Done. Finally. I have finished cleaning out my files. For the last three, no, four years, my New Year’s Resolution has been to clean out my files. It’s sad to say, but my files consist of only six drawers. You’d think that taking four years to clean them out, I must have ten five-drawer filing cabinets. It  has taken me this long to get it done, because for the majority of the time I haven’t even worked on it. Procrastination. However, I’ve tried to be more discerning about the papers I decide to keep and file them right away. So the in-going side of filing has been a little more organized than the out-going side. Extra-sad to say that it’s about time to start at the first drawer and do it all over again. Good grief! Will the madness ever end.

There is a website that I found several years ago when I was beginning to feel the need to get my house in order. It’s called FLYlady.net. Much of what I learned on the website and started to incorporate into my house-organization lifestyle has been forgotten. However, I did pick up two especially useful hints for organizing that I”ve found can be applied to almost anything that needs to be done in life. One is “baby steps” and the other is “You can do anything for 15 minutes”. For instance, applied to cleaning out my files: I would take a big load of files out of a drawer and put them in a plastic file box. That was my goal for that session, to get through just those files. It was baby steps. If I only had a few minutes, I would do what I could for 15 minutes or even just 5 minutes. This kept me from feeling like I had to do the whole job at once. It felt good just getting something, even the smallest bit, done. The fact that it took me four years to get through with the job was not a result of trying to do too much at one time; it was a matter of becoming overwhelmed when I forgot about baby steps and 15 minutes.

Of course, files are paper and lots of it. Some paper needs to be kept; some paper can be recycled and some paper needs to be shredded, obliterating whatever was recorded on the paper. The basic goal of cleaning out my files was to get rid of paper while at the same time figuring out what must be kept and then organizing it in the most efficient way. One of the things that needs to be kept is Explanation of Benefits for our medical insurance. The most efficient way to handle them is to clip them to the doctor’s bill; however, that’s not always possible. So they build up. Even before I started this project, I knew I had a lot of them. It surprised me to find out that I had some from last century. What to do with them? How long should they be kept? In comes the good ol’ internet. I googled it and found that EOBs should be kept for only 2 to 3 years. One site suggested scanning them to alleviate filing the paper. What a great idea. So I wrote myself an EBO policy: keep two previous years along with the current year, scanning them as they come in so that eventually I’ll only have scanned ones. No more paper! And peace of mind knowing I made a good sound decision about something that is necessary to keep.

As I made progress through the file drawers, I realized I needed to face some facts (other than the procrastination thing, but I’ll do that later). There are some things I need to get over and stop hanging onto. I needed to get over all the photos of decorating ideas I had clipped from magazines What was I thinking! Never would I put some of those objects in my house or use those colors. Out, out ridiculous photos and articles and things-to-do that belonged to the person I used to be twenty years ago. That made room to file photos and articles and things-to-do that reflect the person I am now. That’s OK. It was done in a methodical fashion with thought. I didn’t just stuff in more paper because I didn’t want to make a decision which is what got me into the filing mess in the first place.

Another fact I had to face is that I am not the designated keeper of records for every committee I’ve ever served on. Cleaning out those files resulted in lots of shredding and paper for the recycler. Besides just clearing out the paper, my soul felt cleansed. It was like taking off an old smelly coat. I felt liberated. I let go of that self-imposed designation. No one has ever come to me and asked what happened ten years ago on the “Best Fundraising Event Ever” committee or on the “Endless, Thankless Work” committee. Never. Furthermore, I don’t think it’s going to happen in the future. When my biography is written, that part will just have to be left out.

Ah-h-h! Open my file drawers now and you’ll see neatly labeled folders that have plenty of wiggle room in the drawer. No more smelly coat! From now on it’s baby steps and 15-minute timer and good decisions about paper.

Now, what’s the next New Year’s Resolution on the list?