A filing challenge - are you up for it?

We're decluttering and organising our home offices this month.

Last week your challenge was to declutter at least 5 books or magazines. And boy, that wasn't a very popular challenge :)

It's not too late if you didn't get around to it - I just want you to get used to the idea that not everything you ever bought is sacred :) You CAN let go of some of your books.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Now today, we're going to do something that may be a bit more fun for some of you - weeding through files.

The goal this week is to go through at least 5 files. While you're doing that, ask yourself these four questions:

1. why am I keeping all these papers?
2. what's the worst thing that will happen if I toss it and I need it again?
3. do I really need to keep this?
4. am I keeping it because it's a habit?
5. is this working for me? (a la Dr Phil)
   

(if you don't want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering this week :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is my contribution for this week...


I have one household file, one for the cars, one for medical and one personal. That's it.

I keep my filing streamlined in these 5 ways:

• I only keep 3 months' worth of most statements, except for our water and electricity (I have everything since we moved into this house) because things go wrong on that account from one month to the next. The Jhb residents understand this all too well :)
• I refuse to expand to more files so the paper is contained to just the 4 mentioned above.
  
• When my files get too full, I take 5 minutes and quickly declutter a couple of sections.
• I really hate filing so I only keep what I absolutely have to keep.
• When I change insurance companies, I get rid of everything from the old company after a month with the new underwriter.
  

So, are you up for today's decluttering challenge?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system will help you get your home office organised and in tip-top shape. By the way, you get this entire system FREE when you sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar on Tuesday 24 Feb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don't have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything - physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism! :)

How many files did you declutter this week?