Hello there!
I hope you & yours are doing well.
I recently got an email from a reader asking for specific advise on “corralling” the loads of paper we ALL have to deal with in our lives. Let’s face it, no matter how digital we try to go to avoid the mounds of paperwork we have…we still find ourselves digging ourselves out of paper, right? UGH!!!
We’ve ALL been here! Contact spruce-us.com if you need help sorting it all out. Remote help is available!
I get how over time (a very short time really), piles of paper can be overwhelming. It can cause major stress which can in-turn cause anxiety and even depression.
It can cause you not to want to have friends & family over. Heck, who are we kidding…it can cause you not to even want to go home yourself much less have people over!
I find with most projects, the hardest part is getting started. You just have to start. Have a plan & get started!
Everyone is different (obviously). You have to ask yourself, “where do I want to start?”.
Ask yourself, “which areas of my home are collecting paper?” Is there more than one area that needs attention? Is it mostly in a catch-all area in the kitchen? A home office? The entryway table? A junk drawer?
IF paper is consuming your entire home (know you are not alone), I suggest starting small. Once you get into a rhythm and start seeing (and FEELING) results….you’ve GOT IT!
You’ll go from overwhelmed (which it certainly can be) to TOTALLY INTO IT AND ON A ROLL.
Now…just keep going. Room by room, drawer by drawer until every single piece of paper is either shredded, filed OR allotted a very temporary spot (think bills-more on this in a bit).
OKAY, so before you start…you’ll want to have a few things on hand. Soooooo….
#1: Purchase necessary items you’ll need to GET AND KEEP your paperwork in order.
Start by buying (or gathering up) boxes that you’ll be tossing paperwork in that will need to be shredded. What needs to be shredded? In my opinion, anything that has ANY of your information on it (which is most paperwork if you think about it). Even junk mail has our name & address on it, right?
It’s just easier as you go through & toss non-essential paperwork in the “holding” box of papers to be shredded. Just shred anything you’re getting rid of. Better safe than sorry, right?
If you have a ton to shred, find a reputable Shredding Company in your area and either have them bring their Shredding Truck to your home (you can even watch them as they shred everything) OR take the boxes to be shredded to their location (usually less expensive than them bringing a truck to you). Most places charge by the box (usually a banker’s box size). WELL WORTH EVERY, SINGLE CENT TO HAVE IT SAFELY DISPOSED OF.
You could see if any neighbors, friends or family members want to chip in and all split the cost of hiring a truck to come out. A Shredding Party! I’ve actually had several of these over the years. It can be a lot of fun. Everyone chips in on the cost, order pizza, everyone bring what they prefer to drink…it’s a party. Just don’t allow your neighbors, friends or family members to hold you up! Give them plenty of notice so they can get their papers together to shred and set a date. Make sure everyone knows to have their “stuff” together & ready to shred by this set date. IF you think this is going to be an issue, just box up your paper & take it to the Shredding Company if the cost of having a truck come to you (and you footing the bill alone if everyone bails at the last minute) is cost prohibitive. You can always ask for the money upfront from everyone interested. Believe me, they’ll show up then! WHATEVER you do, don’t let others keep you from moving forward.
You can buy your own home shredder (very reasonably priced these days). If you don’t have a ton to shred, this will come in handy right away (shred your own piles now instead of hiring a company). You’ll want your own shredder regardless of whether you hire a professional to rid yourself of the masses of paper you currently have. Once it’s under control, owning your own shredder will keep it that way. Shred as you go along instead of letting it pile up, right?
Buy several nice files & maybe even a small filing cabinet or a portable file system or waterproof/fireproof safe. What you decide on depends on your personal needs and whether it’s just your own paperwork or the paperwork of an entire family.
I find most people only need a small file cabinet (AT MOST) even if it’s a family of several people. Portable file systems work very well for almost everyone I come in contact with. If you have a home office, having a desk with file size drawers is my favorite. Everything in its place, nicely filed & labeled. LOVE IT!
I even prefer to buy different color files for different categories. Red=medical, Blue=paid bills/receipts/taxes, Green=investments/banking Yellow=warranties. You get the idea! You do what works for you but just make it organized and pretty to look at. You’ll keep it up if its pleasing to the eye.
A pretty basket or tray (not too big though) that you can keep either in your kitchen or your entryway table for bills is a must.
Okay, now that you have the necessary supplies/equipment that you’ll need….
#2: Sort through your mail DAILY! Don’t let it pile up. Mail stacking up is one of the biggest culprits of paper problems. It can get overwhelming quickly!
Shred any junk mail with your info on it (right away). If your area recycles and there are items that come in the mail without your personal info, you can recycle that paper. With your name/address=shred. Without your name/address=recycle
File important papers that need to be kept (right away). IF you don’t pay your bills as they come in each day, place them in the pretty basket/tray you bought that stays in your kitchen or entryway. Some pay their bills daily as they come in. Some pay weekly. Some pay every two weeks. Whatever works best for you, just don’t let more than 2 weeks go by before paying the bills in your pretty bill basket/tray and either file or shred the statement (depending on if you need to keep it or not).
Get into the habit of doing this and stick with it. Before long, it will become second nature and you’ll see it’s much faster to quickly sort through mail each day than to wait & go through a massive pile at the end of a week or two. Saving time AND you don’t have to look at that mess of a pile.
My blog reader that asked for help in getting their paper “issue” under control shared that they jot notes & important reminders on scraps of paper & backs of envelopes and that gets out of control fairly fast. Let’s be honest…we’ve ALL done this from time to time. Especially in a rush so not to forget something, right?
I suggest buying small notebooks that can easily be kept in a purse, tote, laptop bag, backpack (whatever’s with you daily). Again, I like to buy cute ones or ones with quirky/funny sayings on the cover. I just ordered several that I love from World Market that say, ‘Organized Chaos’ on the cover. They’re a great size and the cover makes me smile. Target, Office Depot, Staples, Walmart, Amazon - all have good ones that are very reasonably priced.
I also have a special place in my heart for Lilly Pulitzer’s colorful notebooks (with pockets & beautiful cover designs). Lilly’s notebooks tend to be rather big for me to carry around in my purse but I do like keeping a current working one on my desk and/or in my work bag for business needs.
Notebooks are a tidy (and cute) place to jot your reminders and keep them all in one place for easy access. Cross off items as you go along & eventually just tear out that page & toss it away. BTW, I like little notebooks with pockets just inside the front and/or back cover. Makes a great place to stash receipts until you can file them once home or toss them when no longer needed.
I also use the Notes function on my iPhone for notes & reminders. You can organize these Notes in your phone however you want and when no longer needed, delete the note. NO paper needed!
*IF you have notes on bit of paper scattered around, organize them into categories and transfer those notes into your new notebook and/or Notes in your phone in an organized way so they are easily found and toss/shred the scraps of paper. You can thank me later, LOL.
#3: Getting techie with it! If you have (or want to buy) a scanner, you can scan paperwork into files on your computer. You can create categories and file papers under whatever year you need to keep the information in. It’s very easy and keeps things super organized.
IF you go this route, I’d highly recommend backing up your computer to an independent hard drive just incase there’s an issue with your computer at some point (we’ve all been there, ugh).
SO, in this scenario; you’ll need your computer, a scanner (most newer printers also scan) and an independent hard drive to back everything up and keep backing up to on a regular basis.
This option takes just as much time to scan & put in a category for me as it does to file it away plus I’ve had some computer malfunctions in my day so (thank goodness I had everything backed up but still pretty stressful)….I like to keep & file important paperwork the old fashion way myself. Less stressful to me but to each their own. It’s an option you may want to consider at least. JUST DON’T FORGET TO GET THAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE & CONTINUE TO BACK IT UP ON A REGULAR BASIS!!!
#4: Sorting into categories. So you already have your shred box for papers to be shredded, right? Continue to use this box as you go along (even room to room). IF you fill one box up, start another shred box.
You won’t likely have numerous boxes of papers to be shredded unless you haven’t gone through your paperwork in a long time. Remember…one drawer, one stack, one room at a time. Keep up the momentum for however long it takes. Take breaks here & there but keep at it. Grab some coffee, drink plenty of water, step outside for a few minutes but then…back to it.
As you go along, you can sort into: shred (goes directly in the shred box), file (in your preferred filing system) & recycle (if you have that option).
Once you sort out what you need to keep, then sort those items into their own categories to file. Your filing system will already be set up, right? That’s why it’s important to go ahead and buy what you need to have on hand BEFORE starting the sorting process. Having everything already set up makes it easier to sort & file what you need to keep as you go along.
Everyone’s categories will be different. Warranties, Medical, Investments/Banking, Receipts/Taxes. You get the idea!
#5: Storing Keepsakes. As far as birth certificates, diplomas, marriage licenses, death certificates, Family Trust/Will, insurance documents, kid’s vaccination records, deeds, etc., you can keep a file with all of these items and label it…IMPORTANT PAPERS or KEEP or Certificates/licenses. Whatever helps you to get your hands on these when needed.
I’d actually keep more than one copy. File a copy of each where you are keeping your other files and put a copy in a water/fire proof type safe too. Maybe keep a copy of these types of documents in a safe deposit box if you have one.
As far as children’s artwork…I know it’s hard to part with. Go through it all and take photos of it (well, what you want a photo of anyway). You can store photos of your kid’s artwork on your computer, your phone, a digital photo frame. If you have a few favorites, maybe frame a few and hang them in a hallway or the kid’s room or a laundry room. Pick one room. You don’t want your home overrun with kid’s art. You can change it out from time to time until it’s time to let it go.
IF you don’t have room to hang their art (or they’re now 30 years old), but you still just can’t part with it…get a storage bin and keep the special pieces. NOT everything! The same idea goes for certain school work.
WE can’t keep every, single thing our kids ever did but taking photos of special pieces is a great way to archive them. Photo albums are another way you can keep special pieces (if you have the space to store the albums neatly). I prefer taking pics & keeping a digital archive over most of these options. I do however love pretty, neatly organized family photo albums (that don’t take up a ton of space). Pretty neatly organized (and matching in cover color for ease on the eyes) when stored on a bookshelf are likely to be pulled down for a glance here & there too.
You’re much more likely to actually look at these items again if they’re stored on your computer/phone/external hard drive than stowed away in some box somewhere. YET another great reason to buy & use that external hard drive backup!
#6 EDIT! EDIT! EDIT! This is where you have to be a bit brutal.
You can’t keep all of your paperwork as it is or you’ll get nowhere fast and just keep digging yourself a bigger hole, drowning in paperwork. YIKES!
As you go through, keep that shred box handy! Make piles of paperwork that needs to be sorted & filed. When you go through & sort what to keep & file, be sure to keep categories in mind.
Not sure about a few pieces of paper? Separate them into a (hopefully, small) pile of their own for now. Give it some thought whether you really need them or not and if so which file they should live in. Still not sure after a few days….maybe you don’t need them at all OR you can create a ‘Miscellaneous’ file (for now). If you haven’t looked in or needed items from that ‘Miscellaneous’ file in a year (2 max)….get rid of it. Period!
There should be very little in this ‘Miscellaneous’ file, really.
Obviously, this does not include any paperwork you should keep for *tax purposes. Ask your accountant to explain the importance & how many years you should keep these documents. This will vary based on if you are an individual or you own a business, etc., etc., etc. *I’m not an accountant so please consult yours.
Okay, you’ve got this! If you get stuck or have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can send me an email, go to ‘Contact’ here on the site. You can also DM me on Instagram.
Link to my Instagram & Pinterest up top 💚
Happy Sprucing!
~Scarlett