Spring is right around the corner. Spring can represent a new beginning. Spring can provide a great opportunity for a fresh start. Even where paper is concerned.
Is your “paper” starting to pile up? If so, maybe it’s time to do the paper shuffle and clear the paper clutter.
We all have to deal with paper every day. Regular mail, bills, newspapers, books, magazines, catalogs, notes, paper generated from email, cards, yearly calendars, planning calendars, receipts, bank statements, appointment reminder cards, appointment books, day planners, binders full of paper, envelopes, stationery, folders, insurance policies, birth certificates, marriage licenses, and our children’s papers to name a few.
Paper is not laughing matter. Paper is serious business. Paper can get in the way of living a healthy, clean, and organized life. So, today, pick one room. Look around that room. Start in one corner and slowly go around the room looking for any paper. And as soon as you see the paper, decide immediately to “organize” that paper. Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. Do it now. It’s that easy!
OK, maybe it’s not that easy. When attempting to organize paper, one should really have a plan. All loose papers or papers currently in piles must be put into folders. Period. There should be no loose papers piling up anywhere. Buy some folders and put all loose papers into folders. It’s quick. And it works. I guess it really is that easy.
All those folders filled with papers must then be put into a filing cabinet, a basket, a drawer, on a shelf, in a file box, or in a cabinet behind closed doors. Once the loose paper is organized and it “has a home”, it is much easier to continue to put the paper where it belongs; and out of sight.
Junk mail should be thrown away as soon as it enters the door. Please do not save junk mail. And shred as much as possible. Shred old papers. Shred old important papers that you no longer need to keep. Shred anything that has your personal information on it. Keep a trash can and a shredder near where you open the regular mail. Throw away and shred immediately.
Why do we save magazines and catalogs? This one boggles the mind. When does a person have all day to read an entire magazine; or an entire catalog? We don’t, usually. We might take a few minutes and thumb through a magazine while waiting. We might take a few minutes to thumb through a catalog to see if there is anything of interest to us. But even if we do take the time to read an entire magazine or catalog, why save it after we are done reading it? This just reinforces the paper pile-up problem.
If you really need something to read, you can now look it up on the internet. We no longer need to save magazines and catalogs. So, there is only one thing left to do. Cancel all magazine subscriptions you no longer read. Reduce catalogs by calling the individual catalog company and ask them to stop sending their catalogs to you. Then be brave. Throw away all those old magazines and catalogs.
Purchase a bill organizer. Ours is made of wood, has three slots (incoming, outgoing, and not yet), and it hangs by the door (and desk) where we open our regular mail. Process mail immediately as it comes into the house. Make decisions about each piece of mail. And then put each piece into the correct slot. Or throw it away. Done.
Purge the file cabinets, the file boxes, the binders, and the information folders. These can get overfull very fast. Reduce the paper clutter by purging as much as possible; and especially information that is no longer timely and relevant. And if it contains information that can be found elsewhere (like the internet), go ahead and get rid of it. Do the paper shuffle. Shred as much as possible. And lighten your paper load.
