Paper clutter can truly take over your life — especially for a mom who didn’t do this to become a secretary. I’m gonna show you a quick trick to control it, manage it, organize it, reduce it and spend less time worrying you missed something important.
Paper clutter
It really is the worst, and if you’re a mom with kids in school you know that it can literally ruin you.
You can have SO many things coming in from SO many directions (and schools) that you worry you’ll miss something important as you drown in the 400 worksheets with smiley stickers on them.
I’ve been there, I know how you feel.
Paper Clutter Management
The first key is to reduce it.
When you bring in the mail — automatically throw away the stuff that doesn’t matter. The ads, the flyers, etc. Just toss it. This isn’t a decision to linger on.
Paper Clutter Organization
After I reduce it — the remaining items go in one of 3 places.
- Needs to be taken care of ASAP. The non-graduation letter, the bill you forgot to pay. Those are things that are quick enough or important enough that you can sit down RIGHT then and take care of.
- Put it with the bills. I have a little filing section near my desk where I put my bills. I pay them on Saturday AM and it’s a pretty handy system that means I very rarely forget to pay a bill.
- The third one is what this post is about — and my savior.
Mom’s Inbox
Put it in my inbox.
Just saying it makes me feel powerful, like maybe I really do something important….
That’s right I have an inbox, and it can save mind when all these papers come flooding in during the first couple weeks of school.
I first learned about Inboxes from Power of Mom’s Mind Organization for Moms. The inbox was something I adopted, and I haven’t looked back.
Related Post: End of School Year Papers
It’s just a little tray, and it sits above my computer. My kids just know to put papers in there. I do ask them if the paper needs to be back within the week, to remind me — but otherwise, just pop it in there, baby!
And it’s all there. All the paper, all the info, all the weird things I need to make phone calls for, just waiting for me until I have the time to deal with them.
That, is usually on Mondays. I used to do it twice a week, and I may at the beginning of this year, do twice a week again — but once a week usually suffices.
Things that go in my inbox:
Schoolwork ~ I evaluate it to see if anyone needs yellin’ at or if it’s so good I should keep it (otherwise I keep it in a round bin by my desk {wink, wink}.
Related post: School Paperwork
Doctor’s paperwork ~ Fill it out when I have time
Paperwork for after-school events that the kids are involved in
Checks that need caching (I use my handy phone app for that — I also keep them in the inbox for a few weeks to make sure they REALLY cached)
Anything else paper-y.
Related posts: Organizing Bills
My friend Kristina also has a great post on what she does with the papers that come in her home.
Anyway, prior to this I felt like I always had a stack of papers next to me by the computer, and that’s just crazy annoying. It’s nice to have a place where it all goes, and a day that I can just go through it.
It would also be nice to have a secretary (or my own wife), but I digress…
How do you deal with paperwork at your house? Do you think an inbox would be helpful?
Something to consider
If paper and clutter are overwhelming you — it makes life harder than it needs to be. It’s hard to focus and manage it all. It produces anxiety — needless anxiety because a lot of paper can truly be dealt with when you have time.
I have tons of tips like this in my course The Organized Home.
If you often feel
- Like it takes hours to get your house ready for guests.
- You’re worried you’ll lose something important
- Can’t relax because the clutter seems to creep up on you
This course is for you. Take a look — and ask yourself, if your house was more organized, would you feel less anxiety in your life. You can even save 10% with code PC10.
If you liked this post, sign up for my free 5-word Organization challenge, and check out my other organization posts under that.
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This post was originally written in 2014, but has since been updated.
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