get my paperwork in order

I gave up writing about it here on 43things and moved on with it, in the end I was doing 3 or 4h during weekends just to see the end of the mess! Now I have all my paperwork in order: papers worth keeping were scanned, some filed, bills all paid etc. Now I have a SYSTEM in place to deal with paperwork as it arrives: they are placed in a folder call “process” and once a week a reminder in outlook pops up reminding me to go through my “process” folder. Also asked Mr Pcyclepath for some suggestions and we came up with a flowchart that really makes sense. I’ve been following my system and making adjustments as I go along. Great I’m feeling in control and no longer losing sleep over this!

It’s not a train coming, it’s the exit I’m sure. I’m antecipating how happier and at peace I’ll be once I’m out of here. It seems possible already.

Yesterday Mr Pcyclepath at first convinced me to take the day off and take it easy… but after watching a film with him I decided to go back to my paperwork since this is bothering me so much. Today is a beautiful Sunday but I’ll resist my urge to go cycling and make more progress. Already did my 2h but I’m taking it further and spend the whole day sorting the mess. Today I’m shreding a lot of personal finance papers I no longer need.

For the first time since I started this I’m ENJOYING it, yes I cannot believe it. Two days ago I was depressed about this goal. I still a huge pile of paperwork to go through and the business is still a mess but I’m feeling more in control. I’m very confident I’ll be able to go through this, find a system and KEEP organized somehow. I hope to have all the business papers in order by the end of this week (month). I’ll start my next quarter (Set 1st) ON TOP of things, that’s my main goal.

And finally I’ll be able to concentrate again on more important and exciting stuff!

Yesterday I was planning to take the day off but ended up doing more than 2h of paperwork. Today I’m despairing at how deep the mess really is… I keep finding invoices I didn’t charge my customers, expenses I forgot to reimburse myself… I’m getting really depressed about all this.

Another 2h of processing paperwork. Today was not as hard as it was yesterday.

and today was especially difficult, how boring… anyway I’m glad I’m making progress, today I found some expenses I forgot to charge a customer and a corporation tax bill I need to pay next week!

Spent 2h on paperwork and that was only a small dent on the pile of papers to process. Sad realization: perhaps 2h is not enough. I could increase to 3h a day. Otherwise it may take too long. Today I was really depressed with my lack of organizational skills, but anyway this time I’m determined to get out of this situation for good.

Edit: after lunch I went back to my paperwork I spent another hour dealing with it.

anonimously and my business contacts can’t possibly find me here, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to write this: the situation is even worse than I was expecting! Not only I found unpaid bills, I forgot to send invoices for one particular customer for at least 2 months (?!). To let the ball drop like this, how pathetic…! Anyway, moving on. Today I set the timer to make sure I was going to spend my 2h organizing my paperwork and I did. If I can spend 2h on a beautiful sunny day dealing with paperwork, I feel I’m again moving in the right direction :)

Yesterday I was planning to deal with my paperwork after dinner, but I ended up helping someone with something else, totally unrelated… anyway I couldn’t say no. After that I was too tired so yesterday I blew it on the first day. I should have stayed up doing this until late, because my sleep wasn’t that good, once again I was worried about what bills I might me missing… And now I’m £10 poorer.

To avoid failure again today I dealt with paperwork first thing in the morning, instead of going for a bike ride as I usually do. So my first day of success, yeah!

I’m back at the pathethic point I was some years ago: the pile of paperwork is so huge I have no idea what’s going on: do I have bills to pay? Is it time to charge my customers? I simply don’t know. Enough! Starting today, I’m going to put 2h a day everyday just to get my paperwork in order (personal and business). For every day I don’t, I’ll donate £10 to a street musician/performer. A drastic measure but this chaos which is keeping me away at night must end.