It’s a common problem that even the most organized people face. Paper clutter leads to stress and costs both time and money. If you’ve ever had to track down a missing permission slip before school or misplaced bills that led to late payment fees, you know that one little piece of lost paper can be stressful. Here are some tips for dealing with paper piles and ensuring you don’t have to deal with paper clutter again.
- Select specific areas for dealing with paper and put a system in place for organizing it. I’ve created two areas for handling papers – one in the kitchen, where I read mail and collect papers my son brings home from school, and one in my home office, where the filing cabinet and my desk are. In the kitchen, I have a three-tier mail sorter I created, with one pocket for bills to pay, one pocket for school work that needs action, and one pocket for papers that need to go upstairs to my office for filing. The mail sorter conveniently hangs right above a recycling bin, so junk mail and unneeded papers can be immediately recycled. In my office, I have another recycling bin, a box for papers that need to be shredded, and several filing systems for organizing the papers we need to keep (more on that on Day 24).
- Be ruthless when dealing with paper, and recycle as much of it as possible.
- Reduce paper clutter before it even gets in the door by removing yourself from mailing lists, signing up for electronically delivered bills and bank statement notifications, and cutting back on magazine subscriptions that you don’t read.
- Decide what to do with each piece of paper the first time you handle it. Does it require action, like a party invitation needing an RSVP or a bill to be paid? Is it informative, something that was strictly meant for your information, and now that you’ve read it, can it be recycled? Is it junk that can be immediately recycled without reading? Is it something important, such as tax information, that needs to be filed so it can be found again easily?
- If a paper needs to be filed, file it as soon as possible to avoid letting it pile up. If you keep a “to file” stack, put a limit on how much will fit before you’ll run out of space and be forced to file. I used to keep a three-inch inbox tray, but that lead to a six-inch document box, which lead to one almost nine inches tall. Since I hated the thought of tackling that much paper, I kept transferring it to a bigger bin to avoid dealing with it. Now my kitchen To File pocket is only about ½ an inch thick and doesn’t hold much, so I’m forced to file more often.
- Go digital when possible. I transfer a lot of the paper I feel like I want to keep for informative purposes into digital files using Evernote, which I can access from my iPhone, my Color Nook and any computer connected to the Internet. Even easier, most of the time I transfer the paper to Evernote by simply taking a photo of it with my iPhone and uploading to the Evernote app. Then I can toss the paper. Evernote files the papers into “notebooks” that I can search, categorize and sort, and if I find I don’t need the information after all, I can delete it easily.
- For calendars, addresses and phone numbers, digital is key again. I remember in the 1990’s using a binder-style organizer and carrying it with me everywhere, although I was in a constant state of anxiety over possibly losing it and forever losing my calendar, address book and notes. Not anymore. Transfer calendar events and appointments directly to your digital calendar (I love Google Calendar, viewable online and on most mobile devices) and recycle all those little appointment cards, reminder postcards and scraps of paper. Keep contacts in a digital address book (Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo!, etc.) and shred your old paper address book. Never worry about losing important info again.
Next up: Creating Simple Filing Systems
This post is part of the Fresh Start Series, 31 days of tips and tricks to simplify in the new year.
3 intelligent opinions. Add yours!:
I pile too much. I moved my shredder to the kitchen where I read and sort my mail so I can shred right away. For me, the more important reason the shredder is behind the kitchen counter is the dogs. A shredder left plugged in can shred a nosy dog's tongue - and cost her her life. Please, when you are not using your shredders, unplug them; turning them off is not good enough.
Am enjoying your series. My papers are so out of control, I desperately need a system for them.
Thanks for the reminder Roberta! We keep our shredder unplugged and out of sight in our office, away from kids and pets. Half the time, we just box up shredding for outside truck shredding since our city offers it for free ;)
I have to agree with you that paper clutter leads to stress and costs both time and money. Thanks for sharing your tips in dealing with annoying paper tiles.
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