Trouble With Paperwork

[gentleheart]

I'm not really sure how this became an issue for me, but I have a huge issue with paperwork. If I'm at a doctor's office I can make a payment at the time, but once a bill reaches me in the mail, I throw it in a pile and can't look at it without panicing, and then they go months overdue and I start getting calls from collection agencies, which only makes it worse. I've even been able to calm down enough to make a stack of bills with my therapist (being with someone else calms me a little) but then after I took the stack home, nothing happened with them, they didn't get paid.

Obviously this is a problem with me functioning. Has anyone else had this problem? How did they deal with it? I basically have no support structure apart from my therapist. i.e. no one is going to do the work for me.

 

[saffy]

Hi gentleheart

Yes I get like that, find it over whelming sometimes and want to hide my head in the sand. However, I have had to tried to help myself and find this helps:

1. Making myself open the letter straight away, (I am always assuming the worst most of the time it is not as bad as I think)
2. set a date for each one for a day to pay, which must be suitable for my current situation.
3. Look at the bill, letter ect, and write down in bullet points what I have to do and how and when
4. deal with one at a time.

I find this has helped me to be less anxious about things like this and stopped things snowballing.

Hope this helps a little. You can learn to have the confidence to deal with things like this and confidence can grow with little steps.

best wishes
Saffy

 

[maddog]

Agree 100% with all that Saffy said. I too have encountered enormous and baffling difficulties with managing paperwork and other routine scheduled tasks. Anything of an administrative nature is a struggle thesedays, and as someone who once kept meticulous financial records, paid everything early, knew exactly what my finances were doing every day of my life etc, I have now paid bills late, become confused and lost about the status of certain affairs and generally lost touch with the administrative aspects of my life.

Saffy's how-to list is excellent and something like what I try to do. I too live alone without direct support with such things, so it's important to try to find a way to monitor what's going on and take whatever steps you can to keep on top of the most urgent stuff.

I really do sympathise, with both the logistics and the principle of this struggle.

Maddog

 

[quaintpapercut]

Hi Gentleheart - I have the same struggles and find it very frustrating to deal with. I'm doing better now but during the summer I was constantly paying bills late and not staying on top of things. I've always had impeccable credit but I know for sure one account has gone to collections (gym membership) and received notices for other small things like overdue library fines that I just couldn't deal with. The funny (or not so funny :oops:) thing is that it is for really small amounts and money was not the issue, I just couldn't and still can't deal with it.

It's the same for filling out forms and the general administrative tasks that are associated with going on disability. Forms for insurance, payroll, pension, benefits, taxes...

Saffy has some great tips! I hope it helps you :)