Not to get carried away with this stuff, but there IS a place in your life for organization.
It's almost the end of the first semester, and stuff is really piling up in my world. Here's what's saving me from drowning in paper.
First, a plastic basket about the size of notebook paper or a little bigger, for tossing all the completed work that can stay home - usually because it's been graded and returned, or it was for reference and you're done with that topic, etc.
What's great about this is if you do it right - which means staying on top of it most days - then it's sort of like an archeological dig: the deeper you go, the older the material. Don't throw stuff away, but don't keep carrying it around with you. Put it in the basket and it will be there if you need it.
You want more organization? File folders. Just make one per course, and then after you close out a chapter (or whenever you feel like you want a little more o-r-d-e-r in your life) just sort whatever's in the basket into the folders. Put the folders in a file drawer of that otherwise empty desk. Then admire your empty basket.
See, doesn't that feel good? You are not drowning in a blizzard of paper afterall.
