It’s simple to scratch “Be more organized” on a list of New Year’s resolutions, but actually becoming more organized can be difficult. When you stare at the stacks of papers on your desk, you feel guilty instead of motivated to make sense of the mess. You know you should do something, but the process seems overwhelming.

I know about this anxiety because I used to constantly feel it. My office looked like a diorama of the Grand Canyon. I had towers of papers on the floor next to my desk, under my desk, and on my desk. I would stash piles of papers inside drawers in an attempt to ignore them.

To help you achieve your resolution to “Be more organized,” I’ll share with you the process I used to get out from under the hundreds (thousands?) of pounds of paper that were cluttering up my office. And, I should go ahead and tell you now, the process wasn’t worth all of the anxiety and dread I had been feeling before I got started. It took some time, but it wasn’t hard. I think you’ll have a similar experience:

1. Identify what you’ll need. In my case, I needed a scanner with a document feed and OCR capabilities, a digital filing system, and a powerful desktop search engine. I picked a Fujitsu ScanSnap that worked with my Mac, a copy of DevonThink, and downloaded Google Desktop. (Over time, I’ve also added an Evernote account so that I can access some of my scanned documents easily on my smart phone.)
2. Learn how to use the device and software. Check out online tutorials, read manuals, or ask a friend to show you how. Once you know what you’re doing, you’ll be able to zoom through your project.
3. Decide on your organizing structure.
   You can choose to use a hierarchical structure, a “bucket” system (where everything is just tossed in a single folder, or “bucket”), or a combination of both. Just make sure that what you choose is something you’ll actually maintain. I find that there are some documents I need in a hierarchical structure, and for those I use DevonThink to help me maintain order. For most of what I scan, though, I just dump it into a Scanned folder and find things by using the powerful search functionality of Google Desktop. I simply type in keywords to Google Desktop, and up pops the document I need in the results.
4. Commit to scanning an inch a day. Researchers have found that switching between mindful and mindless tasks throughout the day can actually increase a worker’s creativity. The study specifically names processing paperwork as a mindless task that gives your brain time to relax and wander. When you find your energy level waning, grab an inch of documents to be scanned and process those. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your clutter-free office doesn’t have to be, either.
5. Shred, recycle, or toss what you don’t need to retain in physical form. After you scan a document, you can probably shred, recycle, or toss it. Unless you need to keep the original for legal or extremely important reasons, feel welcome to get rid of it.
6. Back up your computer. Now that you have your documents saved digitally on your computer, you need to back it up. There are two types of hard drives — those that have failed and those that eventually will. Don’t risk losing everything.

Good luck achieving your “Be more organized” resolution. If you follow these steps, you’ll be able to get your paper mess under control in 2010.

Erin Doland
Editor-in-Chief of Unclutterer.com

*To gain more useful and innovative suggestions for tackling clutter in your home and office each day check out Unclutter Your Life in One Week. Erin’s down-to-earth approach will help you part with sentimental clutter, organize your closet based on how you process information, build an effective and personalized filing system, avoid the procrastination that often hinders the process, and much more.