Dan, I had to laugh at your reply - great sense of humour! I must check out your site.
I know what your "paper relationships" are like - some I've had longer than human friends! I touch my mess over and over and over as I move bit of paper from one part of the desk to the other, and I know where everything is, until I actually *need* something haha
One system I am just starting to implement is to deal with the incoming snailmail and bills.
Buy a concertina type folder for the desk, making sure it has 31 slots in it, one for each day of the month.
Write 1, 2, 3 etc in big numbers - one on each file slot.
As bills come in and you open them, check the Pay By date. I write a number 2 days earlier than that in BIG numbers on the bill (you don't have to do that if you don't want to) and then file it in the concertina file for that number. For example, if the phone bill is due on the 15th, I file it in the 13th. Do this for all bills.
PS If you don't open mail straight away, have an intray to keep it all together. Don't leave it too long or you might miss payments and be charged fines!
The idea is that each morning when I get to my desk, I open the filing concertina on my desk and look at the slot for that day's date, e.g. the 13th.
* I take out bills to be paid and do that first.
* I write / stamp bill with date, amount, check/cheque number etc
* I *file* the bill in the appropriate 3 ring binder (you'll need a couple of these).
* as bills get filed, the concertina folder will slowly empty out, ready for next month.
If I get an invitation, and I don't have to rsvp yet, I pop the invite in the "date" slot in the folder giving me time to rsvp. Once I rsvp, I move it to the date of the event, because I'll see it that morning. [I also have a database where I track events, meetings etc]
Getting sorted - that's what I'm *aiming* for - will keep you posted!
Cheers
Teena