Overwhelmed by paperwork?
In this article it is confession time; due to unforeseen circumstances and a very heavy workload both professionally and privately in the last couple of weeks, my paper piles grew. They grew into unsightly piles I had to take action and soon.
Therefore in this article, why not join me and have a look at your paper piles? There are many strategies to use that can help you conquer those outstanding and somewhat intimidating mountains.
Being overwhelmed by paperwork is normal
Before we start though, let’s be very honest, organising paperwork is not for the faint-hearted, but it can (and should be) done. I would say at least a quarterly clean-up is very important once you have a system.
If you have mountains of paperwork that haven’t been touched in years let’s get some momentum happening.
Firstly grab a warm drink and some chocolate - yes for paperwork you might need the bribe straight next to you. In this case, don’t have the reward later – paperwork is hard work, so make it as pleasant as possible from the start.
Have a good working space a large table or the floor.
Have some good equipment ready this means scissors, a stapler, a staple remover, some small boxes for smaller items, sticky tape, post-it notes, a marker, and a bin (this will need to be a big bin).
Once you have everything, it is time to sort and make rough groupings of items, you can always refine them later.
Breaking down paperwork overwhelm
In this book I’ll walk you through Organising your Paperwork for life.
When you feel less overwhelmed by paperwork
Different piles might start to emerge like:
a file pile (which will have to be refined in terms of groupings later)
documents for a particular person
banking
work
study
If something triggers you to action put it on the action pile.
Once you have the big groupings you need to go through them again to create smaller spaces and think about how to store your papers. Don’t be under the illusion that you can tackle paperwork in one sitting it will require several sittings. Paperwork is really like a marathon, so make sure you pace yourself and train regularly.
Need more help?
Sign up for the Paperwork course, you’ll learn skills you wished you had years ago.
