I am a saver of documents. Maybe it's because of the former legal secretary in me who rears her head every time I hold a piece of paper in my hand and whispers, "Don't throw that out. You might need it some day."
I save cards and letters because rereading them always makes me smile. I save old envelopes and scraps of paper on which I've written someone's address or phone number or noted a few words of the lyrics to a song I liked and want to hear again. I know it isn't necessary to save a utility receipt once the new bill, showing a payment, has arrived via mail or email, yet I still had some receipts from as far back as 2009.
There are important documents in my files, of course, ones that need to be kept. In fact, I was looking for one of those over the weekend and became annoyed with myself because I couldn't find it where I knew it should be. That one misplaced document (I did find it later) started a purge-and-shred project that has consumed several hours each day this week.
The reason this job is taking so long is that I'm consolidating all those scraps of information into computerized lists before shredding or filing them, and sometimes that leads me down rabbit trails. I still haven't finished, but my mountain of paperwork is now a stashable molehill, and I've reached a good, temporary stopping point.
Now I need to put up my hands and step away from the shredder for a few days. I'm having company next week, and there are other chores to be tackled around here, areas to be cleaned that are more visible than the inside of my file drawers. I will get back to this project, though, and finish it.
In the meantime, what are some of your best tips for taming the paperwork monster?
I wish I could tell you how to tame the paperwork monster, but I can't. I seem to keep every little piece of paper with printing of any kind on it. Finally, just before I go under, I sift through them and weed out what I don't need. The next day, I start saving bits and pieces of paper all over again. It's a sickness.
ReplyDeleteConfessions from another saver: I keep 13 years worth of taxes and receipts in my attic!!! You can be audited for 10... but if the IRS finds a discrepancy, they can audit 3 more years in either direction! I hate knowing all that is up there.... I feel like I'm drowning in paperwork most days!
ReplyDeleteI keep receipts, etc. too, and every now and then I go through them and shred the ones that have my name and numbers on them, and some go to recycling. I guess those of us who grew up before there were computers are more likely to save paperwork than kids today who have everything on computers.
ReplyDeleteI was also a legal administrator in Los Angeles for 21 years. I still have divorce documents from 25 years ago, old calendars for 5 years like the lawyers used to save, medical records for 10 years, tax returns for 10 years, file folders in the drawers, you name it. It's all in the alpha files. The problem is I have become a document hoarder over the ensuing years. My closet has exploded into a warehouse of boxes, notebooks. Now I paste notes and receipts on the wall like my husband does. It's pathetic but its not my fault, its engrained in me by the estate planning and tax lawyers who kept wills and documents in the vault archives forever. I'm attempting to digitalize important documents on a CD disk on my computer, but don't like it because I can't see it or file it in a notebook. Oh, well.
ReplyDeleteI was also a legal administrator in Los Angeles for 21 years. I still have divorce documents from 25 years ago, old calendars for 5 years like the lawyers used to save, medical records for 10 years, tax returns for 10 years, file folders in the drawers, you name it. It's all in the alpha files. The problem is I have become a document hoarder over the ensuing years. My closet has exploded into a warehouse of boxes, notebooks. Now I paste notes and receipts on the wall like my husband does. It's pathetic but its not my fault, its engrained in me by the estate planning and tax lawyers who kept wills and documents in the vault archives forever. I'm attempting to digitalize important documents on a CD disk on my computer, but don't like it because I can't see it or file it in a notebook. Oh, well.
ReplyDelete“The reason this job is taking so long is that I'm consolidating all those scraps of information into computerized lists before shredding or filing them…” – Quite a task, isn't it? Then I realize, cleaning our desk with piles of documents has never been an easy task. It really requires a lot of work, but once it’s done, the result is rewarding. Are you still doing this until now? You know, you can choose to digitize them with the use of a scanner.
ReplyDeleteRuby Badcoe @ Williams Data Management