This is a challenge inspired by
@Syonyk 1. Fix your paper mess
2. Sort and clean up your e-mail accounts/folders
3. Set up a better/new/improved system for your important papers
A. The ultimate goal is to find a different approach to tackle the daily influx of e-mails and barrage of junk/mail during this process.
B. Set a deadline for completion and report your progress once a week.
Please share your progress past and present - trials and triumphs, and any relevant links to help us all conquer the paper tiger!
I need an intervention! I am literally drowning in a sea of paper. I have stacks of papers to be filed and still another six boxes sorted/unsorted.
Never mind the 29,000 e-mails in my promotion e-mail folder, thx google, or the 12,000 in my primary e-mail folder or the 7,200 in the social folder.
Same for Mr. R., despite both of our attempts to keep the clutter under control and organized for functionality.
This morning I decided to look for a professional in my area to help sort out this infestation. But then I realized the first thing that a professional would ask me to do is sort it all out - so that is what I'll do, finish up what I started 2-3 years ago. I am desperate to get a handle on this, once and for all.
That is when I saw
@Syonyk 's post discussing how he tackled his paper tiger and e-mail (junk) folders over a period of several months, impressive and inspiring.
So I am hoping to find some cohorts for mutual support and sharing of success stories as we tackle the avalanche of papers together.
Right now I feel defeated and depressed every time I walk in my otherwise beautiful study.
I have tried valiantly to get rid of those last few boxes of papers over time, there were about three times as many much larger boxes when I started about two /three years ago.
So this will be my final push.
The last push, produced a workable system - I can put my hand on all my important papers at once, which I have managed to keep up with but only with an 80% success rate. I also made an emergency folder in case of a disaster that I can just grab and leave when a hurricane approaches.
Then I
started on an in case of my death folder - list of passwords, info, ...
Life intervened. I am not happy looking at all that unfinished business, a tower - no, several towers! - of papers and an e-mail account that once again has totally gotten out of hand.
THE PLANStart today - report in weekly - do as little or as much as I can handle, but do
something every day.
I am targeting 30 days to deal with the e-mail and junk mail, 60 days for sorting/filing/shredding the stacks of paper in the study now and 90 days for finally clearing out the remaining, festering boxes full of paper from eons ago. It is time to not just tame but slay the paper tiger ...
I thought about sharing a picture of the before and after, but that would be way too embarrassing.
List of helpful links 1. The GTD approach to emails:
https://unpacked.mailbutler.io/2019/01/09/gtd-email-inbox-zero-flowchart/2. An intriguing idea for personal email -
http://danariely.com/2017/02/23/email-notifications/3.
How long to keep important documents -
https://bettermoneyhabits.bankofamerica.com/en/privacy-security/how-long-to-keep-documents-before-shredding4.
Wills - POA - living - https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/get-your-shit-together!-wills-living-wills-poas-life-insurance-etc/5.
Health directives - end-of-life conversations -
http://www.livingsmartguides.com/assets/01_livingsmart_endoflifechecklist.pd https://theconversationproject.org/