Paper Challenges/Paper Solutions

Written by Debbie Bowie

100_0645 Understanding the Paper Challenge

I’ll bet if I conducted a survey to determine where people are most challenged with getting and staying organized I’d find that paper is the biggest challenge. In my 12+ years of professional organizing experience I have spent more time helping people clear and organize paper than anything else.

Why is paper so difficult?

It’s flat and every piece requires a decision, so it’s hard to quickly make progress when going through papers.
It’s boring. So much of it is white with black lettering. That color combination just shuts down the brain!
It keeps coming. Almost every day paper flows into the home. Every day it requires attention in some form or fashion.
The systems required to process and retain papers are not taught in school. Most people are flying by the seat of their pants when they attempt to keep their papers organized.

What would make dealing with paper easier?

Get rid of more paper. 80-90% of what is filed never gets touched again.
Remember to keep only those papers you are likely to USE in some way. The best way to determine if you will use a particular type of paper is to pay attention to the types of paper you have had to retrieve in the past.
Take deliberate action EVERY DAY to process paper that has come into the home. Go through the mail, school papers, receipts, etc. and move them along to a place where they can be acted on or stored.
Make paper move along a specific path, always landing in one spot to be sorted and then deliberately moved to specific places to be acted on or stored.
Keep paper in as few places as possible--preferably limiting it to the kitchen action area and home office areas.
Remember, you won’t be arrested for not having papers you have pitched. If you throw away a paper and later need it, it’s likely you’ll only suffer inconvenience or embarrassment. In many cases you can retrieve the information you are seeking in another way.
Remember, you will feel more in control and life will be easier if your papers are in order and accessible.

Feng Shui Organizing

Feng Shui Organizing with Debbie Bowie

Debbie Bowie

Discover the profound impact that environment has on performance! Debbie Bowie, Certified Professional Organizer®, professional speaker, feng shui practitioner, and author of Rock Scissors Paper: Understanding How Environment Affects Your Performance on a Daily Basis, shows you how you can empower yourself and get the life you really want by changing the spaces in which you live and work. Her column is devoted to helping you learn how to better manage your time, tasks, thinking and stuff to have the life of your dreams!

Debbie Bowie is the owner of the Rock Scissors Paper Institute, formerly Simply Organized, a company she formed in 1998 whose mission is to help people clear a path to getting more of what they really want from life. Debbie believes the condition of our living and work environments has a direct impact on what is happening in our lives.

Debbie has spoken for audiences from ages 11 to 80 about topics as diverse as art, addiction, substance abuse prevention, organizing and feng shui. Besides her B.A. in Art History from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, an M.A. in Art History from the University of Utah, and an M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University, she has had training in Pyramid School Feng Shui, Black Hat Sect Feng Shui, and is a graduate of the Western School of Feng Shui™. In 2007, Debbie was one of an inaugural group of professional organizers to receive the designation of Certified Professional Organizer®.

Let Debbie's guidance in Feng Shui Organizing help you increase your performance and your enjoyment of life!

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