GOAL: ORGANIZING PAPER

"Where is Lorna?" you may have been asking. Well, rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated. I have only been mostly dead--more of a death-warmed-overish feeling. But I am working with my doctor to change my diet, take helpful supplements and medications, and create a whole new me. They say every seven years each and every single cell in our bodies has changed into a new cell; I hope it doesn't take quite that long to feel better and stop having random allergic reactions that reinforce the rumor that I am an alien by proving I am intolerant to the food, flora, fauna, air, and water on this planet--never mind the Evil Day Star and it's daily attempts to annihilate me if I venture beyond my dark sanctuary. Ahhh, well, such is the way of things. And summer with it's bright and beautiful toxicities will only last so long.  :-)

I have a new goal: Every piece of paper in Lornaworld has a home, preferably the recycling bin or shredded onto the compost pile but allowable in the filing cabinet or in a binder on a bookshelf. 

My results, so far, have included the following:

• Filing away several papers in file folders by turning ones in the old and useless filing system inside out for a blank tab or using labels to cover old tabs so that I can write on new names

• Labeling the front of the file cabinet drawers with white pieces of paperboard I cut to fit (an index card would also work) and using my Brother label maker. Now, even if I drop dead (not to temp fate), people will know where to find my vital records.   

• Fitting a shoe box across the filing cabinet (like a folder) and using the return envelopes from bills I've paid online or sales junk mail to organize receipts by month. (You could also have them by category.) Any important purchase or monthly receipts I am keeping elsewhere, are marked on the front of the envelope, such as monthly bills kept under the name of the utility company or medical receipts kept separately for tax purposes.

• Instead of an inbox overflowing on the desk as a reminder of work to be done, I have an urgent folder at the front of the top filing drawer for those bills and such and am telling myself to spend time on what's in the folder every weekday. 

• For bulky things that are urgent, a note is put in the urgent folder explaining what needs to be done and where to find the information (e.g. "File taxes by October 15th, preferably much sooner. See '2013 Taxes' folder.")

• I am including folder categories for any junk mail I may be keeping but not intending to use soon enough for it to go in the "Urgent" folder, such as an oil change or restaurant coupon that has a month before expiration. The "Weekly Ads" and "Monthly Ads" folders mean I can recycle everything in them as new ones come in but will always know where one is if I am interested in a good deal on an unplanned service.

• There is a folder for restaurant coupons I might actually use if a friend wants to go out for frozen yogurt or something.

• Grocery ads for the current week (and month for month-long sales) and coupons are kept in a tote bag in the car for ad matching or regular shopping trips. 

• I have a set amount of space for these papers, and more than that requires purging. This set amount of space is vital to making sure it doesn't all just become highly organized clutter. 

• I have included a wish list folder for when I see something glorious out of my current price range that I do intend on buying later and don't want to lose the information.

• I have both hanging folders and file folders so that things stay in place better and aren't constantly falling over.

• I am not currently concerned with whether tabs are going left, middle, right, middle, left, middle, etc., because I am not yet sure of the final categories. If two folders obscure each other, I'll deal with that later.

• There is a folder for warranties and manuals, and this counts as a major purchase to be written on the front of the monthly receipt envelope but have the actual receipt kept with the warranty information.

• I am considering having a master list of categories at the front of the first filing drawer so that I don't go looking under B for birth certificate when I should be looking under V for vital records.

The basic system is in place now, so I just have to make my boxes of random papers and my incoming mail all gets organized within that system. The hope is to never again be fumbling for where I put something and to never feel buried alive in all of the random paper we seem to accumulate.

If you like this idea, but do not have a filing cabinet, consider that BYU sold them for $5 at their recent surplus sale, so check out your local university's monthly surplus sales for used office supplies. (This is a great place to get monitors, cheap somewhat outdated computers, keyboards, desks, etc.) You can also luck out on steals on eBay, Craig's List, and KSL if you live locally to the seller, or just use an empty office paper box.