The biggest clutter in ones home is usually paper. Here is how to start sorting, get rid of, and organizing your home of paper products such as bills, receipts, magazines, instruction manuals, guarantees, etc.
ORGANIZING YOUR LIFE
You can't organize your life in a day, but you can start with the major source of clutter in most homes: paper products. This includes, mail, bills, receipts, instruction booklets, guarantees, insurance policies, books and magazines.
Over the years it is easy to accumulate stuff, particularly paper stuff. The more clutter you accumulate, the more the piles seem to grow until the job is so big you give up. When it comes time to find an important paper, insurance policy, guarantee, or particular book you have to pour through everything else first. Eventually you'll be so disgusted you'll start tossing things out and might lose items you really need to keep. Before that happens here are some tips of how to get started organizing your home.
Organizing requires preparation but where to start? Truthfully, the job always seems bigger than you think you can handle. The answer is to do one section of a room, or a closet or storage area at a time. When I decided to organize my den which is my office, I did half the room. Instead of just piling things up, I put my papers in their proper files, and sorted my magazines and books. Here are some things you need to get started:
a garbage bag for discards
a box for the family file (bills,receipts, important papers)
a box for things to keep
a box for things to give away
A box for things you need to think about.
A box for sentimental items
magic marker
file folders
hanging files
a file cabinet for family papers, or a storage box for hanging files to hold your important papers.
Your home did not become cluttered in a day so don't expect to get everything done in a day. However, follow my tips to give yourself a good start.
Sentimental items can be stored in a heavy storage box. Just because you are organizing doesn't mean you have to throw away things which have sentimental or emotional value to you. You don't have to part with your treasures in order to have an uncluttered home, but you do need to store them properly and that means in folders, or envelopes and in a sturdy boxed labeled SENTIMENTAL ITEMS and the date.
After you organize your whole house you might find you can take those sentimental items out and display them in glass cases, table tops or in frames. For now concentration should be on what you can throw away, put away, or give away. The best place to start is with paper, and that includes books and magazines.
Magazine organization starts with a notebook or file folders and scissors. Go through your collection and cut out the information you want to keep. Recipes go in a file marked for the specific type such as: desserts, main dishes, side dishes. Tips and other information should also be put into appropriate marked files. If you want to keep some magazines whole, choose the current issues and discard the others. Hate to discard magazines? You can donate uncut ones to a thrift shop. Others can be boxed and sent to a day care or kindergarten for the kids to use for their art projects.
Paperback books easily pile up. Be realistic about how many books you actually can read in a year. Mark one box to give away and one box to keep. After you fill the box to keep go through it a second time. You'll be surprised at how many more you find you can part with once you get started. If it makes it easier for you, think about the good you'll do by donating them to a charitable organization who will sell them as a fund raiser.
Other paper products that pile up are receipts, guarantees, letters, advertisings, and important papers. Go through your papers and see what you no longer need. For instance, once your new insurance policy is issued, you can discard your older copies. When you toss an electrical item or give it away, also get rid of the guarantee or instruction booklet which came with it. You'll probably find plenty of booklets in your pile for items you no longer own.
Your important papers which need to be kept include tax information. These should be sorted by year, and then by type. You are not done until you label file folders with the subject and date and put the papers away. Other paper items include current bills paid, to be paid, receipts for new products, letters you need to answer and other miscellaneous.Once all the papers are organized don't let them sit there. Put them in your file cabinet or a labeled storage box. How long should you keep receipts? For tax purposes my accountant suggests keeping records going back three years. To be sure, check with the IRS or your own tax advisor.
It might take a half day or a whole day, but once you have completed sorting through this paper clutter, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you are starting to organize your life. It wasn't just your desk cluttered with those papers, but your life. Having a place for everything and keeping it in place will lift a great burden off your shoulders. Now when you need your car insurance papers, or that instruction book that came with your grill, you can find it neatly labeled and stored in your file.
Before you first day of organizing is over there are a few more things you need to do. Take the trash out before you change your mind and dig through it. Load the car with your donations and deliver them as soon as possible, that day if possible. Don't procrastinate because that leads to more accumulation and clutter.
Things to help keep your paper organized:
1-Keep a pail next to your mail box. Tear up unimportant advertising and other paper you don't need. If it is something not pressing, than it is something you don't need to keep. We all get junk mail. Treat it like it is and toss it.
2-Avoid pile up of papers. Set aside time each day to go through your papers and discard what you don't need need. This includes magazines and newspapers which you can stack for recycling. Just remember to take them out on recycling day and not store them for months or years.
3-Pick a day in the week to pay bills and answer letters. Instead of putting off replies, write those letters, answer that mail, send the thank you notes, pay the bills on one specific day. You won't have to face this task every day and soon you'll find it takes less time because you haven't put off this job from one week to the next.
4-Cut down on your magazine and newspaper subscriptions. This is very important if you really want to clear the clutter from your home. Ask yourself, how much time do you really have to read newspapers and magazines? Isn't one newspaper a day enough? Cutting down on your subscriptions doesn't mean you never get to read your favorite magazine. If you have time and need something to read pick it up at the newsstand or your favorite book store. You don't save anything with a yearly subscription unless you have time to read all the issues.
5- Don't let clutter discourage you. Remember you don't have to do everything in one day. Start small and be happy with whatever you accomplish. Even clearing one bookcase or shelf is an accomplishment.
Being organized is a way of riding yourself of clutter, and storing the things you really treasure. It sure helps when you look for a paper, guarantee, bill, or book to know exactly where you keep it. Paper clutter is a good place to start. Next will be your clothes closet and bureau, but don't worry, that's for another day.
