This morning's quick tip is all about paper. Paper has a way of getting put into piles and then piling up really quickly. Not only does this lead to the feeling of disorganization, but it also leads to clutter. If you remember a couple of weeks ago I posted about having an incoming box to help weed out the piles, but what do you do when you have the incoming box and still feel like everything is piling up? Start by trying to figure out what you have piling up. Is this bills? Letters? Magazines or catalogs? Once you figure out what exactly is in all of the piles, you can work at getting rid of the piles.
If the piles are bills, is there a reason that you are keeping them? Do you have or prefer a wireless option? A lot of companies have bills and statements available online or via email rather than mailing a statement. Is this an option for you and your family or office? If you still prefer to have a paper statement or bill, why is it still in a pile? Has it been paid? Is it waiting to be paid? Or has it been paid and is simply needing to be filed? When you sit down to work on paying bills, try and handle everything at that time, from reviewing the bill, to paying it, to then either filing or shredding the bill. That way it doesn't get put into a pile to be handled again later.
If the piles are magazines or catalogs, they can be purged as well. Determine why you are keeping them. If it is a magazine is there an article or picture in it you like? If so, pull the picture or article out that you like, and toss the rest of the magazine. Store the articles and pictures in either a notebook or expandable file folder in order to keep them organized and put away.
These are two easy ways to avoid having paper start to pile up and become cluttered.
