Getting Organized:Learning How to Deal with Paper Piles

If you are depressed about the piles and piles of paper that seem to have taken over your desk—and spread out to the immediate environs, covering chairs, dining table, and— oh yes, the floor—you have lots of company. I now work in a tiny space that is overflowing with miscellaneous press kits, magazines, bills, post-its, invitations and unreadable receipts for what I'm not sure anymore. So much for our paperless society.

But there's hope for us. I've been reading a wonderful book, Design Your Life , by Ellen Lupton, curator of contemporary design at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, as well as director of the graphic design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art. Lupton teamed up with her twin sister Julia, a professor of English at the University of California, Irvine, to take a practical look at the everyday design problems we all face. Naturally, dealing with paper is one of them.

Organizing Piles

Although she uses the computer all day, Lupton, like most of us, is always awash with papers. But filing them away, she says, would only lead to forgetting their existence. "Productivity experts suggest that only finished business should be banished to a file cabinet," she writes. "Active projects need to stay in view to stay on track, so unless your desk is the size of a regulation tennis court, some of your paper is going to end up in piles."

She says that people use numerous techniques to organize their papers to keep from being overwhelmed. Here are some of hers:

Color Coding

If your work lends itself to tidy categories, color-coded folders and/or labels can help you find something quickly, providing a visual memory aid. Keep the categories few and simple, or the task of remembering exactly how they have been sorted will outweigh the benefits of using the system.

Paper Folders

Standard manila folders are designed to be used inside file cabinets, but they also can be put to work managing your paper piles. Lupton says, "The act of sorting piles into folders prompts you to throw away much of what you don't need. Weeding things out could make you feel better about all the stuff you don't have to deal with.

Transparent Sleeves

Opaque paper folders have to be labeled, which takes time—and if your handwriting is as illegible as mine—are frequently unreadable. Transparent folders openly reveal their contents and often don't need labels at all. Clear plastic sleeves, she says, are great for organizing small projects.

Clear Plastic Portfolios

The transparency concept applies here as well, but to bigger projects. She recommends the kind of envelope that closes with a string that wraps around a button. Lupton cuts off the flap and string to make it easier to get papers in and out. Since it usually just sits on her desk, it doesn't need much more in the way of security. And, she sagely notes: "When a system is easy to use, you are more likely to use it."

Strip Labels

Folders organized in a desktop file rack become a kind of vertical pile, like an in box, out box on steroids. Strips of colored construction paper sticking out of each file make it easy to find out what's inside. Unlike stick-on labels, this method doesn't damage the folders, which then can be endlessly recycled.

Her last word to the wise: "Remember that the key to designing a successful system lies in making it not just the transient result of a one-day cleaning frenzy but a pattern you can live with."