Pile or File

On my drive to work sometimes I listen to the “Today Show” on the FM radio dial. Last week there was a segment about people who tend to accumulate piles around their home.
You know what I mean, piles of magazines you intend to read some day, piles of bills, piles of mail, piles of photos, and even worse, piles with a variety of things on it! They said that people are either “pilers” or “filers”, and we each know which one we are! Well, that’s right, I know which one I am. I am a “piler”, I have piles of every kind that I mentioned earlier. Each weekend, if I am lucky, I get rid of the piles and tell myself I will not be having any more piles, and the following weekend, I’m sorting piles once again! I guess it’s because I am also a “saver”. I have trouble parting with things. I try to use the philosophy I once heard about keeping control of the paper chase “throw or file”, that we are to look at each piece of paper and take action immediately, either throwing it out or filing it away…dealing with it only once (definitely not piling it away!)
I’m getting better at sorting the mail using that method, however, I tend to pile things instead of filing things. I always think I will file it away later when I have more time. Why do I think there will come a time when I have “time” to deal with that? Then there I am, dealing with the paper a second time, when I finally do get to it!

My Mother used to comment that she came to the conclusion that women who have “perfect” houses had the “thrower” personality rather than the “saver” personality. It wasn’t that the “savers” didn’t clean or try to keep their houses looking great, it’s that they were savers and therefore, their houses look messier. I think she was correct, because my Mother in Law had the “perfect clean house” at all times, she constantly threw things away, and our daughter is not a saver, and she throws things away,and her house always looks great too.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, my 4 day holiday (we have tomorrow off of work and then the 4th holiday), will be spent doing a lot of “sorting, cleaning and throwing” piles! I have done some yesterday, but still have more piles to tackle. My husband is NOT a piler, or a saver, so he finds it hard to understand why I am always working on sorting a pile or a box of things thrown together. He’s been doing a great job, since he retired, keeping the house neat, except for my “areas” that I won’t allow him to sort or clean (because I KNOW he will just throw it all away!... yikes…I wouldn’t want that!)
I’m working on losing my saver and piler personality, but oh my gosh, it’s hard!

Anyone else care to admit to this problem?