- 1). Identify your major sources of paper clutter and work to reduce them at the source. If you receive a lot of junk mail, call or write to the senders and ask them to remove you from their lists. Transfer bills and statements to electronic versions, if you feel comfortable with this. Reduce your computer printing by transferring electronic copies to hand-held devices or use the reverse side of printed paper for temporary items such as driving directions or recipes.
- 2). Increase the number of waste paper receptacles in your home. Include not only waste baskets but paper recycling and shredding baskets so that you'll be less likely to leave paper lying around because you don't have the proper means of disposal. Keep receptacles as close as possible to the areas where paper clutter tends to gather most.
- 3). Sort through existing clutter before adding more. Before engaging in activities that are likely to generate more paper, like printing from your computer, picking up the mail or buying a newspaper, sort through any existing paper items that you haven't sorted or thrown away. This will help keep the clutter from building.
- 4). Create more storage for important papers. Purchase accordion folders or a filing cabinet to store permanent papers like tax paperwork, leases, pay stubs, recent bank statements or pending legal paperwork.
- 5). Dedicate a place for "work in progress" papers. Use an inbox or mail holder to store papers that need to be dealt with in the future, such as information for upcoming events or unpaid bills. Deal with these papers as soon as you can. Do not use this space for junk mail, papers of sentimental value or any other pieces of paper that are likely to sit there indefinitely.
- 6). Set aside a regular time to sort through the clutter. In spite of your best efforts, it's likely that some paper clutter will persist, so take some time on a daily or weekly basis to go through it and sort out the junk and put away the valuable papers.
previous post
next post