Hi, everyone.
I'm Alejandra from Alejandra.TV and in this video, I'm going to share with you how to
organize all of your open project papers.
But first, if you are just getting started with decluttering and you have stacks of paperwork
to go through and piles have accumulated on the countertop or the desktop and you're having
a hard time getting started, there is a link below to offer support and give you accountability
if you think you can benefit from that.
Okay.
So when it comes to organizing all of your project papers, it's all about keeping them
nice and organized, keeping them nice and accessible so you can find what you're looking
for when you need it in order to stay productive.
Here is the project organizer that I have on my desk.
It has all of my open project papers.
If there's a file folder in here, that means that the project is ongoing or it's still
active, it's still being worked on.
Once a project is closed, it's done, it's finished; all the papers, they go in the shred
bin, the recycling bin, or they get filed away into my inactive filing system.
So let me just share with you what this looks like.
Anytime I start a project, I, most of the time, most of the time, not every time there's
paper, but most of the time I will start a folder just like this.
This is an interior file folder and I will just start accumulating paperwork inside this
file folder.
Now, once I accumulate enough paperwork that I have to shuffle through the papers and find
what I'm looking for, then I will begin organizing the documents.
For example, if I'm working on a contract or a draft or something and there's multiple
versions, what I'll do is I will just begin stapling together all of the versions.
All of the older versions are in the back and the latest version is on top.
So version five is on top, version four, version three version one is all the way in the back.
I will highlight it, make note in the upper corner, so all of the versions stay together,
all the drafts are together and I can find the latest one nice and easy.
Something else I do is sometimes for projects that there's a lot of details, there's a lot
of things to remember, I will create a separate project to-do list for this specific project.
Then I will staple it on the inside of the folder or on the outside of the folder, and
then just work from this to-do list since I have all of the papers right here, nice
and easy and accessible.
If you have smaller papers for your project, like a business card or note cards or sticky
notes or something and you're finding that they're falling out of your file folder, if
you have a lot of those, you're probably using the wrong tool.
Switching your file folder to something different may be helpful.
But what you can do is grab one of these adhesive pockets, put it in the back and put all of
your small notes inside there so they don't fall out.
They also make file folders with edges.
They're are more limiting to taking papers in and out, but it is an option as well.
When it comes to labeling your tabs at the very top, so I don't know about you, but I
always reuse my file folders because they're in great shape and stuff, but once you label
the tab with a marker or something over the label maker, the next time you go to reuse
this thing, you have to cross off your label or you have to label on top and then it gets
really thick eventually or you peel off your label and it peels off the paper as well.
So one thing you can do is you can put a removable label on your file tab before you label.
It gives a nice clean surface.
Then you can just put a label on top, and then once you're done with this file folder
and you need to change your label, all you do is you just peel this off just like this
and it's nice and clean, and it's so easy.
Now, I can just reuse this file folder and have a nice fresh start.
You can find removable labels in a kitchen section at an organizing store or you can
create your own by taking packing tape and putting it on top.
Maybe you put a fun color underneath it and we have a nice removable label.
Now, if you find that your papers are accumulating and you have a lot of paperwork and this folder
is getting really thick, it may be time to switch your organizer to something that offers
further organization and a little bit more space.
So let me show you a couple options.
You could go to something like this.
This is basically, it's kind of like five file folders in one.
It's an accordion organizer and it offers sections, you just label your sections as
opposed to shoving everything into one folder.
If you need something a bit larger, you can go to a larger accordion organizer.
So this has, I think it's 13 different sections and it fully closes.
You can do something like that as well.
You would just label all of your sections.
You can label the outside.
So if you need something on-the-go that you want to fully be able to zip up and has handles,
you can do an accordion organizer that fully closes, has handles.
This is great for medical documents that you want to bring to the doctor, bring to the
hospital or just isolate some kind of files.
If it's not a project, maybe there's important files to isolate.
This is great for that.
Now, if you're finding that you want to stick to the file folder, but you need to travel
with it, maybe go in the car or you're flying somewhere, you can get one of these mesh pockets.
They are water resistant, they have sides, they have a nice zipper and all you do is
take your file folder, you put it inside here, use zip it up, you can put a pen in here,
you can put a journal or something and it's just so great for traveling.
I use these things all the time.
They are so lovely.
Then finally, if you have a really large project and you have a lot of paperwork, the last
thing you can consider is moving to a binder.
Binders offer so many options for getting organized and they're really great if you
have a ton of paperwork.
When we renovated this house, totally had a binder because there was so much to stay
on top of, so much that had to be organized.
So those are all of your options in terms of organizing your project papers.
Well, there are more options out there, but these are just some of the options.
Decide when you get started, how large your project is going to be.
Use what you know at the time to make that decision.
Obviously, there are unknowns, but do your best.
Have some kind of project organizer nearby.
This is a desktop project organizer, sits on my desk.
If your horizontal space on your desk is limited, you may want to consider a wall project organizer,
like a wall, like a vertical magazine rack or something like that.
So again, if you have stacks of paperwork, piles of documents that are accumulating on
horizontal surfaces, and you're having a hard time decluttering, making space so you can
set up systems like this, there is a link below to help you begin where I offer support
and accountability.
Thank you for being here.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
I hope you found it helpful and I look forward to seeing you in an upcoming video.
Take care.
Bye-bye.