6 Steps to Get Caught Up With Paperwork

​​When life gets busy,  paperwork is one of the last things I worry about! As a working mom with active kids and couple of side hustles, I have systems to help keep me on track, but when Spring arrives and my weekends fill up, it’s easy to get a little behind. I’ve written before about how to get started with wrangling your paper, purging old paperwork, and even creating a binder system to file it all. The key, though, is regular processing of your paper! I like Sunday evenings because I’m usually home, and it’s a good way to get the week off to a smooth start.

Back in mid-May, I gave myself the day off for Mother’s Day, and I liked that so much that I just kept putting all my papers in the file box and not actually processing them. They were tucked neatly away, but because I didn’t do my weekly review, I started missing things - there was a panicky trip to the bill drop instead of my normal online payment weeks in advance, my kids missed dress up days at school because I hadn’t reviewed the paper that was in my  file box, and CVS Extra Care bucks expired before I remembered to use them! I began digging through my file box when I knew a bill needed paid or a form was due rather than processing the whole stack weekly. As time went on, I became overwhelmed by the volume of things I needed to review and file, so I just kept putting it off.

I had a great excuse - I was busy, very busy. But as I heard myself telling my kids just yesterday morning, "if you pick up your room every day, it will never get really dirty and it won’t take very long to clean,” I knew that principle applies to me as well!  I need to make getting through the paperwork of life on a weekly basis a priority.  If I do it regularly, it won't take that long - probably not as long as the amount of time I waste scrolling through social media on a Sunday evening...It's ok to give myself a day off once in a while, but I have to remember that it's easier on myself in the long run to keep up with my family's paperwork.  If I literally don't have enough time to pay bills, fill out a few forms, and file my records, I might need to consider paring down my commitments.   

If you have a mound of paper that's been piling up over the course of several weeks and don't know where to start, use these 6 steps to  “catch up” so you can STAY caught up!

Step 1
Empty all your file boxes and baskets, and move your piles to a clear area (floor is the best!)

Step 2
Separate into piles

• ​Do
• File
• Shred
• Recycle
• Relocate
• Mementos

Step 3
Put the relocate items and mementos in their proper places. 
​
Step 4
Separate the "do" pile into categories to make it more digestible.  Examples could be:

• Bills to pay
• Items to log before filing (like Health care receipts, vehicle maintenance, etc.)
• Forms to complete (school permissions slips, camp registrations, etc.)
• Calls to make or emails to send
• Orders to place

Then DO them!  As you do each item, the associated paperwork should be put into one of the remaining piles: file, shred, or recycle.

Step 5
Take the file pile, and get to it! In a previous post, I explained my binder system  that may help you. Regardless of your filing system, be certain that each paper that you put in your files is necessary to keep.  If it's available electronically or can be scanned, consider shredding it instead of filing.   You may not need to clog up your files with every bill, receipt, or statement you receive, but instead you may be able to simply log the information.  For example, you could keep a log of your vehicle maintenance instead of keeping every oil change invoice.  Read the post about the paper purge for more ideas and some free printables.   Sometimes you may keep only the most recent version of a document, so as you file the current one, be sure to add outdated items to either the recycle or shred pile.

​
Step 6
Recycle and shred.  This should always be your last step.  It's easy to want to do this first because it gets rid of two piles at once, but since you add to these piles through the process, it's best to do this last so you don't have to do this job twice.  Shredding is a great job for kids - at least in my house, using the shredder is a real treat!

You're going to feel SO great, when you get through all your paperwork.  Just do yourself a favor and don't get in this situation again (but if you do, just re-read this post!)