In order to accomplish this, you need to come up with an official paper management system to handle all of the incoming papers into your life. If you are like the rest of us, there is way too much paper coming our way on a daily basis. Once you put a simple process into place to help you decide how to handle all of these papers, maintaining it should be a snap.
First, throw any paper that you don’t want or need into the recycling box. Get it out of your way at once.
Second, create an area or an inbox that will handle everything that you have not looked at yet. This includes the mail that you pick up, the papers that come home with the kids that need to be deciphered (not the papers that need a quick signature and placed back into their backpacks) and anything else that comes home with you.
Third, avoid reviewing papers in your inbox. Make a commitment to deal with it if you touch it. Make it a habit to move it forward somehow, pass it along to someone else, file it or act on it.
Fourth, for those stacks that are lying around the house or office, pull them into a square pile and make the commitment to sort through them.
- First, pull out all of the thick papers including phone books, magazines, etc and either put them away or throw them away.
- Sort the remaining papers into two piles: “Keep” and “Throw Away”
- Put the “Throw Away” pile in the trash can or recycling
- Now, go back through the “Keep” pile. Can you throw away anything else? Make sure to go through it a second time (or more) and you will realize that there really is not a lot that you really need to hang onto.
Finally, with all of the papers that are left, they will fall into one of two categories. They are either “Active” papers or “Reference” papers. Active papers are those that you need to touch on a regular basis. Reference papers do not require any action. They just need to be available for future reference. These could include medical records, taxes and projects that you have completed.
Now that you have determined which stack they go into, keep your active papers handy. Once they are broken down, then you can work on sub-dividing them. I like to use the stair-step holders so that you can see the files in the back of the stack.
I hope that helps with some of those stacks of paper that are hanging around the house. Remember, the quicker you can deal with a piece of paper, the less likely it is to become a pile somewhere in your house!
Happy Organizing! Bridges