Practical Tips for Organizing Overwhelming Paperwork

Many TV programs today show us how to organize almost anything – from clothes to closets, kitchen utensils to tool benches. Yet organizing the paperwork deluge seems to take low priority – despite the fact that it affects us every day of our life. Without the right piece of paper at hand for timely processing, we frequently find ourselves frustrated by wasted hours and unnecessary costs. Is freedom possible?

As a professional home office organizer, Bree Najjar, owner of Fat Paper Management in Naples, Florida, has seen it all. She assures us there’s no need for embarrassment.

Najjar has been known to wade through 33 years of accumulated paper piles, sorting, tossing and organizing until she uncovered a widow’s file cabinet and even found a sofa. It turned the woman’s life around. Najjar’s universal filing system – so easy that anyone can use it – also may have saved a marriage when a new mother of two found it impossible to keep up with paperwork generated by the couple’s first home-based business. She found the situation so depressing that she had come to avoid the office altogether. Once organized, she found she was glad to go there to work. Naturally, her on-the-road honey was happier too.

“Organizing your personal and professional paper is like having your house cleaned or your lawn cut,” says Najjar. “You can do it yourself, but having a professional available to help is much appreciated.”

In a series of cheery four-hour house calls, Najjar can literally save the day. She works side-by-side with clients to permanently eliminate clutter, purge files, maximize workspace and teach people how to file so that they can find any important document at a moment’s notice. A clearer office equals a clearer mind. And Najjar’s simple system helps people save time, increase productivity, pay bills promptly to avoid late fees and prepare financial affairs for easy access by loved ones in any emergency, from a hurricane to a heart attack.

Najjar has helped organize paper deluging everything from a penthouse to a mobile home. Investors, small business owners, widows and retirees not only feel better, they rest easier at night.

“It takes a different point of view to see the whole problem at once,” says Najjar. Under her gentle tutoring and 15 pages of straightforward questions, people generally succeed in coming up with 90 percent of the file categories they need for an organized and effective system. Then she sweeps off to create 150 to 200 labeled file folders. At the next session, they begin to jointly and rhythmically sort every single piece of paper in the person’s life. Disdaining fat files, they decide to file, act on or toss it.  Najaar knows what’s critical and what we can live without.

Bree Najjar launched Fat Paper Management in 2002 after a lifetime of urging from colleagues and friends to translate her knack for organizing into a book or business. “It relaxes me,” she grins. “And I like to keep at it until we’re finished.

“I love to see a home office morph from a sad secret behind closed doors to your favorite room in the house. When I’m done, you are set to stay organized for a lifetime.”

Bree Najjar is a professional home office organizer and owner of Fat Paper Management. She serves clients living in Naples and Bonita Springs, Florida, and accepts two to three projects a month. She may be reached at 239-592-0352.

Bree's 12 Tips to Start the Year Better Organized

Organize Home Office Space

· To maximize desktop space, avoid hutches without room for a computer monitor. Consider a desk with a keyboard drawer and a couple of small drawers instead.
· Make sure the chair is comfortable and adjustable. Add a footrest to relieve back strain.
· Place the monitor at eye level or slightly lower and directly in front of the upper body to relieve eye strain and fatigue.
· Use a wrist rest for the keyboard and mouse to help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Maintain a 90 degree angle at the elbow.
· Place the phone, printer and file cabinets within comfortable reach.
· Use a simple bookcase to organize office supplies.

Turn Piles into Files

· Separate papers into slim individual files instead of combining different categories in a single fat folder. This saves time and energy in filing and searching for a needed document.
· Create a fresh file folder for current year tax records. This makes it much easier to file and compile required documents for tax season.
· Write the policy number, agents name and phone number on the front of all insurance file folders for fast access.
· Remember to make separate files for medical, dental and legal records for each member of the family.
· Always file the latest date in front of each file to make an annual purge simple. Staple loose pages before filing.
· Each student at home should have his or her own workspace and filing system to lessen stress and help keep everyone organized. Staying organized is a useful lifetime skill to teach children of any age.

By S. Alison Chabonais