Sounds kind of lonely doesn’t it?

But it’s true.

The day that I was at my sister’s house, talking about how to organize household paperwork… which had plagued me since my single days when I didn’t have a whole lot to look after, was probably the first day of the rest of my life.

THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING…
It started simply enough. She said something like… “This is what I have been doing lately and it really is working well, hang on and I’ll show you”.

Out came the binder… as I recall, it was a fairly basic binder, nothing fancy (any binder is lovely as long as it has rings!) It held all of her household bills complete with section dividers.

As a self professed office supply junkie, I was automatically attracted to the idea of a visit to Staples, just say “I need a paper clip”… and I’m on it!

EVERYTHING YOU NEED AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
But there was so much more to it than that. She could momentarily look up any bill that she wanted to see in the past year – that meant a new binder for each year! Of course if you don’t have that many bills, you can use the same binder for more than one, or if you have a lot to keep track of, you can use more!

Come tax time, making a budget, or anytime she wanted to see what she was paying for this or that, she could quickly and easily access her hard copies.

And they weren’t lying in a pile somewhere cluttering up a corner somewhere either.

FOR HOME AND BUSINESS
I have since applied this system to my business. I have a binder for almost everything that I need to keep track of. My binders have truly pulled me out the abyss - wayward invoices, receipts, bills, research, records – each banished to it’s very own binder. Each binder has a label on it’s spine so that I can easily tell what it holds without taking it off the shelf.

OOH LA LA!
And binders are so interesting to look at these days.

I have small, flexible binders that I bought at the dollar store for a buck! I have a series of the same binder in a multitude of two tone shades – translucent ivory cover with vivid purples, blues, pinks… every colour in the rainbow on the spine – wonderful for colour coding and easy access, and they look so inviting, I love to take them out and use them!

I have some older not so great binders that I use for past years, the ones that I don’t need to access very often. And I have a bright orange binder that has a very hard cover with a groove that works as a handle so that I can carry it anywhere easily. I use that for my project brain storming binder. I am going to be getting more of those!

MY SPECIAL BINDER
And I have a zippered binder that I use for my time management workbook. This one is special. It contains a clear plastic pencil case that holds any tool that I may need when outlining my weekly schedule or goal planning sheets. Highlighters, markers, pens, ruler… even a mechanical pencil. I love the feel of it and the way it writes, so it is much more fun to make entries and keep notes.

It includes my day timer schedule sheets, my project sheets, my goal sheets and anything that pertains to my time management system – all in one place that I can take anywhere on a moments notice. This means that I can use odd moments that come up here and there if I go out to do a little planning, a little tracking or just a bit of snooping to see what I have been doing when I am feeling that I haven’t accomplished much!

It is the back bone of my time management system. It takes a system that could be complicated and transforms it into something almost magical in its simplicity.

RECORD KEEPING STATION – EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE ONE
This binder has a special place on my “record keeping station/shrine/table”, a small space designated only for paperwork, which in itself has been a life saver.

It takes its place of honour, smack dab center in front of my chair, open for instant access, so that I can tell at a glance anything I ever need to know about what I am doing with my day and I can add anything to it with no muss or fuss.

BEAUTY, EH?
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I say a binder is a beautiful thing (and more binders are even more beautiful!).

Try it, you’ll like it :0)

Janice Ferrante is the Queen of KAOS. You can learn more about how to Conquer KAOS and take CONTROL by visiting her website at http://www.queen-of-kaos.com. Also be sure to sign up for her free ezine containing more practical tips, articles and resources at http://www.queen-of-kaos.com/qoktipssub.html .