Dear FLYlady,

I can’t believe how taking baby steps can make such an incredible attitude change. Here is what I’ve accomplished in 15 minute increments:

Every January I would sort through the previous year’s paperwork and sort, organize, and file it all away. Then I’d shred anything older than 6-7 years from the stored paperwork. This was done regularly until about 5 years ago when I retired. After letting this go, the piles of papers just kept growing and there were new piles growing like baby branches on a tree. One day I read a testimonial about someone living with piles of junk making it necessary to create paths to get from one room to another.  Oh goodness, I never got to that point but I certainly had hot paper spots tucked away in every corner. Time for action:  I started with a small pile by my nightstand. Lo and behold, I had it sorted and organized in 20 minutes!  It was a high-five moment. So now I thought, what can I attack next, and next…

Needless to say, I have almost completely sorted through 20 years of taxes records, the purchase and sale of 2 homes, and household receipts for the past 10 years. I loaded boxes of sensitive documents into my car and drove them to the local place that does on-site shredding. I wanted to watch all that stuff turn into paper mush.

Thank you FlyLady for encouraging us to do a little at a time, it will still get done.

Now I need to tackle 45 years worth of family photos — one box at a time.

Mary in southern California