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POSTED: 01.07.2011
The “30 Pound Paper Diet!”
TOPICS: PaperworkAre you looking for an easy way to get your files cleaned out? One of my organizing rules is “Make your organizing memorable and fun.” I have lost 30 lb. of paper files in a week by doing just that. All you need to do is set a date (say by Memorial Day), get a scale (a postage scale works), and chart your progress per day.
My “Paper Diet” started when the movers had a limit on what we could move. Each pound to move costs 60 cents a pound. I wasn’t going to get rid of my book collection, but figured I had some files, binders, and favorite magazines I could cull through. So I set my goal of a 50 lb. diet in three weeks. It’s working!
Measuring Your Progress on “The Paper Diet”
l inch of paper = l pound
l file drawer = 18 or 24 inches
“Power Surge” Weight Loss =
recycling binders, catalogs, and magazines.
The Paper Diet Goals
Main Goal: Simplify and reorganize files and desktops to stay
“clean and lean!”
· Declutter flat surfaces the have paperwork until clean (i.e. desk and floor).
· File current papers by making room in current file drawers.
· Tidy up paperwork after tax season.
· Clean out before summer relaxation sets in.
· Create an annual spring cleaning of file drawers.
Why Clear out Files and File Drawers?
It’s important to your productivity! The fewer files and piles you have, the fewer crises you will have and the more work you will get done. You’ll be working instead of searching.
Begin at the back of each file drawer and pull out ten inches of papers. Place these papers on your clear desktop, line up the recycle bin to your left, and start sorting. As you view each file or paper, ask yourself these two questions:
1. Is this file or paper part of my present and future work?
2. Do I need to keep this file or paper, or is it time to pitch it?
Here are more tips to speed up the process of file sorting:
· Stand and get into a toss rhythm
· Have a decisive person work with you
· Postpone eating dinner until you finish
· Limit the file sort time to one hour
· Plan a big reward for completing your files in the time allotted
Now stand back and survey your desk space. Is there anything more you can do to move paper out of your way? Label your binders, see what ones you can recycle paper from, and weigh the paper for the day. Chart your progress with 3 columns:
· Date: 5/6 Tuesday
· Paper Pounds recycled: 2.5 lbs. from Top Right File Drawer and 5 lb.
from old Binders
· Time spent: 40 minutes 12-12:40 lunch hour.
Usually 30 minutes is a good average per day, though you will see faster progress with two focused hours in the evening or on the weekend. You’ll lose more weight the more often you work your “Paper Diet.”
So far here’s my tally:
2009 = 80 lb. Recycled! Binder papers were the big weight loss. Had some scanned. Rest recycled.
2010 = 40 lb. Recycled! First pass through File Drawers. I’m feeling great.
2011 = TBD Files are organized but going through drawers and magazine collection to scan and empty files.
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Further paper and email tips can be found in “Simplify Your Space: Create Order and Reduce Stress” and related CDs.
This excerpt from Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay that Way! is full of strategies and step by step systems to simplify the tough areas of life: time pressures, kids, clutter, and paper pileups. To get your autographed copy of Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay that Way! go to www.OrganizingPro.com.
Thanks for a great post, I never thought of it like that before.
Neat blog layout! Very easy on the eyes.. i like the colors you picked out
About a month ago I cleaned out some papers from my most used file drawer at work. I thought I had rid myself of all that I could. Two weeks ago I decided to go back and clean up the file some more. I made a box for under my desk that I labeled “30 lb. paper diet” and it is filling up fast! I have more papers in the office that I know I need to toss. I am going through those paper piles and adding to the box. This is a fun way to “lose weight”!
Hi, Monica, We’re all about having fun and the 30 Pound Paper Diet IS a great way to lose weight and have fun. AND it yield a clean office which is definitely easier to live with. Keep at it! Empty the box often.
I gleaned many ideas from your class on Midday Connection and am still working through various areas of my house to implement them. Last Saturday I got rid of about 80 pounds of papers stored in my basement that I had saved from high school (40+ years ago), college, and four previous jobs that I held. They were all organized neatly in boxes, but it was time to let them go. Thanks for the inspiration.
Wendy from Wisconsin
Hi, Wendy,Wow, 80 lb. of high school, college, and four previous jobs out the door is freeing! Organized paper doesn’t have to be kept. Congratulations on letting go of the past. We are all inspired by you.
I enjoyed the article. I wish you had write more on deciding what to keep and what to toss. I read lots of magazine articles on and off line, sometimes I clip or book mark on googe. I think they may be wonderful to keep especially as sources of reference, but then I think they may be found on the internet or updated in the near or not so near future.