End Paper Pile-ups!
Paper comes into our house from everywhere! Bills, junk mail, newspaper, magazines, school work, fliers we find on our car windshield… to keep the paper piles under control, we need a routine!
Establishing a routine that works for you is far more important than any product or sorter you can buy. Either dealing with paper for five minutes a day while your kids are doing homework or 30 minutes on a Saturday morning are great plans if it keeps you caught up!
What do you do when the paper comes into the house? You need to create an official spot to collect incoming paper like a corner of the kitchen counter, living room side table or a wall-mounted basket just inside the door… but only one spot!
When you are ready to sit down and begin, try these steps for effective and efficient paper management:
STEP 1:
Open and discard all envelopes
Lay app the papers flat
Circle or highlight printed due dates on bills
Review every paper and divide them into piles
STEP 2:
Immediately decide what you are going to do with a piece of paper or document… are you going to trash it, shred it or recycle it?
If a document needs someone else’s knowledge or response, decide how you will notify them, give it to them… maybe give everyone in the house their own mailbox and mark pages with colored markers or colored sticky notes.
If you have papers still remaining, sort them into three groups: things to review, calendar items and events or outstanding bills. Then, schedule and pay, right then!
Lastly, any paper that hasn’t been trashed, delegated or acted on needs to go into a long-term storage file, drawer or box.
Wa-la! You’ve stopped making piles and have control over you endless paper pileups now.
Click here to visit Kathy’s article: End Paper Pile-ups
Kathy Jenkins is the President of Come To Order, a Certified Professional Organizer®, Student Organizer, Certified Family Manager Coach, Writer and Speaker based in Richmond, Virginia. She is a member of NAPO and ICD and is dedicated to helping her clients simplify their lives by reducing clutter, organizing their homes and offices, and managing their time. Kathy especially enjoys working with kids and their families to help them learn good organizational skills that will benefit them for a lifetime. Follow Kathy on Facebook.
