that time, anything to do with the house went into that file.
It has been a process and instead of doing it all in one day - I’ve been doing a little here and a little there. I’m about half way through and have been able to get rid of a lot, which helps keep me going. It can be mentally exhausting, especially the personal files, so I try and be mindful of me energy. After a couple of hours I take a break. Pushing through is not always the answer, because that’s often when I don’t make the best decisions.
The biggest concerns I hear about paper are: how long do i have to keep this? and I want this but don’t know what to do with it.
You can be plowing through things and then find one piece of paper that you want, but have no idea what to do with it. The same thing happens when sorting through things. It is what often stops people from continuing. They shut down.
My advice has always been - as you go through things, just decide what is important and what is not. Make a pile for those things that you want and aren’t sure what to do with. After the sort it done, we go back through those things and work them into the system. Usually by then, it is much clearer.
