PURGING / ORGANIZING / RE-ORGANIZING...

[I must thank linestepper for this topic. It's cool when one person's blog can lead to a blog of your own.]

Everybody has their own idea of how things should be organized.

For me, just for now, I'd like things not to be lying around. For example, I have the habit of dumping clean laundry onto the bed in our guest room, where it just sits and wrinkles, instead of hanging things that need to be hung and folding things that need to be folded. What are closets and drawers for, right? Bank statements and checkstubs go unopened and unfiled for long periods. And junk-mail... oh geeez... the junk-mail. I did a minor analysis and asked myself: "Where is the majority of paper coming from?" It's not like I take home tons of paper from the office. Majority of paper seems to come from the mail... junk mail to be exact. Mostly credit card offers or mortgage offers or ads. These have a tendency to pile up on the kitchen counter, on the family room table, and at my bed-side. When it gets to be unbearable, I get into this mode: "I'm going to clear everything off, and once it's cleared, it should stay clear." When I finally get the kitchen counter or family room table cleared of paper, it stays that way for awhile. Then... slowly... more junk mail starts to pile up. I'll have to admit, though, HotFudge is better than me at getting rid of her junk mail.

I've also tried this philosophy: "If I could just throw away one thing or shred one thing per day..." Works for awhile, then I slack off.

So I end up doing "purge marathons" with my junk mail. Shredding those damned credit applications and recycling the envelopes. There was a time when I kept bills (gas & electric, garbage, water, etc.) for years. Now I shred them the moment the check clears.

HotFudge and I do have a paper problem. Boxes of paper. Ironically, I think there're tons of her sh*t I could throw away. She feels the same way about some of my stuff. This has led to an impasse. I have no right to talk about her sh*t until I get my sh*t under control, and vice-versa. So we may talk sh*t about eachother, but I don't touch her sh*t, and she doesn't touch mine. I try to go through boxes once in awhile, but there are always those things that you can't quite toss: a term paper from high school, a short story from college, some notes with doodles on the side... And so our boxes sit (and sh*t.)

My latest endeavor at organizing files is a combination of "File 'n Store" boxes (purchased at Office Depot) and accordian style folders. (Neither HotFudge nor I want bulky filing cabinets anymore.)

Recently started "project": One accordian style folder marked "Grab This One", containing birth certificate and something else that eludes me for the moment... (In case the big one hits, I'd want to at least try to grab the most important docs (or maybe not).) Haven't decided what else would be worth grabbing. Passport, insurance stuff, latest bank statement perhaps. Of course, HotFudge's safety, clothing and food would be secondary (NOT!!!). I've wondered about the practicality of preparing a backpack with some bare essentials (bottled water, shoes, couple pairs of sweats and shirts...). With all the disasters that have been occurring, there've been one or two "Are You Prepared" workshops on campus.

Tried scanning documents into a computer for awhile. Kinda nifty to have tons of info on one CD. Time consuming, though. And you need a computer to access it.

TofU and I both loathe the cases CDs come in. Can't stand them. Years ago, I got rid of the cases and put the CDs in one of those cases that hold 200+ CDs. I accumulated about 6-7 of these larger cases. Then logged each CDs' "location" in Excel (spreadsheet). I created an inventory of my CD collection. But then again, in order to find a particular CD, I had to turn on the computer and call up the file so I could see what "section" my CD was in. And if I bought a new CD, I'd have to update the file. It kind of worked... for awhile. Then the system just crumbled. This year, I have, what is the best system thus far. Went to The Container Store and found a container that would hold CDs. Bought lots of those. Then bought tons of CD sleeves. Transferred all CDs and liner notes to the sleeves. Now it's like an easy filing system. Don't even have to go to a computer. And if I buy a new CD, I immediately get rid of the case and put the CD in a sleeve and file it in alpha order. This has been my most successful project thus far.

The space I have is limited and the space must be maximized. Therefore, I should be getting rid of things. Logic dictates that if I bring in more than I get rid of, eventually (and it could take years), my space will run out...

So... What have I purged lately? A few comic books (donated), some old bills (shredded), paper with no "sensitive info" (recycled).

I guess I'll be able to say "I'm organized" when I've made things as easy as possible to get to. If I'm looking for taxes from 3 or 4 years ago, I should be able to find it right away. If I'm looking for a specific blue shirt, I should be able to find it right away and not have to go through a pile of laundry. That would be cool. I think then, I'd consider myself organized.