If you think organizing paperwork is far more laborious than organizing objects, you’re right! Here’s why:
- If you have 5,000 sheets of paper, you can fit them all into one standard copy-paper box.
- If you have 5,000 various objects, you’re going to need at least one good-sized room to hold them.
To organize either the objects or the papers, you’ll need to make up to 5,000 decisions (fewer if you begin with some metadecisions). So the amount of work is the same, but when you’re done, you’ve either organized an entire room (whoo hoo!) . . . or one measly box of papers.
And if you have 10 boxes filled with papers, you have as many decisions ahead of you as organizing an entire house. Now there’s a daunting reality.
Use this math to reframe your expectations. When you have papers to organize:
- Plan your time accordingly. Expect one box of miscellaneous papers to take many hours, and perhaps more than one day. If there is anything painful in those papers, give yourself even more time.
- Recognize your accomplishment. Remember that getting through just one box of papers will be a success equal to organizing an entire roomful of objects. Celebrate that!
Linda Stanley
November 11, 2011 at 11:25 am
A great reminder! I think the metadecisions examples can become tenants for ourselves & clients… if they will establish their own metadecisions, and write them down… (the action of writing things down makes it more important) then, the list is the “determiner” and they don’t have to stew & worry over each piece, be it paper or objects.
Moreen Torpy
November 12, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Love your comparison of 5000 pieces if paper with 5000 objects and the space they take! I’ll use this tip as well as the note about time needed to clear the paper. I have some clients who need this advice. thank you..
Debbie Stanley, LLPC, NCC, CPO-CD
November 12, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Thank YOU Moreen, it delights me to know I can help even more clients than my own!
Janet Barclay
February 10, 2012 at 7:29 am
I remember working with a client who had tons of paper and thinking it was going to be a huge job. Much to my surprise, he didn’t feel the need to make a decision about each document; most of it just got tossed out! Although that approach is probably a bit extreme for most people, I’ve met others who could learn something from him!