Over the weekend I'd had it. I decided it was time to tackle that pile. And I tossed more than half of it. But now I have to figure out where to put the papers I saved.
They consist of: recipes, magazine articles, old invoices, receipts, manuscript formatting instructions, newsletters, software instructions, newspaper clippings and other odd things.
So, once I have them all sorted into the appropriate piles (Um, that hasn't happened quite yet), what do I do with them?
I have a nice oak four-drawer file cabinet . . . which also happens to be stuffed to bursting. It's time to lighten that load, too. But here comest he problem: no time. Hey, I've got a book to write, and a promotion to plan for the next book, meanwhile I'm still juggling the fallout from the last book. (Which is a very nice problem to have.) I can't even stuff it in the closet (which, as you recall, I sorted through the week before, because it's now crammed full again).
I'm starting to think the best thing might be to just toss this stuff in the recycle bin and start all over again. I mean, I haven't missed it so far, right?
But ... I won't do that either.
I need a black hole to hide the stuff in.
Do papers breed in your house, too?
Oh Lord, yes! Mail appears in the unread mail stack that I'm sure I never carried in from the mailbox. The stacks of papers on my desk thrive and grow without being watered while my carefully tended plants wither and die. And what goes on behind the closed doors of my closets is simply shocking. There's just no help for it.
ReplyDeletePaper is like clothes hangers. Leave them in the dark and they multiply. Maybe you should try leaving the light on? :D
ReplyDeleteI can only laugh since I recently got a huge pile of filing done and, believe it or not, I've been filing promptly since then. Have also been working little by little on tossing unnecessary "stuff" from filing cabinets. I think that's the secret - a half hour or so at a time and it gets done.
I hate to even suggest it, but ... how about buying another 4-drawer file cabinet? I mean, you are turning out several books even as we speak & all of them generate a certain amount of paperwork. You can't throw out ALL the paperwork on the previous books, so -- break down and get another file cabinet! You don't have to fill it to the brim the minute you bring it in over your threshold, but you will need it at some point. It might even be a place to use one of the drawers to store all your bookmarks, etc. for your mailings. (Better than the closet, eh?)
ReplyDelete