Paperwork Made Simple

Mail alone can take over a table, desk, or counter.  Really, papers don't need a special home, they are content to take over any horizontal surface.  Add some papers from work and school, and it can take over your space.  Yesterday I shared about how I organized our papers and mail, but below you can read about another great idea!

Lea Schneider is a professional organizer who has some great ideas of her own and enjoys sharing what she learns from others.  That is a practical resource for moms, and I think I need to reread it since my children are getting a bit older and they are able to handle different responsibilities and have different types of toys now.

Lea was the 2008 winner of the Rolodex Make-Over Challenge, partly because of her ideas on how to handle paperwork.  I was excited to listen to her thoughts on keeping Paperwork Made Simple on an audio download.

Lea focuses on an idea for paper flow that I had never heard of before, called a Tickle File, because it will tickle your memory, and you will remember to act on your papers.  I won't go into details (that is what the download is for), but I do think that if you are willing to put her ideas into place, you and those around you will benefit.  It doesn't sound complicated!  For those working at home or in an office would really benefit from her ideas, but they also apply to the typical home.  Lea brought up a great point about using cover-less organizers on/around a desk area.  Covers provide one more flat surface and allows you, coworkers, or family member to take the easy route and just place papers on that cover instead of where they belong inside!

Listening to Paperwork Made Simple was an enjoyable experience.  Lasting 50 minutes, you get plenty of Lea's ideas and a thorough understanding of how to implement them.  Lea is practical and understands the reality of "real life" for many of us.

~ Annette {This Simple Mom}

18 comments

  1. No matter how hard I try, paper is a problem. I write hundreds of recipes on papers and they are everywhere. I do pretty good at recycling mail that comes in, but I can't seem to get control of the paper I create! shondaet@gmail.com

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  2. Lea has online clutter control projects.

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  3. I shared on fb: https://www.facebook.com/shonda.knowlton/posts/414522861894131

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  4. I would be embarrassed if people know how bad my paper problem truly is. It prevents us from having the finances we shoul to succeeding in organization and vacations. Planning is thought of, well-intended but never done correctly. I'm ashamed that money that should be in savings is spent because our budget is blown on late bills and catching up. I really, really struggle with this.

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  5. WHere do i begin? I had to move a small mountain of paper from our desk just to find my little keyboard to type you this entry.
    Recently we remodeled our home to welcome twins. Well those preemie babies came with a lot of... you guessed it... paper work. Bills from their month stay at the hospital, letters from every specialist under the sun...

    Our office became part of our open den, and its right next to our family room, so its seen by everyone... we have no storage whatsoever for paper... so it gets piled up on the desk or printer.

    Not to mention the loads of coloring pages from our toddler, Post it notes all over to remind my hard working hubby about stuff, Daily written notes from devotionals, and receipts for shipping from stuff we are trying to sell to pay for all the food these 3 kids eat! :)

    Despite my daily struggles to organize paperwork... this is one task that i can never keep up with.
    -M

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  6. Email: Om7707@aol.com
    and i follow you on Twitter

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  7. AND i have told my entire women's group at church about your wonderful blog...

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  8. My piles of paper are sometimes mountainous! Between the kids' drawings, notes from school, paperwork from my job etc, it's a wonder we can find anything!
    cleaningrhouse at yahoo dot com
    (my email address says it all!)

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  9. I like her idea of creating a string gallery for the kids' art. Then it can be displayed in their room without being another 'covered surface'.
    cleaningrhouse at yahoo dot com

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  10. I have so many paper problems, I don't know where to begin! :) After looking at the comment above mine, I'll say my biggest solution so far with paper problems is our "art line"(instead of clothes line). We strung it across the longest length of our playroom, and use clothes hangers to clip artwork across it.

    bluerosesheart at yahoo dot com

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  11. One thing I learned at Organize Right Now is to create a regular toy pick-up time, instead of waiting until I'm already insane. :)

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  12. I am having trouble keeping up with all my kids school papers.

    ecarian at yahoo dot com

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