Latest / Simple Enough: Organizing, Productivity, and Mindset for Entrepreneurs / 7. How to Organize Paperwork So You Can Find What You Need

Transcript

7. How to Organize Paperwork So You Can Find What You Need · Simple Enough: Organizing, Productivity, and Mindset for Entrepreneurs

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You have a deadline coming up,
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: and the one piece of paper that you desperately need is nowhere to be found.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Sound familiar?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Let's make sure it's the last time.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you're smart and capable,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: but overwhelmed by too many decisions,
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: half-built systems,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: and things you keep meaning to get to, you're in the right place.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Simple Enough.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: But before we start,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want to announce the winners of the podcast giveaway for the launch week.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm super excited.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, everybody, for your engagement and answering the questions and signing up.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate it.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So the grand prize winner is Stephanie Burroughs.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: She gets the whole streamlined solution.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: It includes time, paper, and clutter.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: She will get access to that shortly, and I'm really excited that she was the grand prize winner.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: We also have the three runners-up who each get one of the courses.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: So Marlene Brown got the clutter solution,
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Will Katz got the time solution,
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: and Isabel DeVroux Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited that you participated.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, back to the topic at hand.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: The moment it all goes wrong, right?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're getting ready for a meeting,
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: you're getting ready for a presentation,
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: you've got a court appearance,
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: you have to meet with the IRS,
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: whatever it is, and you cannot find the piece of paper, that thing you need.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: You hunt and hunt and hunt and often this takes 10 minutes or more to find
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: that one thing, that searching, that sense of self-doubt and lacking confidence.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's draining physically and emotionally.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So why is it the paper feels so uniquely overwhelming and daunting?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Client yesterday used the word daunting and I'm like, I haven't heard that in a while.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: I really like it.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is daunting to look for a piece of paper within a time crunch, right?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: You'd rather be reviewing and getting your stuff together and your thoughts together.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: But when you have to start hunting, all that goes out the window.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: It feels really heavy.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: So paper represents the information you're not sure you know.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: It is about the unknown.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: That paper helps you.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a crutch.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: It has the stuff you don't want to forget that you are afraid of not remembering
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: when you need it.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's this element of unknown with the paper.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we like to have it.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: But it's also layered with the possibility and the opportunity and the expectations
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: that come along with being an adult.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know where your papers are.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can find your birth certificate.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know where your tax forms are.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know where your receipts are.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: You've paid your bills, those things.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And when you lose one of those things, it can feel like you don't know what you're doing.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: It really can lead to a lot of self-doubt and even more uncertainty.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: But really, it's a lot easier than that.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's just unmade decisions.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So the trick is getting better with making decisions about the pieces of information
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: that flow through your life, right?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: But let's start with what it costs you.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to that frustration,
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: that lacking of confidence in yourself and your ability to live a life,
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm only slightly exaggerating, and you know that if it's you, right?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond that panic of the moment, What might it cost over the period of a year?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: For the time, it always involves time, money, and energy, and kind of self-worth.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just calculate one thing.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do time because it's the easiest to calculate off the top of our head.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pretend in the example before, 10 minutes spent looking for something every day.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Five days a week, 52 weeks a year is over 43 hours.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's a vacation.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's only one 10-minute hunt a day for some of the days of the week.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: What if it was every day of the week?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: What if you had to do that for three or four things a day?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's how much time we waste.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why you want a system.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is why you feel like you don't have time to do the things you really want to do.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: But before I get into how to solve all that,
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to talk you through how to deal with this dilemma
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: of not finding something you need when the deadline is approaching.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: So the first thing we want to do is triage the situation.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that is setting up what's the most important next thing I can do in this situation.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, the first thing is to pause and take a breath.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because when we're in the spin, we don't make good decisions and we get more panicked.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: So just stop.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Take a breath.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right now.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the part where our brains kick in.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And this works 93.67% of the time.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I may or may not have made that up.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the trick.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: That piece of paper is where you thought you would find it.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Not the logical place it should be.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And not the most convenient spot.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: You've put it somewhere.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: You thought you would find it.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: So think about that.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Where would you think to look for it?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Look there first.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't start with the desk just because it's something that should be on the desk.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: My clients...
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Tend to think in three different ways.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: They think visually, so I need to see it to remember it.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's true, where would you have put it to visually find it?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you are a relational person,
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: one of my clients loves to put everything she needs to do a project into
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: the same pile so that if she needs one of those pieces of paper for something else
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: in the meantime,
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: she can never find it because it's in with
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: the project she originally thought I'm working on this project.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to need this piece of paper in six weeks.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put it here.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: So you may be relational.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: It may be with other things of the same ilk in your mind,
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: not necessarily the best categorization for success.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And no, it's not your fault.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the way our unconscious brains work.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing that happens is you put it somewhere real quick just for now.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'll deal with it later.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: So where are those piles?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Might be there.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: So just think about that.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: If it doesn't come to you in just a couple minutes with that new sense of
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: where it could be, we're going to move on.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: The trick is to keep moving because it will come to you as you do other things.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of worrying about that one piece of paper,
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: you're going to gather everything else you need for that deadline.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then if it doesn't turn up while you do that,
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: then you think about, can this missing piece of information be replaced?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Can I make a phone call?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Can I send an email?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Can I download something else that's going to help me find that piece of paper?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or that doesn't even have to be paper.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Just remember, when I talk paper, I also mean online stuff.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it could be a document or an attachment on an email or something like that.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Often replacing it is faster than finding it.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: So just know that for this particular deadline,
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: we just want to get you through your meeting, whatever it is, and get that.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then we can build the system.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully you got through your meeting.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And now we're going to look at resetting this whole thing.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Once that fires out,
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: it's time to finally build that simple system that's going to provide a safe place
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: to keep your documents,
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: to keep the information you need to do your work and live your life,
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: and even gives you a clue of what the next steps in the process of working with
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: that information is.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: So you can find them when you need them.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: The problem with not having a place is that paper gets grouped incorrectly,
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: like with that project.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you may need that information for the project,
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: but you may also need that information for other things so it gets lost in
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: the shuffle.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And when you don't have designated places,
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: you're going to be looking in 100 different places instead of just three.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's right, three places.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Usually there's just three places to look.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: The difference between just tidying paper, which is really just gathering it into a pile...
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Usually,
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: or putting it in a bunch of files or hiding it in a drawer and having
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: an effective paper system is that when you just tidy,
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: everything is everywhere all at once.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And when you have a system,
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: you know where to find it and have that clue about what to do next with it.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: The deeper pattern here is not knowing.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Never fails.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Paper is unmade decisions because you don't know how to make the decision
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: because you're afraid of what's on the paper.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so you put it off.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's avoiding your numbers, really.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the paper in our lives has something to do with money.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if we don't know how to read a statement or we're worried we're going
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: to owe more taxes or, oh, no,
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: that bank account is too low again,
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: all of those things can lead to, I don't want to know.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to know.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: But really, knowledge is power.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you know and understand how to read those statements,
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: you're going to be really surprised when there's more money in an account
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: than you thought,
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: when you see an investment opportunity you haven't seen before, when the path...
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: To enlightenment is the understanding you will begin to see opportunities
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: and possibilities that you are just avoiding.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's not all bad.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: In fact,
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: most of the time,
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: it's really pleasantly surprising for people to finally figure out
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: where they stand financially and with various things they're putting together.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've got a client right now that's going through a divorce, so we had to pull
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: And once they found it all, it was like, oh, that wasn't so bad.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now I know exactly what I need to bring to court and things like that.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it's always an opportunity for better possibilities as well.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, every piece of paper is not actually unique.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's the other thing that many of my clients start out thinking.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Each one is a very unique situation, so I can't put it away.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: But really, it represents only three things.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're back to three things.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's irrelevant to you, it is necessary for you, or it is temporary for you.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And you can learn to tell the difference by actually beginning to deal and making
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: the easy decisions first and telling the difference between what the flow
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: of information is and just,
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to keep everything because I'm too nervous to let go of anything.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: So...
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Think about what are the steps this paper needs to go through to be useful to me.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Got it?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: The big idea.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: We're always tying it all together.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Paperwork doesn't have to be this hard.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: It really doesn't.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you're not behind.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you might be because you refuse to open your mail,
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: but that's a different topic for a different day.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Really, you just need a reset.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to start that reset today.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: You just never gave your piece of paper a place to go.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so by doing that, you'll already notice improvement.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: The one small thing you can do today is give that piece of paper a place to go.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to start with a small area,
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: maybe your desktop,
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: the end of a counter, the dining room table, wherever you do most of your work.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just gather all the pieces of paper,
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: the post-its,
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: the to-do lists,
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: the project files, whatever's lingering, the printouts, gather it all into one pile.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I know you think, but I already have it sorted, but it's been all mixed up.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: So you're going to have to do it again.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: I promise this is really fast.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: You grab it all into one pile.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now there's only three places it can go.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: From the one pile, you're going to sort quickly into these three piles.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to have the toss, which includes shredding and recycling.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to have,
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: I know what this is and I know what to do with it, which is your action pile.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then there is the read and review because I don't know what this is.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So toss.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: I know what it is.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Three piles.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Take the big pile of everything and one at a time, just go into those three piles.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Then toss, shred,
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: and recycle all the stuff from that pile once the big pile has been sorted into
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: the three subcategories.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Designate a spot for action items to live.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: It can be a basket, a bin, a corner of your desk.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: It can be a drawer,
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: whatever,
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: but that's where you're going to put all the things you know what they are
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: and you need to act on them.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Even if that action is filing it or putting it somewhere else,
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: the next step is you have to do that action, but we're not doing it yet.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: The third one is you got to designate the spot for the read and review.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, got that?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that's by a chair,
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: by the The toilet,
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: by the bed, somewhere else other than the place where you take most of the action.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: It might move back there, but not right now.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, guess what?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: I want to take it one step farther today,
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: and I want you to schedule an hour a day to work on your action pile.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's only temporary.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Once you catch up, it'll only be 20 minutes.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then I want you to schedule one hour a week to do the read and review.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as you find other pieces of paper around the house and the new mail comes in,
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: you know where to put each piece.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to take any of the action yet.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: You'll do that during the hour you schedule every day until you catch up.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Got it?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: You now have a paper system.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that cool?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: You have cleared your desk and you have a paper system.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't that hard, was it?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Visit morethanorganized.net slash podcast launch for step-by-step instructions
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: on how to follow, rate, and review.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending this time with me today.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Before you go,
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: choose one thing from this episode that could make life just
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: a little simpler this week.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Not perfect, just simple enough.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Come join me on Substack at morethanorganized.substack.com and remember,
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: organizing doesn't have to be so hard.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you soon.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: In the meantime, have a delightful day.