Organizing paper clutter is something that everyone needs to tackle because no matter how hard you try, paper just keeps flooding into our homes.
Whether it’s your kid’s artwork or other paperwork they bring home from school, bills or junk mail, it finds a way in.
There are some mistakes that people make when trying to manage paper clutter and that’s what I’ll talk about today.
If you’ve been struggling to stay on top of your paper, it might be due to one or more of these organizing mistakes.
Top 5 Mistakes When Organizing Paper Clutter
1. Not Dealing With Paper Clutter Regularly
When you or someone else brings paper into the house, what do you do with it?
If your answer is that you stack it up on the kitchen counter and forget about it until weeks later, then this is a problem.
You need to have a regular schedule for dealing with paperwork. There could be important papers in that pile that require an action from you and have a due date. The most obvious is a bill.
And, what happens when you don’t pay bills on time? The service is disconnected or you’re charged late fees. That’s money you could have saved if you’d just paid attention to your paperwork.
You could also miss important deadlines. If there was a school paper that required your signature and to be returned by a specific time, an invitation you needed to R.S.V.P. or even appointment reminders, you and your family could be missing out on opportunities.
Schedule a time weekly to go through your paperwork and take any action necessary.
2. Keeping Paper For Too Long
It can be scary getting rid of papers when you’re not sure if you’ll need them later. But, when you don’t get rid of anything, you end up with huge piles of paper in your home.
There are some important documents that you need to keep forever (the details never change) e.g. birth certificates and they are some that you’ll need long-term (until they expire or are replaced with a newer version) e.g. passports. But, the vast majority, you don’t need to keep for very long at all.
For example, you can get rid of paid bills one month after you’ve paid them. However, I suggest holding on to them for at least one year. Sometimes, if there’s a dispute that your account has not been properly credited, it may not arise until months after you’ve paid a bill. If you have all the documentation, you can support your claim better.
The exception to the rule is if you need bills or receipts for tax purposes. Then, you’ll need to keep these for at least 7 years.
When in doubt, check with your accountant or the relevant agency that can inform you better. Then, you can be sure how long you have to hold onto paper. Once that time has passed, get rid of so it doesn’t clutter up your home.
3. Thinking That Organizing Tools Will Solve Your Problems
Organizing paperwork at home is important but you have to purge it first. Otherwise, you’re just storing junk.
If you get excited about buying organizing tools like I do (Don’t judge me!), you might be tempted to run out and get stuff to sort your paper piles before decluttering.
What you’ll probably end up doing, however, is purchasing the wrong organizing tools. You might get something that has way more space than you really need and, therefore costs more than you had to spend.
And, you’ll also be dedicating valuable room in your house to items you don’t need.
Bottom line: Purge your paper first and organize second.
4. Getting Discouraged When Decluttering And Giving Up
Getting rid of paper clutter isn’t an easy task. It takes a while to sort through documents. If you thought that it would be a quick job, you might be in for a bit of a shock when you get started.
You didn’t accumulate piles of paper overnight so it won’t take you one day to get rid of them. Be patient, take your time and work through your documents.
5. Not Having A Paper Organization System
It’s hard to keep anything organized when you don’t have a system. And, the same is true when you’re referring to paper.
Organizing documents at home means you’ll know where to put incoming paper, have a time to deal with it and have a home filing system.
When any of those components are missing, you’ll get paper building up all over the house.
To avoid this, have one convenient place to store paper when you bring it inside, take any necessary action with that paperwork regularly and store it or discard it as needed.
Organizing paper clutter at home doesn’t have to be difficult. Now you know what mistakes you might have been making, you can avoid these and regain control of your home.