Introduction
Many years ago I was becoming very frustrated with
organizing the piles of bills and whatnot that seemed to
accumulate everywhere. Simply labeling things didn't help
that much, and I was at a loss as to how to proceed. During
some random web surfing, I came across The Shoebox
Method web-page, which was originally written by
GET-O-LIFE.
Recently, I tried to find this same page again and
discovered that it had disappeared off the net. I found a
number of links to the page but all of them reported
the infamous 404. Grrrr...
Well, I recently decided to revamp my web pages and
thought that this was the perfect opportunity to re-create
the Shoebox Method web-page. Thanks to the power of the
Wayback Machine and an
old printout I had, I hereby present, without further ado
...
Mastering the Paper Monster
[ My own personal observations
will be set like this --CMF ]
Swamped in paper??? Can't find that bill? Or that
permission slip? Or the warranty to your new VCR that just
broke? DON'T PANIC!
Alphabetized files have disadvantages. Was it "Receipts
and Warranties" or "Warranties and Receipts"? What if there
are a log of "G" files? Skinny files get lost. And
alphabetizing is inefficient. For those of us who are
organizationally challenged, alphabetization is much too
difficult and time consuming.
The Shoebox Method is very simple to start and easy to
keep up. It's numeric, not alphabetic. All of your papers
will be in one of two places, and be rather easy to find.
Here's how to start:
Step 1
Take all (yes ALL) of your papers and put them into
the cardboard box. Don't sort them. Don't worry about any of
them. Just dump them all in! This is your "shoebox". Of
course, your shoes aren't that big, but this method is named
for the good old days when sales tax was deductible and you
kept all of your receipts in a shoebox.
Step 2
Look around. Doesn't the place look great without all of
those papers laying around?
Step 3
Put a number on each hanging file folder, starting with 1
and working up to 25 (or less if you have fewer folders.)
Step 4
This next step can be done while watching TV (which makes
it a lot more likely that I will do it *G*). Bring your trash
can, file folders, drawer or box to file them in, the market,
the pocket portfolios, and a pen and paper.
Step 5
Pull a piece of paper out of the shoebox. Let's say that
it's a receipt for that VCR. Take a pocket portfolio and
write "Receipts and Warranties" on it with the permanent
market. Write the number 1 on the paper, and write "Receipts
and Warranties" next to it. Put the receipt in the portfolio,
and file it in the hanging folder marked "1". You can keep
this list on your computer instead...
[ It is absolutely vital that
you set aside time to do this, otherwise the work will pile
up and you'll have 3 years worth of filing to do instead of 1
or 2 months. Trust me on this ... --CMF ]
Step 6
Pull the next piece of paper and repeat the process until
the shoebox is empty.
Now, when you need something, just look it up on the list,
and pull the portfolio out of the numbered file! Toss it in
the shoebox if you don't have the time to file it when you
are done.
Grab that shoebox when it gets full, put on NYPD Blue, and
file away!
[ I prefer Star Trek ;) --CMF
]