Organization

We still have almost 3 full weeks of summer before school starts for our kiddos.  Public Enemy #1 when it comes to back to school is the Evil Paper Monster.  I need a plan and I have one percolating.

Step 1: Corral It

The first step to taming the Evil Paper Monster is corral it.  Picture me on horseback, with a whip, herding the papers into a barn.  Ok, except in this case, the barn is going to be my pantry and the stalls of the barn are going to be these:

That’s the Kassett set of 2 boxes from Ikea.  They are $6.99.  I’ve used these in the past, but more as an archiving system than an active filing (I use the term filing loosely) system.  I’m going to get 4 of the boxes, one for each member of the family.  The kids boxes will be used to house the stuff that the kids want to keep like special projects/papers.  My husbands will collect his work related stuff and mine will house the stuff that needs attention: reminders about important dates, projects, field trips, etc.  I know what you’re thinking.  Dude, you’re never going to remember what’s in that box.  You are correct.  That’s where step two of the system comes in to play.

Step 2:  Snap It

Why am I showing you a picture of my cell phone?  Well, first of all, I ADORE my cell phone. It’s a Sony Xperia and it is the best phone on the planet.  But that has nothing to do with this post.  Maybe someday I will extol it’s virtues in a full post.  But for now, the phone is important for two reasons.  1.  It has a camera.  2.  It is never apart from me.  It is basically an appendage at this point.  I’m not going to claim that I came up with this idea, because I’m sure other people do it, but I will say that the idea came to me without researching it.  You know those important papers, with important dates and information you might need at a moments notice?  Take a picture of those papers with your phone.  You instantly have a copy of that paper with you AT ALL TIMES.  Are you at Michael’s and and poster board is on sale but you can’t remember if you need it for your daughters project?  Check the pic on your phone.  Did your kids teacher send home a list of things the classroom needs but you’re having sensory overload at Target and can’t think straight?  Check the pic on your phone.  I’ve read about and admire the idea of scanning important documents and going paperless, but was totally overwhelmed at the thought of buying a scanner and actually scanning stuff.  Snapping a picture is basically the same thing and totally not overwhelming.  And now you’re thinking, Dude you’re going to spend forever looking for the right pic on your phone!  And, bam, step three.

Step Three: Evernote It

Evernote is an awesome app.  First of all, kudos to the logo designer.  Elephant, get it?  They never forget anything.  If you download the app to your phone, you can super quickly zap the pics to Evernote , give them a tag that will make them easy to find and, if needed, set a due date. This is the one step in the process that I’ll be working on making a habit over the next few weeks.  My goal is going to be to do a quick review of anything that is in or should be in Evernote at the end of each day.  I’m talking 5 minutes tops.

And that’s it.  My three steps to taming the Evil Paper Monster.  What’s your plan??

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