Change Is Good

Change is good for us, or so the conventional wisdom says, and sometimes it takes our organizing systems a while to catch up.

Case in point: my own personal projects filing system. I used to have an accordion file from The Container Store that I loved. It was a way of taking the stack of pending papers on the corner of my bedroom dresser and getting them into a more organized state. Poof, they were in the file (in labeled sections of course) and I didn’t have to see the stack any more. I was good about going through it periodically and taking out what I was working on, and purging what was outdated.

Now that I’ve created my office on the second floor next to my bedroom, I don’t need to keep papers on the dresser anymore. Plus as I’ve been reading more about feng shui, I want to keep as many papers and projects out of that room. Only restful and peaceful energy allowed.

It’s taken me a while to figure out how to organize my non-business projects in the new office space. The accordion file just didn’t work on my desk. I also tried a tiered in-box, no in-box, and a vertical file sorter. Finally I found a solution: a desktop file.

This is one of my favorite solutions for clients, so I’m not surprised it worked for me. I can see the categories on the hanging folders easily, and the folders provide a home for pending projects and all those little bits of information that tend to accumulate. My categories include, “To Buy,” “Current Projects,” “Health,” and “Financial.”

I think I may have figured out a solution that works for me (at least for now). So don’t despair: if one system doesn’t work, try, try again.

And if you need help, call That’s Neat! Organizing.