Filing and Being a part of Disorganisation
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Sigh. I've used all sort of filing methods. In and out trays, pocket files, ring binders, slip in pockets, expandable files.. and still... my filing is in disarray. I don't get it.
The paper grows like some gargantuan monster sprawling all over my table as I fight feebly with my puncher (ok fine, I am not very consistent with this.. err fighting)
Same thing with notebooks and organisers. I've notebooks for work, for private life, for planning, for making lists (i love lists), for all sorts of damn things but... i can't FIND my notebooks when I need to. So I end up having 2.5 notebooks for work, multi-using notebooks for lists with recipe books. Of course I can only have ONE notebook but i keep losing that one.. in the pile of paper mentioned above.
HOW?!!! HOW TO BE ORGANISED?!! HOW TO HAVE AN ORGANISED MIND!!?? Seriously, its not for lack of effort. I am a deep desire to be an organised person. (I love lists! I mean only organised people love lists right?!!) I invest in filing utilities. I may be untidy, messy and forgetful.. but really I WANT to be .. err.. extremely err.. tidy and efficient and all that......
Come on.. u tidy efficient people who make reservations, and know exactly where your nail clippers and hole punchers are RIGHT NOW, (and yesterday's mail) ... what's ur secret.. how do u do it.. ..... are u BORN this way... is there... hope.. or shall i... forever hold my peace.... -
If you find yourself scrambling to instil order in your life (and not necessarily succeeding, as you've described), it might be a sign that you may need to simplify your lifestyle.Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:Sigh. I've used all sort of filing methods. In and out trays, pocket files, ring binders, slip in pockets, expandable files.. and still... my filing is in disarray. I don't get it.
The paper grows like some gargantuan monster sprawling all over my table as I fight feebly with my puncher (ok fine, I am not very consistent with this.. err fighting)
Same thing with notebooks and organisers. I've notebooks for work, for private life, for planning, for making lists (i love lists), for all sorts of damn things but... i can't FIND my notebooks when I need to. So I end up having 2.5 notebooks for work, multi-using notebooks for lists with recipe books. Of course I can only have ONE notebook but i keep losing that one.. in the pile of paper mentioned above.
HOW?!!! HOW TO BE ORGANISED?!! HOW TO HAVE AN ORGANISED MIND!!?? Seriously, its not for lack of effort. I am a deep desire to be an organised person. (I love lists! I mean only organised people love lists right?!!) I invest in filing utilities. I may be untidy, messy and forgetful.. but really I WANT to be .. err.. extremely err.. tidy and efficient and all that......
Come on.. u tidy efficient people who make reservations, and know exactly where your nail clippers and hole punchers are RIGHT NOW, (and yesterday's mail) ... what's ur secret.. how do u do it.. ..... are u BORN this way... is there... hope.. or shall i... forever hold my peace....
Take a hard look at your goals in life and ask yourself if you've made it needlessly complex by wanting to achieve too many things simultaneously.
Just a thought... -
Err thing is.. my life is really simple. Family, husband, friends. Live simply, don't have much family problems (now at any rate)
Its just filing that gives me a problem... -
well, in my life, no need for filing... living a simple life negates the need for filing..
at work, my colleague does the filing... she's extremely organised...
i just do the heavy lifting, english writing and most of the presentations... she does the chinese speaking and artwork
she's due for a transfer so i'm learning about the filing... thing is, no matter how good her filing system is, i still suck badly at it...
i'm praying her replacement is as good at filing as she is -
sigh i dont have a colleague who can help me with filing...
though friends keep me organised cos they all know I am forgetful and have already developed the habit of reminding me once or twice when we supposed to meet and etc...
Eventually there must be a methodology that I can handle. THERE MUST BE.
-looks helpless and buried- -
I gave up trying to be organised
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You can start by reducing the amount of stuff you file to the absolute minimum required for record-keeping. For example, you don't really need to keep all of your printed bank statements and financial records as most of this information is available on-line. Likewise with credit card bills.
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dun procrastinate.
the moment u receive sth, do them immediately. if u have sth to file, file them immediately.
Stationary.
keep them together. I have a pencil case where i dump all my pens and pencils. i keep my liquid paper and stapler in the drawer.
To Do list.
Everything that u have to do, write them down on 1 list.. dun care if they're for work or personal whateva... just 1 list will do...
have 15min at the end of the day writing them again on a new list. Have a fresh list everyday. strike out all completed stuff. u might use a different color ink to differentiate between home and personal.
as for ur recipes.. keep them at home.
will add on later..
thats what i do in the office..
my table is still messy.. but thats becos...
i've got my hp, my money, my food my bottle everything on the table.
but work related are in 1 pile
i dun have filing to do...
but i use to arrange them properly in 1 big file.. separated by modules, and acc to the tutorial/lecture number. tutorials on top lecture notes below... den teh next set of notes n exercise.
i dun use puncture de... too lazy
will add on if i rmb anything..
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eh.. this is for work right?
if its for hm.. add in 1 small er toyogo kinda cabinet
i'd label them and follow strictly..
top is for bills..
arranged acc to date, latest bill on top. the bills are put in teh same drawer but i dun mix them.
and if bills are paid, i'd strike across them or sth..
hmmz got what else?
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throw away wat u dun need. be HARD on things to throw.
after taking out files, put it back as soon as u dun need it otherwise it gotta pile up again.
leave at least 15 min b4 knock off time to clear up ur desk, so tat u wont come back the next day only to see an avalanche of paper.
things tat are non-work related, keep at home. so u hav less clutter in office. -
things u dun need in 3 days, that are easily available.. = throw?Originally posted by huiz:throw away wat u dun need. be HARD on things to throw.
after taking out files, put it back as soon as u dun need it otherwise it gotta pile up again.
leave at least 15 min b4 knock off time to clear up ur desk, so tat u wont come back the next day only to see an avalanche of paper.
things tat are non-work related, keep at home. so u hav less clutter in office.
thats what my aunt's husband does..
do u need this? no? can buy from ? yes?
throw lar? keep for what? -
Originally posted by shinta:things u dun need in 3 days, that are easily available.. = throw?
thats what my aunt's husband does..
do u need this? no? can buy from ? yes?
throw lar? keep for what?
my father oso like tat....my mum likes to keep things she thinks might be needed in future & my father prefers to throw things tat he think is useless. -
thing is.. i find that ladies like to buy things.. lots of things that they "may use" but put away forever...
so, the house becomes a mess with useless things -
hmm..something to add on...maybe you can try not to have so many different types of files. have one type of filing system & stick to it, eg. use only 2 ring files with file separators(those with tabs sticking out). u can use different colour files to differentiate between different types of files(but not too many colors). usually those 2-ring files have a plastic slot with a custom label at the side of the file which is very good for labelling purposes, unlike ring binders or pocket files. simplicity is best.
after all the filing & labelling, group the files accordingly on your shelf or cupboard. label the shelves if necessary.
as for your stationery, designate a keeping place for them & always keep back after use. tats how we can always find things we want. -
Be SYSTEMATIC and CONSISTANT....Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:Err thing is.. my life is really simple. Family, husband, friends. Live simply, don't have much family problems (now at any rate)
Its just filing that gives me a problem...
Work the above BASED on PRIORITY and HIERARCHY... -
Originally posted by the Bear:thing is.. i find that ladies like to buy things.. lots of things that they "may use" but put away forever...
so, the house becomes a mess with useless things
When I moved house recently, I realised how many tons of such stuff I had somehow squirrelled away and then, promptly forgot about them too!
After giving / donating / discarding the bulk of it, I'm sooooo heartbroken that I think I'm a reformed person liao! 
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ShrodingersCat, your post was so funny!
Let's see... how to tame the paper jungle monster...
It used to be part of my job to set up filing systems or reorganise a current system to make it more user-friendly. I kinda enjoyed making order where there was none.
I had a really handy hardcover A4 file with 30+ 'pages' you could flip like a book and each 'page' was indexed with a no. to represent dates of the month. Documents that needed tending to on particular dates were placed in the relevant slots so every morning, all I had to do was flip my master diary and flip that file-book and I can get started liao.
I also had a lot of colour coded L-plastic folders. Red is for 'Urgent' or 'Priority', Yellow for 'Pending' etc. I'll scribble on post-it's and stick them onto the folders too so I'd know at a glance that the folder is for "Upcoming Directorial Conference" or "AD&D", etc.
I also had a three-tier tray for "In", "Out" and "Pending" for my boss or colleagues and the mail distribution chap to use.
If I can't do the filing soon enough, I'd band them up together and slap a post-it on the stack so when it's time to do the filing, I'd roughly know where they're supposed to go into.
At the end of everyday, before I left the office, VERY IMPORTANT - clear your desk of clutter! If you can't, at least make sure you have organised stacks so you'd know where to continue the next morning.
Another tip, make sure another colleague or two knows your filing system so that if you're on leave, they don't have to keep calling you. Or even if they had to call you, you're organised enough that you can give clear instructions over the phone - "It's in the Red Plastic folder on my top drawer on the right cabinet, keys are with da boss."
Even if your workstation is messy, let it be an 'organised mess'! Appear in control of the situation, even if you are drowning in the sea of paperwork! Your bosses won't nag at you so much if they think that you are on top of it all! 
Erm... not quite sure if I've answered your questions cause sometimes, I tend to go off at a tangent. Well, hope the tips help! -
How can we all have the same set of skills & characteristics when we are born different...hehehh
I think the problem is not that you're disorganised because you use lists & you plan . The problem may be that you keep losing things
Root cause could be that -- 1. you have too many items (notebooks, lists) to keep track of 2. Uhh you're careless :p
So maybe you should consolidate everything into one big mammoth notebook/organiser on which your life depends on... ( maybe one for personal, one for work)... and be careful about where you leave it. Carry it everywhere, make it an essential daily item like your wallet or handphone. Once it is something that you'd be totally lost without, you will automatically take more care with it..
If you're a compulsive stationery shopper - "eee notebook so cute, can buy la may come in handy will need to use it sometime in future right" - STOP Diary shopping is done at year end for the perfect piece and that's it!
As for keeping track of dates... maybe getting a diary that's monthly calendar style , instead of daily/ weekly, would be more suitable... then just block out dates on the calendar... one glance tells everything. It's more compact too, which should fit into above-mentioned mammoth organiser heheh
I believe filing and being organised are different things altogether. Bah I hate filing. I'm ok at it but I hate the activity, will gladly pass it over if possible. It's a futile activity like housework -- clear today, paper piles up again tomorrow.. clear, paper piles up again , repeat cycle to infinity. My gawd there is no end in sight.
Lastly if paperwork is not your thang, delegate. Let the SO do it You can be in charge of creating pretty file labels -
i diligently file everything into a plastic bag
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Originally posted by InnoHippo:i diligently file everything into a plastic bag
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Hurhurhur
My snail mail are in a plastic bag Threre's so many no file will contain them
Another thing - file broadly. All documents relating to one project go into one file. Workplan, budget, minutes, schedule, etcetc chuck them aalll in.
Might be alittle messy but at least they're where you left them and the mess is nothing some post-it labels can't sort out. Do not use different files/notebooks for each seperate item, chances are that you will lose them all. :p -
Yeah, use ONE notebook / diary, and then use different coloured pens or same pen, different symbol / icons at the start to differentiate the different categories.Originally posted by choco B:Hurhurhur
My snail mail are in a plastic bag Threre's so many no file will contain them
Another thing - file broadly. All documents relating to one project go into one file. Workplan, budget, minutes, schedule, etcetc chuck them aalll in.
Might be alittle messy but at least they're where you left them and the mess is nothing some post-it labels can't sort out. Do not use different files/notebooks for each seperate item, chances are that you will lose them all. :p
Biangz... having more than one diary / filofax will definitely be one huge problem! -
-awed-
I shall stand here and read all these posts in awe and silence for one moment..
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It's incredible leh you people. you neat people who don't procrastinate. who label drawers... and keep to filing systems. I RESPECT YOU!! -deep kow tow-
I dont have a table in my office. I do have a cupboard and that.. is surprisingly organised. (Drawers for colourpencils, fat colourpencils, pencils, other stationary. Plastic Shelves for paints, brushes, paper, plasticine. The only messy shelf is shelf no. 3 which is big box of unidentified objects left over by previousssss colleague) So I do most of my paperwork at home.. so my home worktable is my office table technically.
Ok... let me see... what I shall do.. positive steps..
1. Once I find my filofax... I will dispose all OTHER notebooks. Err. Except one other.. that one i take minutes for my hobby....
2. Err. Files. I will keep to my expandable file and not use ANYTHING ELSE. for filing
3. I will not... procrastinate? Be consistent? (sweat)... step 3 may just be too big a step..... for me to take.... it is one big deep chasm between Me and Non-Procrastination
4. Therefore, I shall DELEGATE! I shall delegate all non-work-related-filing-snailmail to the Husby, hereby conferred title of Defiler! Now, he will just have to do all that on top of housework, cleaning of cat poo, and killing deadly/non-deadly insects. Besides other husbandry duties of course.
5. I will.. shred all paper and put them into recycling bin instead of attempting to recycle all used A4 size paper myself.
-make deep vows and spits on hand-
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i... try... la........... -
if all else fails, try filing by shredder...
start anew -
i'll just shred myself...
talking abt shredder...
wouldnt it be nice if a shredder can shred mozarella...