More clutter and creativity

Reader Karen asked a great question. And since I was starting to type a book in the comments in response, I decided to write a quick post. Maybe it will help someone else, too. Karen states:

… I think the solution is not to keep so much paper “just in case.” I never get asked to review things again, so after a week or two of the project’s completion, I should throw away most of the paper and move on to the next thing. (Any other ideas?)

If you feel you absolutely MUST keep some documentation, Karen, think about keeping the last iteration of your edits and a few notes. With content writing, I rarely had to worry about the various revisions – I was more interested in referring back to the original content.

You could also have a temporary file, where you keep things for a few days, a few weeks, or something like that. If you don’t refer back to it after a specified time, get rid of it.

It’s like the solution to figure out which clothes you no longer wear – you turn all of your hangers backwards. As you wear the clothes and hang them back up, put the hangers forward. After 3 months, see how many hangers are still backwards. Get rid of those clothes. It’s the same way with your files. The ones you don’t touch for 3 weeks, 3 months, whatever, can go. Unless it’s something that you’re required by law to keep, of course.

And take advantage of your filing space. Don’t just leave piles of papers on your desk, thinking you’ll need to get back to them. File or toss them. If you file, set a calendar reminder to go back through them every 3 months. And then do it. Purge what you don’t need. Leaving piles on your desk just makes it harder to find the things you do need.

But you don’t have to get rid of everything off of your desk. Some files are okay as long as things are in order and you can find what you need. It doesn’t have to be pristine or sterile to be organized.