03.28.08
Out of sight, out of mind
The papers I threw into my in-box the other day stayed there the rest of the week, just as I feared they would. I totally forgot about them. Despite having my in-box on top of my desk, it’s outside of my line of sight when I’m facing my computer, which is most of the day. So anything that lands in it is basically ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as far as my AD/HD brain is concerned. I know left-brained people (like my husband) don’t understand this concept. His paper and email in-boxes are always cleaned out, every day. Nothing sits or piles up- ever!
Before leaving for the day, I grabbed those papers out of the in-box and clipped a “To File” note to them. I put them next to my computer, where I’d be forced to look at them Monday morning. That way I can be assured they won’t lie there all next week, slowly being buried by new papers that land on top of them.
Speaking of always emptying an email in-box (oh, not mine, of course)– my husband deletes or prints out his emails every day, so his in-box is squeaky clean. The other day, he was trying to sign up for online banking at our new bank. I told him we already did that when we opened accounts there last fall– didn’t he get the confirmation email like I did? He checked his email and well– of course it wasn’t there. I searched my 1,200+ messages and found it within seconds (thanks to Yahoo’s email search box).
Ha! The Packrat strikes again! I proved that although I keep just about everything, I can usually find something somebody needs. People think I’m organized, but the real secret is that I never throw anything away. The trick is finding it when I need it…
03.10.08
File management
One day last week, I tried to file my annual performance appraisal (which was very good, by the way) and couldn’t figure out where to put it. Where would I have filed last year’s appraisal? I asked myself. I looked in a hanging file folder labeled PROFESSIONAL, where there were several fat manila files, but it wasn’t in any of them. Hmmm… could it be in the big, black, unmarked binder in my overhead bin? Nope, it wasn’t there either. Where could it be? I know I had one from last year. Surely I filed it somewhere (was it in the to-file pile?). I went back to the lateral file and looked in a hanging file folder labeled PERSONNEL, but it wasn’t there either. Okay, now I’m frustrated! How can I lose a performance appraisal? That’s not something you just leave lying around when you have locking cabinets (unless you’re me).
While looking through my PERSONNEL hanging file (which was overstuffed, by the way), it hit me– I’ve been supervising employees for fifteen years and I’ve never created a decent file system for them. If I had to place my hands on their performance appraisals from last year (which I’m gonna have to do this week), I bet I couldn’t find them. What kind of a manager am I?
I began to panic. A quick search of the bottom of my lateral file drawer turned up theirs– and mine! all lying flat and hidden under a blank mileage reimbursement form. Hmmm….how did those get down there? I don’t remember putting them there (but I know I did). I probably put them there because the PERSONNEL hanging file was overstuffed with folders from long-gone staff who will never darken our doors again.
When I was going through folders looking for last year’s appraisals, I found a photocopied page from an unnamed organizing book. It was stuffed in a folder with job analysis questionnaires and had nothing to do with the questionnaires. How appropriate it was misfiled! I think I found it for a reason… as I believe everything happens for a reason. Two of the main points it mentioned were: 1.) 80% of what gets filed never gets used again ; and, 2.) Only touch paper once (gaaaahhh! I hate that one!). I now believe in #1 and am struggling to believe in #2.
Today, I was waiting on my computer to synchronize files when I realized this was the perfect time to clean out and organize my employee files. Why not? I couldn’t do anything on the computer for a short chunk of time. So I whipped through the folders, creating new ones, moving former employees to the back of the hanging file and even putting their performance appraisals from last year in each of their (new) folders. Wow! Now I feel motivated to begin working on their current appraisals, since those are a little overdue…
02.26.08
Old papers
I tried in vain today to file a piece of paper in one of my hanging files located at the back of my lateral file drawer. All the hanging files in front of it were so stuffed I couldn’t slide the file forward, much less squeeze in one skinny piece of paper. I decided to temporarily remove 3 very fat hanging files in order to reach the file at the back. I quickly leafed through it, purging some of the contents and sending them to the recycle bin. What a small triumph to let go of old stuff I didn’t need, much less know I had!
Hmmm… What if I spent a little time each day (or week– let’s not get too excited here) going through each file folder doing the same thing? Could I free up needed space for future papers and project folders? It’s worth a try. I’m desperate. The piles and files aren’t getting smaller on their own and the clutter, both visible and in drawers, is getting on my last nerve.
02.25.08
White space?
I accidentally uncovered white space on my desk today– lots of it. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but I know I liked how it looked and felt to have so much empty space. As I’ve said before, it felt oddly peaceful, as though someone had draped a white cloth over everything. I wish my desk looked like this every day.
I think the white space happened because we didn’t get a delivery from our outsourcing vendors, so I was able to take care of some problem books and other projects cluttering up my desktop. I was accumulating too many papers in one of my manila file folders (which was overstuffed and lying on my desk), so I divided it into three folders, each with a different focus on the main topic. Now I just gotta squeeze the three folders into my overstuffed lateral file. Hmmm…. maybe I need to empty out some of the existing folders and create some ‘white space’ there next.
My next project might be filing some of that 6-inch tall pile of inbox stuff sitting on the back counter of my desk. If I file 5 papers per day, how many days will it take to whittle down that pile? Sounds like a complex math problem for someone who quit balancing her checkbook almost two years ago. (Yeah, that got away from me too, so I stopped doing it.) My problem is knowing when to throw away stuff, so it’s all too easy for it to build up and overwhelm me.
