Last night's filing workshop at the Eagle Creek Library in Lexington, Kentucky was a success, despite the weather. It was COLD and we got a couple inches of snow throughout the day, but that didn't stop the brave souls from coming out to the library. 14 Attendees in all, Tammy, the Librarian, and I were amazed at the turnout. We had been agonizing earlier in the day over whether to reschedule and I said, "oh, let's just go for it."
We all had a great time and there was a lot of interaction between the participants, which was exactly what I wanted. A lot of great questions came up. Some of the things we discussed were:
- How to designate "Active," "Inactive" and "Archive" filing categories.
- How long to keep different types of paperwork, such as medical records, utility bills, bank account and credit card statements, and tax records.
- How long to keep the box and packaging something came in.
- How to deal with clippings from magazines and newspapers.
- Ideas for keeping different types of important reference materials.
- How to determine whether something goes in a file or in another place.
- The difference between just keeping something and making a decision about keeping something.
These are all the same kinds of things that I usually discuss with my clients when working one-on-one, except even the participants were able to contribute ideas as well, which I love. Supplies were provided, and I gave out a couple door prizes. I think we all really enjoyed the experience, and I'm looking forward to doing this kind of workshop on a more regular basis.
In the meantime, it's really ok to throw away the inserts that come with your utility bill!
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