Creating Paperwork Habits
In order to really manage your paperwork it must become a habit. In my experience, it doesn’t have to be a daily habit, a weekly habit, or even a monthly habit. Rather, managing it must be nearly an automatic behavior that happens enough to keep your papers in order.
For me, when I wake up, I make coffee. Waking up is a natural trigger for me to make coffee.
When it comes to paper, I have a few natural triggers that help keep my papers in order.
When tax day comes, I get rid of the oldest tax papers and file the new taxes away.
When my sorting tray is full, I know I need to do some organizing and minimizing.
When it takes me longer than 5 minutes to find a paper, I go through my papers.
For me, it is not as much about regularity. It is about creating these natural triggers.
What I am really doing is discussed by Gretchen Rubin in her book Better than Before. In her book, she argues that a habit is a plan not to plan. For me, this is a way automate my life, so I don’t have to worry about my papers. There are these natural ways that trigger me to go through my papers.
Another way to automate your life is to create what Rubin calls a bright line rule. She offers that, “A bright line rule is a clearly defined rule or standard that eliminates any need for interpretation or decision making.” The example she gives is observing the Sabbath every week. I have some bright line rules already — every December (before Christmas) I go through my son’s toys. I always put my shoes by the door, so I can find them.
My natural triggers act in the same way a bright line rule works. When taxes get done, or when my tray is full or when I can’t find a paper quickly, I know it is time to do some thoughtful paper management. It is pretty simple for me - when “x” happens, I do “y” almost instinctively now. This is, essentially, my plan not to plan to manage my papers.
In my paperwork management course, we create a plan not to plan for regular paperwork maintenance. Click here to sign up for the course today. I can walk you through how to automate paper management, so your headspace can be full of much more fun and creative thoughts.
