I have listened to Lisa Woodruff’s podcast Organize 365 for the last several years and was excited to pick up The Paper Solution when it was released. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who feels like they have stacks of unorganized paper everywhere and lack a plan to get it under control.
I’ve always had what I thought were effective solutions for keeping the right papers and keeping them organized, but I still found a lot of value in the contents of this book. In particular, I was drawn to the use of binders to keep important groups of papers. The binders she has designed for her life make a lot of sense and are great categories to start with. I also believe you could build on the concept and adapt it to your personal situations.
For example, in addition to some of the binders Lisa recommends, I’m considering creating an Auto binder to house all of our information about anything we own with a motor – cars, lawn tractor, mopeds, etc. It keeps the paperwork on each – purchase, repairs, and insurance. This weekend I’m planning to dive into the creation of a financial binder. As I complete the transition to binders over the next few months, I’ll report back in on how the process is going.
Again, I highly recommend this book. Not only will she give you great advice on how to get your paper under control. You will feel “lighter” and less stressed with the literal weight of the paper no longer holding you down.
From Amazon, you can find this description: “In The Paper Solution, Lisa Woodruff delivers a proven, step-by-step guide to decluttering the paper in our lives and sorting what’s left behind into easily accessible, structured, and, most importantly, manageable files.”