Paperwork, of any kind, can be messy. Figuring it out can feel daunting. I don’t know many people who would disagree with me. I love to dig into disorder and make sense of it all, and even I have felt, on occasion, an initial shiver at seeing loads of paper.
Paper does, after all, cause the ultimate in chaos for the brain. It is the epitome of what clutter stands for: confused or disordered collections.
{ Of course, the laundry can easily been seen this way, too}
Whether it is stacked neatly or spread across your counter top 6 sheets deep, paper is just one of those things that causes everyone to feel overwhelm.
I mean, how could it not.
Paper that is not contained, whether in a simple folder or as part of my favorite organizational desktop system, is nothing more than a giant opening for chaos. The reason? Your brain simply cannot make sense of all the miscellaneous-ness (now that’s a word!) that stacks and piles, and any array of papers out and about, constitutes. There is no quick way for your brain to clarify the clutter it is seeing.
So, overwhelm ensues. And you are left saying things like “I’ll address that stack later”.
And we know later really means…well…never.
To figure out paper, it so very rarely takes a new, fancy box or the latest organizing gadget.
Really, all you need it some time and focus. And you’ll have that paper puzzle figured out in no time. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t have time and focus in spades. What matters is your desire to feel a certain way and your will to get it done. That is what pushes you forward to make the time, and put forward the focus.
To make lighter work of paperwork, and tame that clutter, you need to address it as it comes in. When you identify a home for chaos-causing items – and anything you bring into your space – you bring calm into your life.
If you want that calm, you can get that calm.
To begin, I suggest you start small. As in one pile at a time. For a short period of time (so you don’t overwhelmed).
Do a sort and discard. Sort what you need from what you don’t need. Then discard or recycle the papers for which you know you have no use. What’s left is more manageable.
Don’t think too hard when it comes to figuring out paperwork. To make sense of it, try that simple step (repeated as many times as you need).
It just might make the job of figuring out paperwork, feel like no real work at all.
