The day is done; the children are home from school and you just started dinner when the overflow of papers that lurks within backpacks begins to unfold. Your attention is pulled in six directions and that pan on the stove is beginning to burn. Hello chaos! You vow to get it together and come up with a system to deal with this drama before you loose another permission slip for Jr.
Having a family of five; I am always on the hunt for ways to simplify and ease our lives. The challenge I always found was- there always seemed to be papers for somebody that would crop up at the wildest of times. Finally I found form and function: an expanding accordion file. I went with one with 8 tabs; functional for a family of five and addresses all the common issues. Now function does not have to mean boring: I love these hot orange files from Paper Source http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/item/Orange-A4-Envelope-Folder/3210.020/496997.html. Now, if you are crafty and have the time then by all means go for it and stop by your local craft store and make your self an amazing file folder. However, if you secretly wish you were craftier and HAD the time then go to ETSY and find a fun retailer that suits your style. Guess which option I would go with? (Hint: Remember I do have three children…)
Time to get started in making your life simpler: start by tabbing the files with your family member’s names and then stash the file folder in your car. When doing the round of pick-ups ask for all papers from the backpacks. Don’t get out of the car before you have had a chance to quickly put those papers into the files. Did I mention how handy it is for mail too? When I stop by the mailbox I file the mail into the folder for “mom”. Anything leftover is trash and never makes into the house!
Bring the file folder into the house and place in an area where you can grab it and sort when you have a moment. I keep a pen in my file for anything that may need filling out. All of a sudden you have order in your life, peace from paper, clarification and oh wait: whatever you were cooking looks to be burning again. Time to go!