Six ways to clear a path through paperwork

If you're threatened by foreclosure, the need to keep communications clear is greater than ever. You'll have to juggle several possible options -- sale, deed-in-lieu, refinancing, loan modification, government assistance -- each of which involves stacks of paper. If you're the sort of person who puts everything into one big pile, or (worse) just throws away mail unopened, it's time to change. Setting up a paperwork strategy isn't hard, and it can be done in stages.

You can buy some of the things you need for an effective paper-management system here, and Chapter 2 of "Save My Home" tells you how to use them. But here are some practical steps for digging yourself out from under the pile right now.

• PFB: Paperclips, Folders, Boxes.. There's a joke: "If you had everything in the world, where would you put it?" A (properly labeled!) filing system creates roads on which your process can flow; lack of one is like a hundred people trying to drive to various places through a grassy field at the same time. Don't worry if you get the categories wrong at first: Any system is better than none.
  
  

• Segregate your stuff. If you're like most people, your "pile" contains everything from store coupons to magazines to mortgage documents. Not everything will go into your filing system; the things that won't should go, well, elsewhere. If it's not terribly important or time-sensitive, it can stay in the stack.
  
  
• Throw it away. Every extra piece of paper distracts from the important ones. Get rid of empty envelopes (in favor of paperclips or staples), offers you're not going to accept, and so forth. (By the way, I strongly recommend getting a paper shredder and shredding anything that's been personalized for you, from magazine subscription forms to mortgage applications. A prankster or criminal can cause you a lot of damage by pulling these out of your trash and filling them out. It does happen.)
  
  
• Stop beating yourself up. O.K., so you let things get to be a mess. So what? Every second you make a decision whether to let them stay that way, and there are lots more seconds on their way to fix it. Leave the past behind and get started.
  
  
• Get help if you need it. It can be hard to throw stuff away, even if you know you need to. You might say, "but I'm going to fill out that graduate school application eventually," even though it's been sitting there for months. Whatever it is, you can probably get another one; if so, admit (temporary) defeat and move on.
  
  
• Learn how long you take to do things. When you first start reorganizing, promise yourself you'll just work on it for a half hour. That's not long, is it? But I bet you'll see an improvement -- and that'll encourage you to take another half hour soon.

Have you found ways that work for you? Comment here.