Do you struggle with endless piles of paper? Does it seem like no matter how much, or how often you go through your stacks of paper, there is always more to go through? You are not alone, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are 3 systems you can put in place today to solve your paper clutter!
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1. A small accordion folder will organize important documents
If you are like most people, you have a few important documents that you have to keep for the rest of your life {hello social security card}. There are also the few more papers that are not quite as important, but you need to keep them around for awhile nonetheless {car insurance and tax information}. You may also have a couple sentimental items {children’s artwork or your personal letter of excellence} that you want to keep around for a while.
There is nothing wrong with keeping these papers around, in fact, you probably should have them easily accessible. But are they? This is where a simple and cheap accordion file folder can come in handy.
Using an accordion file folder can help solve your paper clutter by limiting how many important papers you keep. As you go through your paperwork, look at how much you actually need to save, and how much can be tossed. Most important information is kept online now, so do you need a physical copy of everything, or can some things go? The folder will also help to organize the papers you do decide to keep because there are many tabbed sections that you can write in categories for your papers and thus find what you need easier.
2. A 3-bin system limits paper clutter by limiting intake
Whenever new paper enters your house, how does it come in? For most of us, the mail is the issue. We receive mail that we don’t have time to look at right now so it goes on the counter for later. Mail that requires action may go by the computer. Junk mail lands on the table. Your spouse got the mail yesterday, and even though you were waiting for a specific card, you have no idea where he put it.
Does any of this sound familiar? A simple way to keep paper clutter under control is to utilize a simple three bin system as soon as new paper comes through the door.
The first bin is your processing bin. This is the bin that you place paper in when you don’t have time to go through it. Maybe it’s the entire stack of mail, or maybe you took out the junk mail but need to open up bills and letters. The second bin is a to-do bin. These are the wedding invits you need to RSVP to or bills you need to pay. The third bin is the just-in-case bin. All of those fun home improvement magazines that you are dying to look at, but in reality won’t get to go in this bin.
Once you have your bins sorted, they are easy to maintain because you know where everything is all the time. When you get home from work and grab the mail, but don’t have time to look though it, instead of placing it on the kitchen table and loosing it later, you simply place it in the top bin.
When you are looking for that birthday card you need to mail, or your dog’s vet bill, you don’t have to go looking through every drawer in your house because you know exactly where your to-do pile is.
When you are going through your entire house, tidying like a maniac, you know exactly where you can put all those magazines and paint samples you’ve been meaning to get to, because they have a specific home.
3. Solving paper clutter for school or work
We’ve all been there… either we have 5 classes all with thier own assignments and handouts that we need to keep organized, or now we have endless papers and documents that we need to keep track of for work. In this case, having a paper bin will be useful to organize everything you need with the ability to access it easily when you need it. With so many different compartments, you can easily access any of your documents at a moments notice. This is especially useful to keep on your desk for easy reference.
Set regular time intervals to eliminate paper clutter
Now that you have an accordion file and bins to help solve paper clutter, you need to have actionable steps to make sure they don’t get overloaded and you end up overwhelmed by the mess again.
The first step: Initial organization
The fist step is going through ALL the paper in your house. Gather up all of your important documents that you know without question need to be in your file folder. After you have organized you file folder, you can sort all of the other paper you found into the bins {and recycle}. This process should only take a couple of seconds per paper. The goal with this step is not to think too hard about anything, but simply get all papers organized into their respective bins. This will help to reduce the stress that comes from being overstimulated by all the papers.
Quickly go through the accumulated papers and sort them. The ones that you know can be thrown out right away, do that. The papers that may take a little longer to think through where they need to go (maybe you need to do something with them, but you are not sure on first glance) put these in the passive intake bin. If you know that there is a bill that needs to be payed or a card that needs to be mailed, these go in the take action bin. And finally, if there is a magazine or recipe or cute family cards that you’re not ready to throw away yet, but you know for sure you don’t need to do anything with, these go in the later bin.
The next step: continual upkeep
Now you have gone through all of the paper in your house and not only reduced your overall amount, but you have set systems in place and already began to utilize them.
Next you simply set regular intervals of when you need to take care of each bin. Your passive intake bin may need to be quickly sorted once or twice a week, while your take action bin may need to be gone through once a week or every other week. Your later bin may only be once a month or once every three months, or even just when it becomes full.
Final thoughts
If you are able to follow these three systems you fill find that you are able to completely solve your paper clutter. If, after a few months, you feel that you are still drowning in paper, re-evaluate what is working and what isn’t. Do you need to slightly change some of the categories of bins, put them in a different spot, or just be more proactive in sorting through them. Make these small changes to find the system that works wonders in your home.
