If you looked at my family tree, you’d be truly amazed at all the nationalities that are represented. While my Mom’s is pretty simple (she had a German Dad and a Polish Mother), my Dad’s side is much more complicated. There’s some Irish, English, Welsh, Scottish, French, Dutch, Finnish, Belgian, Canadian, Native American and Lord knows what else. Apparently his family had more of a tendency to roam around and intermarry across political boundaries. Funny how that works.

This only matters because of the different ways that the various nationalities act. While they’re stereotypes, it’s more true than not that the Germans and Poles are very industrious while the Irish are more easy going. Oh just put your hand down, shut up, and hear me out. I’m not on some anti-nationalism crusade here. Just pay attention, I’ll take questions after I’m finished. This is my blog, so I can do what I want (erm, that would be the English and Scottish side rearing it’s head).

Over the years, I’ve realized that I have two aspects to my nature that I sometimes have trouble reconciling. I joke about having C.D.O., which is just like O.C.D. (obsessive compulsive disorder), except the letters are arranged properly. I’ve even been known to make the comment that C.D.O. is superior because people with this problem recognize that they have it. In fact, we embrace it.

But the other side of my nature is that I’m a stacker. I’m one of those people who believes that no horizontal surface was created to be barren. If you can stack something on it…apparently you’re supposed to. If not, why would I have piles and piles of stuff. Not just papers, mind you. Boxes, plates, candles, computer hardware, CDs, storage containers. You name it, I’ve probably got a stack of it somewhere.

So on the one side, I’ve got this need to be organized and have everything in it’s place. On the other side, I apparently have this need to just set things down, no matter how precariously. Oddly, I seem to be able to function with both sides of my nature present. When the kids ask me for something, I’m usually able to narrow it down to a particular place, and can usually find it within a few minutes. Unlike the typical household, instead of asking Mom where things are, the kids tend to ask me. And usually I come through.

Sometime back though, I started to have issues finding things, and I discovered Getting Things Done written by David Allen. That led me to a seismic shift towards better organization. Well, at least the implementation of a better organizational scheme. I cleared out my filing cabinets (yes, cabinets because when you are an organized person you have lots of storage capability) and created a really cool filing structure. As David suggests, I got a label maker, and I printed labels for all my file folders. They look so neat and clean. While my handwriting is actually very good, the label maker ensured that I had uniformly printed labels. All with black ink on a white background. All with exactly the same letter sizing. Exercising my individualism, I strayed from David’s admonition against using hanging folders. I use them liberally. Initially I created one hanging folder for each letter of the alphabet. Those were actually labeled with black ink on a yellow background so that I could find the start of any letter’s folders. As the first hanging folder got full, I would add another with a black ink on white background with the letter of the alphabet. If a single topic grew enough it would get its own folder, carefully labeled. Over time, I discovered that it was even easier to find files if I placed the plastic tabs for the each letter at the same position. I decided upon three positions (left, middle, right because, well, that’s what made sense to me). All the A folders have their hanging folder tab in the left position, all the B folders are in the center, all the C folders are on the right, etc. If you can’t figure out where the D folders are, you must be one of those people who doesn’t do well with those tests in magazines or the newspaper that require you to figure out patterns.

For goodness sakes, quit whining. The D folders have the tab on the left.

I also discovered a neat little trick about the placement of the hanging folders and the manila folders inside them. Instead of putting the plastic tab at the back of the hanging folder, I learned to place it at the front of the folder. This means that when you grab the tab to open the folder, you’re opening from the front instead of the back. Same idea for the manila folders, instead of the traditional tab sticking up in the back, I turned them around and have the tab sticking up in the front. It makes it much easier to get in and out of both the hanging and manila folders.

So what do hanging folders and filing have to do with my Multi-National brain? Well, they represent the organized, structured, and together side of my nature. Now when the kids say, “I need a copy of my birth certificate and social security card for my new job”, I can leap from my desk, run over to the filing cabinet, throw open the drawers where the I hanging folders are located, thumb to the Important Papers hanging folder, tear out the IP – Birth Certificates and IP – SSN folders, extract the specific kid’s documents and send them to get the paperwork filled out for their new job. I do all of that quickly lest they get fired before even starting. Anything I can do to help them earn money and quit asking me is worth the effort.

Equally important, when they finish with the paperwork, they’re supposed to return the documents to me, and I’m supposed to refile them so the next time they need the documents, I can get them just as quickly. But supposed to is such a dangerous phrase. There are so many things I’m supposed to do in my life. Many get done. Some do not.

I know, with the German/Polish side of my brain that if I would just do the filing right away it will make life easier. The problem is, that the easier life won’t be for a while. Since my kids don’t get fired very often, they really only need their birth certificates and social security cards on very, very rare occasions. So the Irish/French side of my brain says just lay it on the to-be-filed stack, you’ll get to it. As if!

I’m now faced with stacks upon stacks of unfiled, unsorted, disorganized stuff. I’ve even taken to putting the stacks of to-be-filed items into storage boxes labeled by date so I know what’s the most recent and what is marinating longer. Eventually things either become totally useless, or so important that I’ll be digging through the longer marinating boxes.

And I know on the German/Polish side that this is dumb. Stupid. A waste of my time.

Yet I can’t seem to get over the habit of letting things pile up. I have all sorts of creative reasons, OK they’re excuses, for why I can’t do the filing now. Sometimes I’m headed out the door and don’t have time. Sometimes I’m not sure where to file a particular thing. Sometimes I’m being lazy, but call it relaxation time. Sometimes I just don’t want to do the filing. Upon a rare occasion, I’m actually getting other things done and don’t want to break my streak of productivity.

But, as is often the case, things have come to a head. I’m currently looking for four vital documents and I can’t find them. The only thing that I know is that none of them are filed where they are supposed to be. I know this because I distinctly remember putting them onto a to-be-filed or to-be-acted-upon stack of papers. Of course, all four found those stack-homes during the summer, and the stacks have been moved, shuffled, and distorted numerous times since then.

So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been beating myself up about not being German/Polish enough. I’ve had self-discussions about the virtues of every thing in it’s place and every place has a thing. I’ve pondered the meaning of a totally organized life. I’ve envisioned what it would be like to be able to find everything that I need with virtually no effort.

And yet I’ve continued to pile things up.

I’ve had the Irish/French discussion about how I’m not really that bad. I’ve compared myself to others who can’t find anything. I’ve reminded myself that these are just four documents among the thousands that we have. And for many of those thousands I could find them rapidly. I’ve patted myself on the back for having filing cabinets, hanging folders, manila folders, and a label maker. I’ve reminded myself that I have all the tools…it’s just a matter of…

What? It’s a matter of what?

That’s where I keep getting stuck. I really don’t know what my problem is. I actually like filing, and more importantly I love the results of a truly organized space. I absolutely love to be asked for a document and to be able to produce it within a minute or two. I even toot my own horn and rhetorically ask, “Wasn’t that amazing that I could find this so quickly?”. I usually follow that up with some patting on the back about that’s what a great filing system will do for you. You know, always a teachable moment. Of course, it’s certainly a case of do as I say, not as I do.

Nevermind that probably 40-50% of my paperwork isn’t in the filing system. That’s an Irish/French problem and my patting itself on the back is accompanied by Oompah and Polka music in true German/Polish fashion.

So here’s the thing. I have a dual nature, and I’ve finally come to recognize it. I also know that doing my filing makes a huge difference when I need to find things. I know that I won’t need to find those things for a while…if ever. But when it’s go-time, having things put away properly makes me look (and feel) like a champion.

I also know that there are times when I’m being a lazy, good-for-nothing and I don’t want to do the filing. I know that there is so much stuff that needs to be filed that it’s not going to happen overnight. This is a long-term project. Getting all the backlogged stuff into the proper places is going to take time, energy, and effort that I haven’t been able to muster. But, I also recognize that much of what I currently have will become unimportant over time. Some of it will matter, but lots of things will simply be destined for the trash bin if they sit around long enough.

So I’ve got a plan (nicely written up by the German/Polish side) and it’s something that I think is doable (as agreed to by the Irish/French side). I’m going to start handling the paperwork that comes to me on a weekly basis. In fact, I’ve added a task reminder that I need to enter receipts into Quicken twice a week (Wednesday and Sunday) and they will be filed the day they are entered. Since I file our receipts in a monthly folder, that won’t be too tough. Then on Tuesday and Saturday I’m going to do the general filing that has accumulated since the last filing day. There’s nothing magic about those days. I just needed a structure that wasn’t overly constricting, but also prompted me to get the filing and data entry done.

So, for the next seven weeks, through the end of the calendar year, I’m sticking with the plan of twice a week filing of new, incoming material. If I can stick to this, the backlog won’t grow. I’ve decided that I’m going to focus on the incoming paperwork and try to leave the backlogged piles out of the loop. I’ve made the concession that if I search through a pile and find something that should be trashed, it’s headed to the trash bin. Further, if I search for something and find it, then it’s to get filed as soon as I’m done with it.

Sure, this isn’t going to solve my huge problem of backlogged stacks and piles, but honestly it’s something that I believe I can do. Something that both my German/Polish and Irish/French sides can latch onto and run with.

It’s funny, because I got the idea from a blog post I wrote a while back. I guess this is one of those cases where I’m taking my own advice!