Paperwork

2/23/2016

Forty-one years ago and counting, Jeff and I decided that I would keep track of all of the papers that have to be dealt with.  Early on, Jeff bought me a light yellow commercial filing cabinet and I made folders.  Fast forward to 2016, I still have folders in that filing cabinet.

My organizational skills far outweigh those of Jeff's, and though he sometimes doesn't understand the rhyme or reason of where I file things, it doesn't matter, because I can find the required document. I have individual folders for the cars we own now as well as for cars we used to own.  Okay, I know that I should take those folders out of the cabinet and shred the contents, but I don't.  I have this fear, which is completely un-rationale, that at the very moment I destroy some documents, there will be a need to have them again.  Why I think this does not make any sense, and I know this, but I save papers anyway.

I used to have individual folders for the household utilities: electric, gas, phone, etc.  Filing paid bills in these folders takes time.  Time I don't want to devote to this ever repeating chore.  Now I have individual boxes in the office closet and I toss the paid bills inside the appropriate box.  

I have a folder for the home improvements we have made to the house.  This folder came in handy just last week when Jeff wanted to know when we had our bathroom remodeled.  I had the folder in my hands in seconds and found the exact information he needed.  I may be "mental", but I can generally find the file and/or document needed quickly.

We used to both use one spare bedroom as our office, and now we don't.  I like everything just so in my work space and I can't abide messiness.  My being OCD meant that it would be better for our marriage and/or sanity, if I moved my part of the office downstairs.  I've done this and my little area in our downstairs sitting room is set up for maximum efficiency.  I still go up to Jeff's office to file paperwork, but once I'm done with that chore, I get the **** out of there.

I have a folder that just contains birth certificates and passports.  You may need to put your hands on this kind of documentation, so it makes sense - to me - to have an individual folder for them.  Perhaps overkill, but you have to put these documents somewhere.

Sometimes a folder gets too big, particularly the insurance company policies for the house and cars.  I then purge out the really old stuff and shred anything that has our name and/or address on it.

Even when I was working as a secretary, my work space was laid out for maximum efficiency.  I abhor stacks of papers or files and believe that everything has a place, and that place is not on my desk.

P