The Life Changing Magic of Managing Paperwork (with ADHD!)

Individuals living with ADHD have so many strengths.  But generally speaking, managing paperwork isn't one of them.  Mismanagement of household paper flow can cause you to experience increased stress:  paying missed session fees to doctors and other medical offices for missed appointments, incurring late fees for misplaced bills, missing events due to lost invitations, and experiencing anxiety due to feeling out of control when it comes to paperwork.

I'm here to help you get control of your papers, especially if you have ADHD.

Here's something to try for getting control of your backlog of papers (with apologies to Marie Kondo):

There are three things to do with any given piece of paper.  Ready?

1.  Act

2.  File

3.  Out

It's really this simple.

Depending upon your age, responsibilities, amount of paper you already have, and the volume of paper coming in, this simple process can take an hour or two, or a month or two of diligent, daily work.

To begin, gather two boxes or bins large enough to hold standard size office paper.  Label the boxes (with removable sticky notes or a thick marker) "Act" and "File."

You will also need a trash can and a cross cut paper shredder:  these are for the Out category.

Set a timer for 10 minutes, yes, just 10 minutes.  Pick up a small stack of random paper and beginning with the top paper DECIDE RIGHT THEN its home:  Act, File, Out (trash/recycle or shred).

When the timer rings, put the Act and File boxes away, put away any remaining papers you didn't have time to go through (as in, put them back on top of the stack from which you grabbed them in the first place), take out the trash/recycling, and put away the shredder.

Reward yourself in some small way after each 10 minute session:  a cup of your favorite flavored drink, a quick call to your best friend, your favorite low calorie snack, a short bike ride to watch the sunset, light a pretty candle, or give yourself a foot massage.  Rewarding yourself after an unfavorable job can help you get through it, and sets you up to perhaps look forward to the next paper management session.

This is the process of managing your backlog, over and over and over.

I will write soon on how to create an easy-to-use filing system, and on a daily/weekly paper flow routine to keep incoming paper from overwhelming you.

But this is a great start!