Managing paper is one of the most common challenges I see. Here are some reasons why:
- Sorting papers requires categorization, which may not come easily
- Sorting papers requires good working memory, so we can remember our categories and what goes in each one
- The possibility of unpleasant or negative information raises anxiety
- We have to anticipate what we are going to do in the future, to figure out if the paper is meaningful to keep
- Fear of negative consequences for not keeping important pieces of paper shuts down our brains
- Poor print quality may make it difficult to read—utilizing extra brain power just to figure out what you’re looking at
- Confusing language requires brain power to figure out the meaning of the content on the page
- Being confused can make us feel embarrassed or stupid, which shuts down our brains and erodes confidence
- Possible dyslexia or other learning differences may make it even more taxing
When I hear about systems that promise you can find any paper in 30 seconds, I ask, “Is that really necessary?”
Compared to the space it occupies, paper is very labor intensive! Which would you rather sort? A box of paper or a box of sweaters? You’d be finished with the sweaters in about 30 seconds, whereas the paper might take three hours. Let’s also consider that we rarely retrieve any papers that we keep.
Being able to find any paper in 30 seconds is a high maintenance system. If you are an administrative assistant supporting multiple individuals, it might be worth the maintenance, but for most of us, spending that much time creating and maintaining such a system is not a good return on our investment.
I recommend being willing to spend a few extra minutes to find the paper if you should ever need it (and that’s a big if), instead of lots of time organizing it in the first place. This boils down to having a secure location to put your papers, without bothering to separate them out (with a few exceptions). When you need the paper, you look through the papers that are accumulating wherever you have decided to keep them.
What about those exceptions? You probably already know what they are: bills and important papers that you need right away; your permanent identity papers such as birth certificate, passport, visa, etc.; legal documents and decrees, etc.
In a future post, I’ll go into more detail about keeping papers. For now, I encourage you to just start considering that it may not be worth your time to have a highly detailed paper management system.