Paper | Organizing Goddess - Part 5

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning

Remember back to last spring when you were preparing your taxes. Pretty annoying, right? Didn’t you hate digging through all your papers to find relevant information, some of which was already more than a year old? I bet you made a vow back then that you were going to be more proactive in the future. January is a great time to get things set up for a smooth tax process. As I described in Reducing the Pain of Tax Time, setting up some…

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Ephemera

One of my daily pleasures is doing the crossword puzzle in the New York Times. In yesterday’s puzzle, the clue for 9-down was “Things meant to be used and then thrown away.” I knew the answer right away: ephemera. I use this word frequently with my clients because I want to help them decide which paper items they should save and which they should let go. Dictionary.com further defines ephemera as “items designed to be useful or important for only a short time, especially…

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Like Porn for Organizers

Recently, I picked up a copy of the magazine “Secrets of Getting Organized”, which is put out every spring by Better Homes and Gardens Special Publications. I had been included in an article in this magazine in the past, and was curious to see which of my colleagues were being quoted this year. The photos in this magazine were fantastic. Every home looked pristine and relaxing. The organizing ideas were creative and the decor color-coordinated. That’s when it hit me….

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My Credit Card Travels More Than I Do

The first time I experienced credit card fraud was in 1982.  I opened my bill to discover that I had charged $1,100 at Pit Number One in Atlantic City.  The trouble is that I had never been to Atlantic City. This was back in the days before the Internet (yes, children, there was such a time) and way before we did on-line shopping.  Maybe that’s why I’m not fearful about using my credit card number on-line.  I know that these kinds…

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Focus on Action

Like you, I struggle with paper.  I no sooner get my desk cleared off than it gets covered up again with the next day’s mail.   I’ve written about my struggle and my strategies for mastering paper in some of my previous organizing tips, most notably Divide and Conquer the Pile and What Color is Your Desk? Attacking a pile of paper is very intimidating.  It can be time-consuming to figure out what needs to be done with each piece of paper.  If you’re like…

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