CONQUERING PAPER CLUTTER

One of the hardest things to conquer around the house is paper clutter! If you are like me, you could almost drown in all the papers you deal with on a daily basis.

Paper clutter can pile up fast and be very stressful! And before you know it... it's out of hand and overflowing!

But don't worry, I have a very, very, easy way to rid yourself of paper clutter!  

I'll show you a couple of basic steps to get your papers in order and under control!

All you need are a few file folders and a heavy duty file holder... and a little bit of time!

That's it!

Are you ready to take the paper plunge?

 Here we go... on the road to less paper and many less paper headaches!

The first thing you need to gather is 10 file folders.  They don't have to be fancy or new. I use mine over and over.

Label one file folder for every day of the week... MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY...

I use my label maker... I love love love it! Any chance to use a label maker makes me HAPPY!

Don't worry if you don't have one, use a pen, pencil, crayon... whatever you have... just label them.

Label the three file folders that are left ... TO DO, FILE and IMPORTANT.

Easy-peasy so far, right!

Now comes the hard part... you have to use them... and use them consistently. The paper system will not work unless you work the system!

Dig into those paper piles.

Throw away all papers you absolutely don't need! Stop thinking... well, I'll read that someday! That is what makes paper clutter. 

Be ruthless, throw clutter away... right away!

Any papers that you need to keep until SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY or SUNDAY goes into the folder of that day of the week.  Any papers that have a "due date" go into the day of the week file that they are due!

Example: If little Freddie's permission slip to go to the zoo needs to come to school with him on Tuesday... fill it out and put it in the Tuesday file.

If you volunteer at the rec center every Saturday, put the volunteer paper in the Saturday file.

If you need to take papers to your next doctor's appointment on Thursday a month from now stick it into the Thursday file.

To make this system work you need to look at the file for the next day in the evening. So if it is Monday night you must look at the papers your will need for Tuesday. How easy is that?

You will never have to say, "I don't know where I put that paper"! What a relief! Because if a paper has a due date on it, you know exactly where it is!

Every pile of paper probably has papers that need your attention in some way. Filling information out, responding in writhing to someone or papers that need to be read and signed for example.

 These papers go in the TO DO folder. Anything that you need to do to a paper goes in this file.

As you dig through your paper pile, put all the papers you need to keep in the FILE folder.  Ask yourself, "Do I really need to keep this piece of paper"?  Don't keep anything you don't absolutely have to!!!

This file can get rather large, so....

Once a week make a date on your calendar to put away all the papers that are in your FILE folder. It should be totally cleaned out once a week! Don't skip this or you have just made another big paper pile!!!!

A few papers in the pile you are wading through might be very important and need immediate attention.  Don't stop sorting, just put them in the IMPORTANT file.  

This is the file you will go to everyday and give the papers in it your attention.

Sometimes they can me moved to a FILE folder or a SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY or SUNDAY folder or to the TO DO folder.

Keep all the files together in a strong file holder. I also keep my easy bill paying system in the back of the files.

 Look for an upcoming post on how to keep track of bills and how to pay them on time!

You can also have a folder labeled TO READ, but it became a clutter pile for me. I never had enough time to read everything I put in the folder.

Here are a few thing to remember to make your file system work...

1. Be consistent! Work your system on a daily basis. All incoming paper gets filtered through the file system, except bills.

2. Use a paper shredder. Personal papers that are to be thrown away should be shredded first!

3. This system is designed to keep papers moving out of these folders to their proper places. If papers get "stuck" in a file you need to reassess the paper!

I have used this system for decades! It's easy and simple... two words that I love when it comes to cutting paper clutter!

If you like this idea you might also like  ORGANIZING BOOK AND MAGAZINE CLUTTER

If you give this system a try you will be hooked. It's a great feeling to have paper clutter forever conquered!!!!

You might like to pin this to your organizing Pinterest board...