In this podcast series, we’ve been talking about essential organizing. You can catch up on this series by listening to these episodes:
This week, we are moving to organize your paper management in our quest for functional organization in your home. You know how much I love to talk about paper organization! People are FINALLY coming around to the fact that paper is not going away, and it needs to be organized. You could organize your paper first or last, and you could also choose to only organize portions of your paper.
We found in our research study that 54% of people have piles of paper everywhere. Only 18% of people have a system in place for organizing that paper. In addition, 70% of Millenials perceive a stress reduction when their paper is organized. You see, we all have paper. You could have less paper, but you’re never going to be paperless.
Paper is different than other areas of your home. It’s different because 85% of what you store in your filing cabinet you will NEVER need again. The remaining 15% is paper that you do need and you need to be able to find it when you go looking for it. You only go looking for these important papers when there’s a problem. Binders are the solution! Trust me, your future self in crisis will thank you when you have your paper organized and can find what you need.
But here’s the other problem you will run into with paper: Only about 20% of what I suggest that you put into your binders is actually in your filing cabinet or it is paper at all. The other 80% of what needs to be in your binders is either on the computer where only you know how to find it or it is stored in your brain. If something happens to you, how does anyone else take care of anything in your home or for your family?
The other big problem with your filing cabinet system is that you can’t take it with you in an emergency. If you live in California and a fire is coming up your street or you live in Florida or Texas and a hurricane is on its way to land, you can’t put the filing cabinet in the car as you evacuate. You CAN rush your family to the car and grab your binders and your Sunday Basket® with your most important and hard-to-replace papers to take with you.
The reality is that everyone faces crises in their lives. Natural disasters, hospitalizations, death, and more. Having your paper organized makes facing these challenges a little easier.
In this episode, you’ll find encouragement for why and how to get your paper organized.
Are your papers organized? What is keeping you from organizing your paper?
Mentioned in this episode:
Podcast #420 – The Weight of Paper
Paper Organizing Retreats
