As of this morning, though, my brain has finally come to rest and is leaning against the wall, panting from exhaustion. It's been a horrendous week from the quantity of work standpoint, and I'm just starting to recover, barely.
It's Saturday morning, coffee under my belt, and I am still not sure which way is up. I may end up back in bed for the bulk of the day. That's how tired I am and that is not like me, at all.
A few weeks ago I was approached about 'helping' with someone else's work because it's gotten behind. Then it morphed into 'doing' this part of the other person's job. That's great because I do enjoy helping and doing. What I didn't realize, until yesterday, was the enormity of it.
It is, truly, like a tsunami.
It started as a ripple: I was asked to 'help'. I agreed and went and talked to this person about what's needed, the process and paperwork. I got started helping out. It's not hard. A bit time consuming, but not hard and things were going along swimmingly. Then they suggested I move the papers down to my office (which was what I wanted to do), so yesterday I moved the papers.
Looking at the papers they were sorted by customer name, but all of the conversation is by numbers. 'What's the chargeback number?' I realized that the way things had been set up, it was a three-step system and was, therefore, inefficient.
If you want to look for something, you first have to figure out what customer it's for, then find the customer file, then find the relevant number. It's too cumbersome.
So, I spent about six hours yesterday sorting an entire file drawer of papers - most stapled in groups of two or three or four pages - by the number.
Now, instead of having to figure out which customer it's for, then finding the file in the drawer and then finding the relevant stack of papers, you can go straight to the number and pull it. If you don't have the number but do have the customer, it's a cinch. Look in the database by the customer, find the number and then pull the papers.
While sorting several thousand batches of paper is not a strenuous exercise intellectually, it does require focus. If you don't end up with everything in the right order it's probable that you'll never see that bit of misfiled paper again. Unless, of course, you stumble across it while looking for something else, when you can move it to the right place. But it's easier to do it right the first time, thus the intense concentration required.
Along the way, I discovered that at least one of these items goes back three years. Many go back two years while the vast majority are from the past year - which is... okay. Except for the sheer volume.
Others appear to be duplicated, and I need to figure out why. Some are obviously mis-numbered - they start with a series we haven't even gotten to yet, so where do they fall? So now I have my question / research stack that's hanging out there waiting for me.
I have a stack about three inches thick of papers that have been approved for clearing. Some have been matched and can be entered, but about an inch worth is still waiting the matching bit. That's a Monday task. After that, I have, probably, about two or three dozen e-mails with probably seventy or eighty other items that have been approved for clearing. I have to print those, then match them.
Once I get that done, I'll go into the system and clear those, along with the matched stacks I created yesterday. Then those will go away, into the file drawer (pending a box for storing them for eternity).
Then, after all of that's done, I have to go back and research those older items. Have they been cleared and can be filed away for good and all, or are they still open and have to be addressed?
So, after I got the sorting done, I began going through all the papers I've touched - cleared from the system - and pulled all of the related paperwork in the documents I had just sorted. I found quite a few, and was able to put those in the Done stack. I have another stack on my desk to go through, and then I can go to the next step with those.
All of this is in addition to what I'm already doing. If this wasn't so huge, it would be fine and relatively easy. It's just the enormous backlog that needs to be cleared that's intimidating just now.
My goal is to have it pretty well caught up by the end of March, to have it to a manageable state where there's still a lot to do, but it's not like:
However, this too shall pass and in a few weeks I'll have it in good order.
The biggest issue is that I also have to keep up with my regular stuff - a portion of accounts payable - that can quickly get overwhelming if I let it get out of hand, and some other things.
Most of my exhaustion this morning is from the concentration required yesterday. Imagine taking a standard file cabinet drawer full of papers:
The good news is that there are e-file copies of these, too, so all would not be lost, but it's easier to find in a 'real' file.
That raises another question, though, too. What to do about the e-files? If they're open or cleared, they are still intermixed with the other - open are with cleared and cleared are with open, which makes discerning what's open and what's not at glance impossible.
I see another change coming - in a few weeks, after this initial tsunami has been dealt with. A sub-folder in the network directory for cleared items. As the document is cleared, the e-file is moved to the sub-directory. What's still in the main folder are open - you can see at a glance how things are going - and the cleared items are in the sub-folder.
It's just a matter of getting organized and this is the hardest part - the getting started from the bottom of the slope at which all the paper has collected.
Is it any wonder my brain is fried this morning? I don't think so and, with that, I'm going to get my brunch, decide between the unheard of second cup of coffee or nap, and go join my exhausted brain in the corner.
Have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
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