Organize Like a Pro: Sorting Papers Part I
TL/DR: Sorting paperwork can be a daunting task, but with a plan-of-action (below) you’ll be a pro in no time! Plus, if you do all of your old paperwork now and go paperless from here on out, you’ll never have to do this again. Magical right? Part I gives you a big picture start-to-finish walkthrough of the process of sorting paperwork, including set-up and clean-up. Part II will address more minutiae about naming conventions and the mindset of labeling.
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Depending on your generation, it’s likely you have moved to strictly digital files and paperless billing for your day-to-day life. Even so, there always seems to be at least one straggling category of paper filing. Most people have somewhere at least 1 file drawer or box full of filing. Oftentimes this consists of old tax docs that you are required to keep, top-of-mind paperwork (one-off insurance claims etc), and notes that you have yet to transcribe or to-do’s you haven’t done.
For others, they still receive paper statements, bills, and informational packets. I mean, I get it, the paper version feels more concrete, more real. I remember things best when I’ve written it down vs typing, so I understand reading on paper vs a screen. The biggest misconception is that the paper version is safer. This, real talk, drives me nuts. There is nothing secure about a piece of paper in a cabinet vs a file on a computer. If someone has broken into your house or stolen your laptop, it’s equivalently available to them. At least the digital version is more likely to have a redundancy elsewhere.
I would tell you not to worry and use password-protected files, but that’s like mailing a letter and not sealing the envelope: on first glance you can’t read it, but if you take a little extra effort you can see it. More on security in a future post. OK, but you’re not here to be lectured, you’re here to see how you can make your filing as painless as possible!
My recommendations below include a lot of set-up, but trust me, organizing is as much a practice in patience as diligence. You can do it!
GATHER | My first suggestion for ANY organizing project is to gather ALL of that item in the same space. Take your filing out of the deep depths of that one hall closet, the boxes of old school work from college (let’s face it, the silverfish are having a feast on that), the pile near where you set your mail down, and anywhere else you stuff or shove paper.
ASSESS | This is critical so you
understand the magnitude of the task ahead
plan for the time it will take to sort (it can take up to several days of solid effort, this is not unusual if you’re a newbie to getting rid of papers and absolutely expected if you have 2+ boxes of paper)
get a visual on how much you need to digitize/get rid of; digitizing also takes time
get a visual on what will need to be stored and how that will be stored
PLAN | Make a plan for that day. Determine how long you have to sort. If you have an hour, set an alarm for 45 minutes so you have 15 minutes to “clean up” to whatever degree you will be putting this stuff away between sorting. It’s super helpful if you can leave everything generally where you’ve compiled it, because, when you’ve compiled it from all over your abode, it doesn’t usually have a neat spot to go back to. If you have 4 hours (amazing!) set an alarm for 3 hours and leave an hour to clean up. The longer you’re sorting, the more time you’ll need to clean up.
ENTERTAIN | You can absolutely do this process while watching a fluff TV show or listening to a podcast or music of your choice. It’s great to have something that keeps your energy and spirits up. Even if it’s non-emotional like sorting through old gas bills, it’s quite draining to sort your own filing. Every time you see your old address, your memory takes you back to the person you were when that bill came into your life, etc. Be gentle with yourself. Even the most emotionally intelligent person will feel drained after sorting.
SET UP | Before you begin, get several bins or garbage bags to use as: RECYCLE, TRASH, SHRED, and DONATE. Although you won’t be donating any of your paperwork, you may find some sealed office supplies you won’t use or other items like that. You will also need to designate a pile/space (not a garbage bag) for your KEEP pile and your SCAN pile. Your KEEP pile will be those items that you are keeping the physical paper, while SCAN is those documents you want, but you intend to scan. If you have a shredder, amazing, you can even shred as you go if the noise doesn’t drive you bonkers. I often shred after-the-fact in one big batch while wearing my noise-cancelling headphones.
SORT | Now it’s time to sort! Here’s where you can go two ways:
A) You can put everything in one big pile to be sorted into smaller categories after. The upside to this one is your sorting can go faster the first time through — this is great if you know you have a lot that will just need to be shredded/recycled without any digitizing needed. Likewise, you can label each page with a Post-It category, so you end up with a labeled pile of pages that are easily sortable by category. I recommend this method if you don’t have much filing to begin with OR you’re recycling/shredding a ton.
B) You can set up empty file folders in a file box to sort into, using a Post-It as a temporary label. This second option is better if you have a lot of different categories of filing. I recommend this method if you have more than two boxes/drawers of filing to start out with, especially because it’s easy to return to on different days and fully remember and understand what everything is.
Once you’ve determined the method to the madness that suits your pile, get sorting! Pick up each piece of paper and determine which category it goes in. If you decided to sort into file folders directly, make Post-It labels (it’s easier to change your naming scheme once it’s all sorted). I recommend using simple labels such as “Utilities - SoCal Gas” or if you don’t have a ton of categories simply “SoCal Gas” or “Renter’s Insurance.” (Part II of this will explain more about the naming conventions)
CLEAN UP | The clean up is important to be sure you’re getting things in the right place. Do these steps at the end of each session so you feel some sense of completeness. Also, if you don’t label your bags and then come back to them the next day, the recycling starts to look eerily similar to the keep pile and the shred. Do it while your brain still understands what step you’re at.
TRASH + RECYCLE: Take the trash + recycle all the way out to your bins now, you’ll thank yourself later.
SHRED: If you didn’t shred as you go, pick a time (or right now!) to camp out at your shredder and get that all shredded! If you have (or notice you will have) quite a few boxes, it may be worth looking into a service such as Iron Mountain for a shredding pickup/drop off. If that’s the case, just make a shred pile in a box or a bag somewhere out of your way until you’re done sorting everything. Also, if your shredder isn’t huge, it will overheat easily, slowing you down during a marathon shred-fest vs doing a little at a time.
DONATE: Put your donations into your car, unless you walk there and then put it next to your door. Schedule a time on your calendar that same week to drop off the donations. The sooner the better to give you that satisfying all-done energy. Wait to bring your donations until you’re totally done sorting, so you’re not making a hundred trips.
SCAN: It’s best to do your scanning at the end of each day, so you’re not left with a huge block of scanning one day. It can feel especially tedious to do 4 hours of scanning at once rather than in 20 minute chunks. If you have a lot of focus, by all means scan all at once! I usually put on a good playlist and just power through. Great if you have a feeder scanner so you don’t have to wait for the flatbed to scan up-and-back every document.
KEEP: You’ll have either a pile (to be sorted, without or without Post-It labels) or a filebox with temp labels. More than likely you’ll be feeling tired after sorting, so consider doing the final labeling another day with a fresh brain.
And the final step is: REST. Sorting and organizing is truly exhausting. It can give you that extra boost of excitement and forward momentum, but in between you’re likely to feel quite tired. Nap, read, take a walk, move your body, do whatever it is that helps you feel most alive in your body. Be sure to take water breaks throughout and eat a good meal before you dive in!
Part II of this post (coming next week) will dive in deep to the labeling process and give a few storage suggestions/recommended products based on a few different storage scenarios.
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Have something you’ve always wanted to know how to organize? Let me know what else you want to know!
Cover photo courtesy of Anete Lusina from Pexels