March Studio Organizing, Task One
Posted on March 12, 2023 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing ChallengeWell! I completely dropped the ball on a second organizing task for February. I didn’t even realize until today that I forgot to post a second one, and I’m already late with the first one for March! What have I been doing?
I guess I’ve been so busy sewing that time has gotten away from me. Today is the start of Daylight Savings Time, which I also forgot about, and woke up wondering why the dogs slept in! And next week will mark the beginning of spring, altho it’s still drifting between cold and tolerable weather around here. We’re zooming right in on mid-March, and I still have a lot to get done this month!
As far as organizing goes, I’m still working on cutting out the veteran’s quilt. In fact, today I’m having a cutting party with myself and plan to finish cutting out a lot of things, so I can clear some space.
But onward we go . . . what will our challenge be this time?
In the spirit of making it a real challenge (as least for myself), I’m going to:
Deal with the paper clutter
It’s starting to pile up again . . .
Magazines I need to look at/get rid of/put away, things I need to file or get rid of, and random stuff that seems to magically appear over the course of a month or so. I need to find the top of my desk again!
I got a new filing system set up, and I have everything in two drawers and one box. One of the drawers in my file cabinet (it’s an ancient piece) keeps falling down and dumping the folders, so I’m giving some thought to how I want to re-do my files.
I plan to go through them all yet again, getting rid of what I don’t want or need, and then I will have four main categories left: Personal, Business, Quilting Stuff, and Archives (stuff I have to hang on to for whatever reason, but never really use, like seven past years worth of paperwork). So I’m thinking of just getting a good quality file box for each category. Then they’ll each be separate, and I can store the boxes in the closet, and won’t even need a file cabinet. I’m all about having one less piece of furniture in my way!
How about you? Do you have a good system? Or do you need to rethink it? Do you have paper piling up that you need to deal with? For some of us, this will be an easy task, and for some (like me) it’ll be a bit of a challenge. But I figured right here at tax time, as most of us are wrapping up another big chunk of paperwork, it would be a good time to address it.
I thought I was on top of the paper clutter and I grabbed a bin… and lots of papers slipped out from under it…I tend to slide the loose papers under, the cutting mat, nearby bins lol.
I find myself questioning “ why did I have to print that”? Which led to me writing random notes, questioning “ why did I have to write that down”? Now that I have contributed to the burn pile, I have resorted to random “Composition “ journals … next year I might have a few questions! I do need a better system of “ bill” filing…
I need to keep purging my notebooks of printed patterns i saved. Why oh why. Just do it!
Exactly! If an answer comes to you, please share!
I deal with paper when it enters the house.
Mail: stand at the counter when it comes in, open, pop all possible into the recycle, documents filed, bills in the “finance drawer” for monthly processing.
Receipts: in the “finance drawer” as above.
That’s all the paper that walks in 🙂
Once reconciled, it goes into the office desk drawer. Every 6m it goes to Shred-It collection.
My quilting space is in pretty good paper shape…maybe a 5 minute pickup is in order. I’ve finally stopped printing everything I like and just saving it on Pinterest or my files.
On the other hand🤪my personal files need big attention. Gotta find all those tax forms so this task very timely in that regard for me. I think I have old tax records that can be shredded. I want to dig those out and dispose of when the shredding events start up next month. It’ll keep me busy.
I was just noticing this morning that I have quite a few printed patterns that are just stuck in between other things. My personal papers are in worse shape. My husband had 4 months of self-employment before retiring last spring. I’m going to have to dig for expenses because the paperwork from his office is in a box somewhere. UGH!!! At least I don’t have to spend my weekends at his office doing the books.
A couple of years ago I bought a file “milk crate” at Staples. It looks like a milk crate, but has the grooves to hold hanging files. I really like it a lot. I suggest you check it out. You might be able to do separate ones for each of your categories.
I was late getting my 2022 files into a box and starting folders for my 2023 stuff. I now have the files in a box and need to file the 2023 into folders in my file cabinet. I had just said this was a focus in the coming weeks. Now I need to do it!
Paper is always my problem.
Paper IS a problem. It seems that once a month I take a stack of papers, go through them, keep a few and toss the rest in the shred bag. Of course, I must find time to shred before the bag gets full. My husband takes the shreds to the garden for mulch. Win, win!
My paper isn’t a problem. I got my long arm moved to a new location last month and I’m still trying to get all of the odds and ends moved. Thankfully she only moved two and a half blocks and is now closer to my house. I need to get shelves up.
I had a stack of patterns I had printed. They have been stashed in various places in my sewing space so I got my you know what in gear and sorted them to ones I want to do again (now filed in my binders) and ones to take to the Guild tomorrow for other quilters to enjoy!