A while ago, probably last summer, a friend gave me some beautiful file folders. I thought they were lovely but couldn’t quite imagine using them. I try to get rid of paper as soon as I can, by either recycling it, shredding it, or filing it if it must be saved. If something requires action, I try to take care of it quickly so I can then recycle, etc. Important stuff goes into a file box in the office. But if I used my pretty folders in there, I’d never see them, so what would be the point?
Meanwhile. I have trouble living up to my paperless ideal. I have this Pile. You know. You probably have one too. Bills that need to be paid, school forms, miscellaneous newspaper and magazine clippings. I move my pile from my workspace to the spare room and back again, repeatedly. I chip away at its contents, but like laundry, it always regenerates itself.
We solved half the Pile problem by mounting a calendar on the refrigerator–one that has large, rigid pockets for paper storage behind it. We use those for the papers we need to refer to often, but not save forever: the school lunch menu, invitations for upcoming events, the karate studio schedule, and so on.
But the other half of the Pile remained. Until I had my Eureka! moment. The file folders! I now have one for bills, one for fitness clips, and one for To Dos. The Pile is now a lovely stack of attractive folders. It’s a Prettier Pile.
And I am so, so pleased with myself.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Go Captain Obvious! I think I would need a stack of pretty file boxes at the rate I’m (not) getting through my Pile.
Sigh. The pile. Or, the piles. Because there’s a pile at home and another at work.
I have a thing for pretty file folders…and practically anything that makes tedium look nice.
oh the never ending pile! I have it. I have it. I wish it were prettier.