Studio Organizing, Week 9

Posted on February 26, 2015 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio Organizing Challenge

Last week was a tough one for me. It made me work hard! I found lots of stray items to put away.

I put away a LOT of fabric that was loitering in various places in the studio, and while my little basket isn’t completely empty, it’s at least got some space in it.

scrapbasket

While dealing with all that fabric, I actually worked on cutting pieces for 3 quilts! So those are moved further along, as well.

I also pulled out fabric for 4 new projects, but we won’t talk about that right now.

I gathered up all my scrap batting and got it into the tub where it belongs. (I keep pieces that are big enough to use for table runners or larger, and the rest goes into dog pillows or to recycle.)

And I filed some papers that needed filing, which leads me to this week’s task:

Deal with the paper clutter

After filing away a few papers, I realized how much more actually needs to be dealt with. There are piles of paper everywhere! Not to mention that I’m always behind on paperwork. Here’s what one pile looked like at the beginning of the year:

paperpile

Since then, I’ve made a couple new piles:

paperpile1

Even one in the floor! How does that make any sense?

paperpile2

I need a system.

So this week, I intend to work on this system. I need to get it in order so I can finish my taxes, anyway, so I know this will really help. And I’m hoping it will turn up a few pieces I’m missing!

How about you?

Do you have a paperwork system that works for you?

Or do you print things out and they’re still laying around a week later?

Do you know right where every piece of paper you need is located?

Or do you (like me) have to dig through several piles before you find it, even though you know you just saw it . . . somewhere . . . ?

Do you have your taxes done? (If so, I’m extremely jealous.)

I seriously doubt that one week is gonna get me completely set up, but I intend to make great strides on it this week . . . and maybe even finish my taxes!

I just hope one or more of those new projects doesn’t distract me too much . . .

13 responses to “Studio Organizing, Week 9”

  1. Rose Marie says:

    Did you know that they offer college courses on how to do this? I took a two year course in office technology and document storage, filing, and destruction is covered. There are caverns around our nation where important papers and documents are stored in dry, even temperature climates underground. One of those caverns is near Quincy, IL. I wouldn’t go this far for your paperwork problem.

  2. Linda says:

    I like to use 3-ring binders for organizing. It was very helpful when I was teaching. Everything I needed was in a binder for a specific class. Dividers are a must.

  3. Kathy says:

    Seriously? This is something that will forever be an on going project for me. Good luck on that one. I have tried countless ways of putting paper work away. But one method I do find useful is boxes. If it is 6 months or more I put it in a box. Let me explain what I mean. They sell pkgs of cardboard boxes at Staples and other stores as well as Wally world. They usually come in a pkg of 3. I go thru the paper work and keep what is needed and discard the rest. I shred it and compost it for the garden for the following year. What I keep I put into the box and mark it. Then I put it in the basement. Once a year I go and find the oldest box and then I shred all that is not needed, and compost it. That way I kind of have some control over the caous in my life. And I have another box that I can use. Good luck.

    • Liz says:

      I am a “newbie” follower for about 2 weeks now. Paper trail is my “BIGGEST” problem. I kind of got my filing cabinet organized and each folder is labeled. I’ve already sorted paper and sorted them in piles. i.e., rentals, investments, business, banking and quilting. Do you know the BIGGEST pile is QUILTING! LOTS & LOTS of patterns. Anyway, a few years ago I bought the “NEAT” scanner. I haven’t used it until now. I am scanning everything and putting them in folders on the NEAT. I will only keep “original” documents such as contracts, agreements, etc… the rest will get scanned. This is going to be a LONG task for me. Good Luck with yours.Thank you so much for this Weekly organization. (=

  4. Barb B says:

    Ooo, you got me on this one. I, too, have a few piles that need to be put away. But sewing calls and it is too easy to just walk away. I will tackle this one head on this week, because my taxes are NOT done and the appointment with the accountant is fast approaching.

    Thank you, Shelly, for forcing me to see what is staring me in the face every day…

  5. Judy says:

    I know the pros say touch each paper once: make a decision and deal with it. But that doesn’t work for me. This time of the year I have three piles: Trash, Taxes, and Later.

  6. Sue H says:

    At work I am very good at my “Once across the desk” motto. Home is a different story…so here is my paper work story……

    We have a farm and my husband has a small business and I work outside of the home. I do my own taxes. Every year I am grumpy and taxes are hard because I can’t receipts and things are not filed. Last year I decided it had to change so I decided that I would balanced my books and match receipts every month. It only takes about 30 minutes the first weekend of each month and I make it priority – usually the same time I balance the check book. This has been amazing – yes my taxes are complete – instead of taking 3 days and numerous fights with the hubby – all was completed in about 4 hours. As a plus my office stays clean now – no more buried desk everything is filed away neatly.

    Sewing Room not so much-patterns and such that I print from the internet is stacked in four different piles. It looks like I will be working on that this week.

    I did work on last weeks project and got everything in order but I had sewing lessions with my great-nieces (3 of them)on Monday and projects are now everywhere. I guess I need to tackle that again. Oh the life of sewing 🙂 isn’t it the greatest!!!

  7. Cindy says:

    Well I still have to do last weeks task. Didn’t do it since I have been sick. The paper thing is a big problem. My biggest problem is patterns off the internet. My friend Sue keeps them on flash drives and I really need to do that. It would take awhile, but if I could find the pattern online and put it on the flash drive, then I could toss the hard copy.

  8. Pam in KC says:

    The piles of paper haven’t gotten too deep since I re-did my desk — of course that’s not to say I’m organized — it’s just dumped in drawers so it doesn’t show.

  9. Meloney says:

    I think I’m the cause of this one. I said I needed to tackle my papers and now it is here. LOL
    I really need this, and the week is going to be short for me. We have a band trip a week from tomorrow. Yikes.
    So, if you want to see my mess, checkout my blog.http://melsquiltingblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/prairie-moon.html

  10. Joy Sleeman says:

    Our tax year ends June 30th. Each year I start an envelope file with a few plastic pockets in and file everything in that folder. If I’m good it goes into the relevant pocket but at least they’re all in one place, the pockets are for medical, work expenses etc. In about May I start to sort the pockets in date order so I can match health fund refund and the account as we can only claim the difference. This means that I only need to do a little bit in July to get the return ready. Unfortunately I’m not that good with other papers and should probably go through all the downloaded or ripped out of magazine patterns I have.

  11. No, yes, no, yes – hubby does them. LOL
    Don’t get me started on paper! I swear it multiplies overnight.

  12. Karen says:

    I feel like I’m finally keeping up with paper clutter by using the plastic file bins and folders. My problem now, is all the paper piles that I have stashed into bins over the years…just never seem to get around to sorting those. So this will be a well-needed challenge for the week. Thanks!

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