Organizing Papers

I have a son that is in the beginning stages of looking at prospective colleges. How can that be? I am not old enough, right? I have been denial for past year but the pile of college brochures finally tumbled over so I had to face the harsh reality. My son needed help to organize all the info and I felt out of control with the whole prospect. As I tell my clients, "Control what you can control!" I grabbed a table top filing organizer that has been sitting in my closet for awhile, spread out all the brochures on the living floor and set my Timer Timer for 30 minutes. I always do better when I am being timed or there is a deadline.

I quickly sorted the brochures and catalogs into regions, then by school. My son was eating at the dining room table so he was able to answer my questions on what schools were off "The List." Eliminating the unwanted papers and brochures to the recycle bin was crucial.

With only 5 minutes left on my timer, I knew I needed to pick up my speed. I grabbed a few hanging file folders, plastic tabs and my trusy label maker. I used my piles to determine which type of hanging file folder to use (regular, box bottom or pocket styles). In general I prefer all the plastic tabs to be on one side but the pocket hanging folders were already tabbed. Oh well. Time to follow my other mantra "Better to be done and imperfect than never done!"

Timer went off and I asked my son to take a look. He smiled and said "Nice job Mom. Looks good...but the piles were not bugging me at all." Hmm. Guess it was more of an exercise to help me feel in more control with the prospect of him leaving home for college next year...!