Tips to Conquer the Household Mail and Paper Clutter
All households are bombarded with paper on a daily basis. Bills, bank statements, pay stubs, calendars, schedules, menus and permission slips seem innocent enough individually, but when joined with the other piles of unattended paperwork, they form an army that overwhelms even the best defenses. Follow these guidelines and you will conquer the paper clutter and be organized.
1. Sort all mail received and paper work into separate categories. Immediately discard all letters, papers, which you know is junk mail.
2. Deal with each item as you handle it. Do not toss it aside to go through later.
3. Devise a filing system for filing your correspondence. Have a file for things that need immediate action, one for those that are part of a household’s ongoing management, and one for those that are more infrequent but nevertheless crucial, such as tax records, insurance policies, wills, and home maintenance documents.
4. Set aside time each day to open mail, go through paperwork in your inbox and sort and file appropriately with instructions on attached slips on the action you need to take clearly spelled out along with time deadlines for something to be paid, something to be done, or something to be filed.
5. At the end of each week, take out each file and respond appropriately by paying the bill, responding to the request, or moving items that need to be filed into their permanent locations. Of course, if you know something is urgent and can’t wait until week’s end, clip it to the front of your file box or place it in front in a folder labeled Urgent and act accordingly.
6. Save telephone time by keeping calendars, schedules, take-out menus and phone lists into clear page protectors in a 3-ring binder. Flip through the household notebook to quickly check meeting dates or find phone numbers.
7. Organize magazines and newspapers into baskets kept near couches and living room chairs for people to look at during their free time. Be sure to keep in the habit of sorting through this on a regular basis and filing those magazines you decide to keep and tossing old newspapers and magazines you wish you toss.
These guidelines will help you conquer the paper demon.