Dealing with Paper Clutter
Many of us have moved to digital and hardly receive any mail at all. However, not everyone has, and this blog is addressed to those of you who haven’t. What I find helpful is to take whatever mail I have received to my desk and take a few minutes daily to sort it - mail is recycled, shredded, filed, or placed on my desk to be dealt with that day.
If paper gets out of control in your home, try to designate even a small area for treating incoming mail. Countertops and tables won’t be covered with stacks of paper, avoid spending money on fees from late payment of bills, save time by knowing where your documents are, and stop worrying about forgetting an event or a due date.
Close to your mail sorting station, keep a recycling bin, a shredder if needed, a garbage can, and some sort of filing system. The filing system could be a filing box, a filing cabinet, or a desktop filing system. I use a combination of a filing cabinet and a desktop filing system for items which need attention in the short-term (bills to pay, cards to write, material to read). Files, labels, pens and pencils, envelopes, stamps, a stapler, paper clips, post-it notes, files, tape - could be handy supplies. You could also note in your agenda when a payment is due.
If you take care of your mail on a daily basis, it will become manageable. However, you will also need to plan a weekly session, to follow up on different issues. This includes bill payments, although automatic payments become an additional time saver. By the way, if you do want to switch over to on-line billing and/or automatic payments and need a hand, I could help you set that up. And it is wise to verify on-line payments to ensure that all is comme il faut. Make follow up phone calls, file your receipts, reconcile your bank account, shred any documents if you keep a pile rather than doing it on a daily basis, add dates to your agenda or calendar from emails or paper invitations, declutter your purse (this should preferably be done daily). It may seem like a lot to do, but if you keep on top of the paperwork on a weekly basis, it will be much more manageable than if you allow it to pile up for a month or longer.
I can help - not only with decluttering, downsizing, and organizing spaces, but also help you get a handle on your paper clutter. It is such a wonderful feeling when the piles of paper are under control. Don’t hesitate to contact me!
Some of the ideas from this blog were taken from Home Storage Solutions, on Pinterest.