Getting Organized Together – April

Goals for getting organized in April – The Home Filing System

Last month I touched on the fact that we still get snail mail six days a week. When that paper comes into our homes, it needs to be dealt with in a systematic and timely manner. If not, it can cause problems and cost you money down the road. Click “here” to read about the incoming mail organizing system.

This month, we should take some time to get our paperwork in order. If you haven’t done your taxes yet, then this will help you to find everything. If you have done your taxes, this will help you to be sure you have a good system in place for filing papers and being ready for your taxes next year.

The home filing system is a major system in your home that needs some attention. This system helps you to manage ALL your papers including things such as: incoming mail, bills, medical records, tax papers, etc. And with the major use of computers today, it also includes managing your computer email, files and documents there as well!

Imagine being able to find anything you need in a flash. No more digging through piles and boxes of papers wasting your time. It really does work. Spend your free time doing things that you want to instead of hunting through paper!

If you already have a home filing system, great! Take this time to purge any unnecessary documents, do some shredding, and make sure everything is in order.

One important rule to follow…

Break it down! Don’t do this all in one day! Make this into smaller tasks that suit your needs. If you want to do one item in one day, fine. But if you’re the type who still thinks that’s too big of a task, whittle away 15 minutes at a time. It will eventually get done. You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish in 15 minutes!

Where to start?

I recommend you go directly to the home filing system page and start there. It includes all the instructions you need to get started with your home filing system as well as recommended filing categories.

If you want to jump right to some sub categories to file, here are some other links:

Organizing Bills

Organizing Medical Records

Organizing Incoming Paper Mail

Organizing Take Out Menus

Organizing Computer Files

How Long to Keep Papers

Put your things away – File your papers!

I always mention how we should get into the key practice of putting our things away when we’re done with them…. well, this includes papers too. Let’s face it, no filing system in the world will work if you don’t actually put your papers into the designated areas on a regular basis!

Put into place a simple routine to file papers daily or weekly, or whatever works best for you. I like to keep a “to be filed” folder which I empty weekly when I pay my bills and file everything at the same time.

The object is to find what’s going to work for you.

April’s summary for getting organized

So let’s review… for April, we’ll


• Set up a home filing system
• Set up an incoming mail sorting system for paper mail
• Establish a routine for putting our papers away
• Do it in small sessions, not all in one day

Helpful resources for getting organized:


• Home Filing System
• Sorting Mail

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