Best Results Organizing

WISDOM IN THE COMMENTS SECTION

Although the comments sections of most locations online can be scary, organizing and productivity blogs tend to avoid that unpleasantness. In fact, some of the niftiest ideas for posts come from the comments sections of other posts.

Last week, commenting on the cute magazine files in Paper Doll Refreshes Your Paper Organizing Solutions, Sara Skillen mentioned:

I’ve always loved magazine holders for all kinds of paper…but also, high quality, shallow, flat trays work for a lot of my clients (those who pile). I know, I know, we all think piling is not a great idea, but for temporary kinds of paper like bills, notices, etc. it can be an amazing solution. Less barrier to putting things into broad categories, and easy to dump in the recycle bin when things are no longer relevant. I’m also a fan of very small filing boxes (like the Bigso ones at the Container Store) for temporary paper. Easy to place on the desk for quick access. 

I think that Sara and I might slightly disagree about what constitutes “temporary” paper. I believe that if you receive a paper bill, the best practice is to have a system in place so that you not only pay the bill, but file and store it for later (potential) retrieval for tax purposes, troubleshooting, budgeting, etc.

However, Sara has truck on a topic that we discuss far too infrequently — paper that doesn’t fit into either of the two main, overarching paper categories.

Last week, I referenced a guest post I’d written for Yve Irish’s blog. In that guest post, How To Make Paper Less Overwhelming, after discussing the reasons why paper management can be so difficult, I wrote:

Paper categories can be much more complex and require more thought than most other tangible items. It starts off easily enough, with two basic categories:

• • • Action paperwork — This reflects all the paper that triggers an activity. From the lowly coupon for a free car wash at the new Wash-o-Rama to the reminder postcard for your medical appointment to the registration forms for your child’s summer camp, action paperwork is relatively easy to corral in an in-box or my preferred method, a tickler file. (Getting motivated to actually do the tasks is another issue altogether.)

    • Reference paperwork — If a piece of paper doesn’t trigger an action, but it’s something you need (or want) to keep for later retrieval, it’s reference.

In between the action paperwork that’s designed to trigger us to do something and the reference paperwork (whether current, or archival) for us to keep records at least semi-permanently (until they expire or are replaced), there’s a third category of papers that neither requires our activity or our long-term storage. For want of a better name, let’s go with Sara’s simple title, temporary papers.

WHAT ARE TEMPORARY PAPERS?

Beyond describing what they are not, let’s look at what constitutes an example of a temporary paper.

• Receipts — Certainly, there are different categories of receipts, each treated differently. If you’ve purchased something in cash that is not, for whatever reason, going to be returned, you can immediately shred or toss the receipt. A lunch at fast food restaurant comes to mind.

Other receipts need to be filed and kept semi-permanently, such as for any big ticket items for which you’ll need to prove value or ownership (like a piece of jewelry) for insurance purposes or use as support for your taxes.

But there are a whole slew of receipt types that you may need to keep temporarily, for short-term purposes. For example, if you’re cautious about making sure your credit and debit card receipts are accurate, you may keep a month of receipts (please — tidily in an envelope for that month and not crumpled all over your dresser) until the credit card bill comes or you remember to check online. (Restaurant receipts seem to be the most common culprit for inexact matches. Although sometimes the charge reflects a tip much higher than what you wrote on the slip, I recall one restaurant that regularly (at least 25% of the time) failed to apply the tip. Eventually, I gave up and started tipping in cash.)

Another common temporarily-maintained receipt is for any purchase you might return. Except around the December holidays, most retail locations have a return policy limiting returns to no more than 30 days. It’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to file away a receipt only to dig it out a few weeks after you make a purchase; you’ll want to have those receipts handy in case something fails to fit or flatter. (Some people, like Paper Mommy, hold onto their grocery receipts in case something turns out to be yucky or spoiled; only you know whether you have the time and willingness to return a $3 bottle of salad dressing.)

• Temporary Driver’s License — To get a driver’s license, you generally have to go to the DMV, fill out all the forms, pay a fee, and take a written test and a driving test. If your experience doesn’t turn out like Reverend Jim’s on Taxi, you’ll be approved for a license and then have your photo taken.

(If the last minute or two of this video doesn’t make you feel like the laughing-crying emoji, I don’t know how you ended up on my blog.)

However, because driver’s licenses are hard, fancy plastic cards with bar codes and holographic images and sometimes magnetic stripes, you generally don’t get your real driver’s license the same day. Instead, you usually get a paper printout of what your card should look like.

When you come from another state, most DMVs will require you to turn in your out-of-state license, and your temporary license is all you have to prove that you are a licensed driver until the real license arrives. You’ll want to keep this temporary license with you, in your wallet until the new, real license is in hand.

However, if this is a driver’s license renewal, the paper version is just your proof that your new license, with an extended expiration date is coming. If you’ve renewed at least a few weeks ahead of the expiration of your current license, there’s no need to carry the temporary paper around with you (unless you’re afraid you’ll forget that the process isn’t complete. In that case, set a reminder on your phone for a day before the expiration date to make sure you’ve received the new license and replaced the old one in your wallet!).

• Shipping and Return Slips with Tracking Information

When you ship packages and documents, the United States Postal Service has a variety of ways to ensure that you can protect your package and track its progress. For example:

Registered Mail Receipts and Tracking Numbers — Registered Mail provides security when you send something that’s difficult to replace, valuable, or otherwise needs to be tracked for additional security. You might choose Registered Mail if you’re sending something via First-Class Mail, First-Class Package Service, or Priority Mail. In theory, at least, your mail or package is secured in a sealed container or locked cage or safe during transportation, and the USPS obtains electronic and physical signatures to show you the chain of custody along the way.

You get a receipt for the item when you send it, and the then your recipient must sign for it. And if you want proof that the item was delivered, you can purchase Return Receipt or Return Receipt After Mailing service and get electronic verification of either delivery or an attempted-but-failed delivery.

Mailbox Photo by Abstrakt Xxcellence Studios

When you send a letter through Registered Mail, the post office gives you tracking information. This is important to keep handy so that you can type the tracking number into the online system or scan the QR code or bar code to track the item until it arrives at its destination. At that point, whether you keep it or not depends on the situation.

You get similar information when you send something through a delivery service like UPS or FedEx. Have you ever returned an Amazon package at a UPS store or another retail location? Brandish a printout of an email or show a QR code on your phone, and a staffer enter the essential information into the computer and hand you a sticker with the vital details, including the tracking code. Type the string of letters and numbers into the delivery service’s tracking system (or even directly into Google!) to track your item.

So, if you’re making sure your grandchildren got their birthday gifts and your son-in-law calls to let you know the LEGO arrived, the temporary paper (the tracking slip) can be discarded. (Let’s hope you don’t have to wait for toddlers to get old enough to write their own thank you notes!)

If, however, you’re returning an ill-fitting or broken item to Amazon or other vendor, you’ll want to hold onto that temporary paper until your account has been properly credited or a replacement item makes its way to you.

USPS Certified Letter Receipt — Certified Mail is similar to, but not the same as Registered Mail. With Registered Mail, you get all that yummy tracking goodness, but you’re (allegedly) getting extra security for your item. However, with Certified Mail, you’re just paying for tracking and proof of delivery, generally for important documents like tax returns, legal notices, and financial transactions.

To send a certified letter, you fill out two forms, a flimsy piece of green and white paper and a stiff green piece of card stock.

The flimsier piece of paper is your receipt, and it shows your unique article number so you can prove the piece was mailed and track the delivery status online. When it gets delivered, you’ll get notified of the time and date of delivery and then you’ll get the signed green card back in the mail.

If you’ve taken the measure to send something via Certified Mail, it’s pretty likely that you’re going to want to prove, longer-term, that the thing you sent was delivered, so your receipt (and the eventual green card) may not be so temporary.

It may be temporary while you’re waiting to confirm delivery, but if you don’t get proof of receipt, it’s likely to turn into an action item, because you’ll have to fuss with the post office, but even if it is delivered, you’ll then have to wait for the attorney, the IRS, or the person you’re paying to acknowledge that the item was received and that they are actually acting upon said receipt.

So, your Certified Mail paper may go from being temporarily temporary paper to being action paper (and go into your tickler file) and/or permanently stored in your reference paperwork in case there are long-term legal or financial implications. 

• Problem/Conflict-related Papers — How often do you receive a bill that appears to have a mistake on it? Do you ever get a notice about a recall for your car or a household appliance? Ever get invitations to showers or weddings that give no indication of where the person’s gift list is registered?

Sometimes, you open the mail and immediately make a call or send an email asking for clarification. And then you wait. And wait. It would be nice if all questions and conflicts could be handled within moments, but sometimes you have to wait hours or days for a response before you can determine whether the temporary piece of paper is now fodder for the trash or recycling bins or needs to be scheduled as task or filed away.

So what do we do with this temporary paper while we wait?

WHERE SHOULD YOU KEEP TEMPORARY PAPERS?

There are two main approaches to keeping temporary papers. As much as I’m tempted to say, “my way or the high way,” it really is a matter of either Paper Doll‘s way or a Third Space way.

Tickler File

Longtime Paper Doll readers know I like using a tickler for action-oriented paperwork. It avoids paper clutter on the desk, and it triggers the owner of the paper to make decisions about when and how the piece of paper will be acted upon. How strongly do I feel on the topic? Well, I did write a whole ebook about it!

Whether you purchase a tickler file with slots for each day of the month and for each month of the year or create your own DIY version with 43 file folders, you get a parking space for anything that requires, or might require, action. Sometimes, the action required is checking to see whether you still need to be waiting.

In examples above, you might use the tickler file for temporary papers in the following way:

• Receipts — Keep receipts in a #10 envelope located in a slot for a particular day of the month, like the 1st or the 15th. If you need to return something, you’ll know exactly where to find the receipt for what you purchased. Otherwise, on a monthly basis, when you get to that day’s slot, flip through the receipts, check them against your credit/debit statement (if you’re so inclined), and then toss or shred receipts for anything that went unreturned and didn’t need to be questioned/resolved.
• Temporary Driver’s License — If told you’ll receive your permanent license within 7-10 days, pop the temporary one in the tickler for that 10th day (or, if you need to carry the temp in your wallet, just leave yourself a note in the 10th slot). If the new one arrives, shred the temporary one that day; if you open the tickler file on the 10th day and your permanent license still hasn’t arrived, it will trigger the action of following up.
• Shipping Slips with Tracking Information — Unless you have a reason to track the path of whatever you’ve shipped on a daily basis, just set it in the tickler file for the day you expect the item to arrive (based on estimates) and when you get to that day’s slot, if you haven’t already received some kind of confirmation, track the item online.
• Problem/Conflict-Related Papers — Put the paper on the day you intend to act on it (by making a call, sending an email, visiting a venue, etc.). If you’re waiting for a return call/email, move the paper forward, day after day, until you hear back or choose to take another follow-up action.

In summary, I treat temporary papers as action paperwork. It keeps them tidy and sorts them according to the likely day on which you want to act.

But it takes commitment to the system. If you aren’t that into commitment (to your paper system — Paper Doll doesn’t need to know your private beeswax), there’s a second path.

Sara Skillen remarked in her original comment, “we all think piling is not a great idea, but for temporary kinds of paper like bills, notices, etc., it can be an amazing solution.”

So, how can you pile your temporary papers and make it work?

Third Spaces

I’ve been fascinated by the concept of third spaces in modern life. We spend most of our lives in two places, home or work (or, if you are a student and doing the work of childhood or youth, home or school). But a third space is an all-important “somewhere else.” The official definition of Third Space Theory says it’s a “postcolonial sociolinguistic theory of identity and community realized through language.”

Um. OK. But all a third space really needs to be is another place where you get together with others of your kind, in a space that’s neither home nor work (or school). Examples of third spaces are coffee houses (like on Friends), bars (like on Cheers or How I Met Your Mother), houses of worship, barber shops/beauty salons, or gyms.

As I got to thinking about Sara’s comment, I couldn’t help thinking that for people who aren’t inclined to use a tickler file, what they really need is a third space for their temporary papers to hang out, a place that is neither for action papers or permanent files.

Sara suggested high quality, shallow, flat trays. Examples of these would range from the standard “in” tray (available in black or white, for about $20 for 2),

 to a repurposed acrylic serving tray (available in clear, black, or white for $28),

to any kind of fancy wooden or leather in-box tray.

If your piles get high, you’ll have to sift through them, and there’s no date to trigger your attention, but they’ll be kept front-and-center.

Sara also referenced very small filing boxes, like the Bigso boxes at The Container Store. A document box (12-1/4″ x 17-1/4″ x 3-3/8″) like this one is less than $12, and the low profile keeps you from letting it fill up with papers long after their temporary use has passed.

A smaller letter-sized box (10-3/8″ x 13-7/8″ x 3-3/8″) is similar for about $9, and both come in a variety of colors (Navy, White, Steel Blue, Graphite, Grey, Gold dots on White, Blush, and Sage Green).

Bigso of Sweden (and, obviously, other companies) also makes stacked paper drawers, also called paper chests or drawer chests, like this one in Blush (and all of the colors listed above) for about $18:

These kinds of boxes will take up about the same amount of desktop real estate as a tickler file or in-tray. However, the lid creates an out-of-sight, out-of-mind concern not present with in-box trays.

If you get distracted and fail to keep your eye on tasks that are hidden from you, set a daily alarm on your phone or computer to approximate the kind of reminder that a tickler file offers, counteracting the tidy-but-forgettable hidden aspect.

But what if you lack desk or counter space to keep your temporary paper handy?

Try a vertical third space alternative:

• Clipboards — Attach your temporary papers to a clipboard and hang one or more on hooks on your wall or from a retractable laundry line. If you have a lot of temporary paper, you might want to label each clipboard with a life or work category, like “household,” “kid #1,” “financial stuff,” and so on. 

Instagram / @bloomintheblack

• • Magnetic Bulletin Boards and White Boards — If you’re looking for a vertical solution in your work space, and especially if you don’t want to risk poking a hole in a temporary document or piece of paper, a magnetic board will keep a page vertical and visible (provided you’re using strong enough magnets). While there are a lot of standard metal and whiteboard options, a little searching will bring you offbeat or stylish options to fit your office décor, like this framed, marble magnetic board:

• Cork Bulletin Boards and French Boards — If you don’t have a lot of temporary paper but do need to keep it at eye level or you’ll tend to forget about it, bulletin boards and French boards are far tidier options than refrigerator doors, and the kids are less likely to put their sticky jam hands on your papers. Aim for a traditional cork bulletin board, go a little upscale with a French board that matches your decor, 

or if you really need a lot of space for temporary papers, a cork room divider is a nifty option.

Unlike the file boxes and drawers, a vertical solution will keep your temporary paper visible, but will you actually see it?

The problem with vertically displaying papers is that it’s common for anything on the walls to eventually turn into wallpaper, blending in with the scenery and becoming forgettable, adn what’s forgettable becomes unnoticeable. 

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Where do you keep your temporary papers?

Do you have a third space for the papers in your life that are neither action-oriented or for reference?