Clear Paper Clutter With A Plan That Works

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Clear Paper Clutter With A Plan That Works

March 17, 2022

Stop paper from piling with the Foolproof Plan to Dealing with Paper Clutter. The plan covers how to declutter paper and create habits to stop the pile up.

Do you have piles of paper all over your counters? Maybe your office space is covered in paper and you have no plan to deal with those papers. Or you have a filing cabinet overflowing with papers. How can you tackle the filing cabinet if you aren’t sure what to do with the paper?

Paper is something that can easily take over if you don’t put a plan into place. Instead of shoving those papers into cabinets, why not create a plan? I am sharing my tips for how to tackle different types of paper clutter.

Open file cabinet to show organized paper with no clutter #declutter #organizedpaper

Different Types Of Paper Clutter

You might find that you have one type of paper that piles up in your home. So to tackle that clutter, we have to first look at what the different types of paper clutter can be.

First we have the mail clutter. This is the paper piles that come in from the mailbox and your kids’ backpacks. This paper usually ends up on your kitchen counter. Because most people bring their mail into the kitchen and the kids dump their stuff on the counters, mail clutter can pile up in the kitchen.

Another paper clutter type is manuals, brochures, and other booklet types of papers. These are things that come with appliances, and new purchases. Most of the time these items can be found online.

Kids’ artwork is another type of paper clutter. If you have a kiddo who loves to be creative, the amount of art can be overwhelming.

Receipts, bank statements, credit card statements and other bills typically pile up in your office or desk area. And can easily pile up on top of each other rather quickly.

File folders to represent lack of paper clutter #declutterpaper

How To Store Paper

So what do you do with all these different types of paper categories? You need to store them in same way. Which is why we needed to know the types of paper clutter. So you can decide the best place to store your paper. This is your paper clutter plan when it comes to storing paper effectively.

If your mail piles up in your kitchen, using something to contain the mail should be placed in your kitchen. Placing a basket in your workspace may not be the most effective option because you don’t typically put your mail in your workspace.

Try to find storage spaces for your paper in the area that you actually collect the paper in. If you find that you have piles of paper in your workspace, but need to get to them quickly, try using a magazine holder or desktop filing system. Papers that don’t need to be accessible daily can be stored in your filing cabinet.

And papers you don’t physically need to hold onto can be stored digitally on your computer.

What To Keep

Over the years, I have helped hundreds of families organize their papers. From kids’ artwork to office papers to creating systems for taxes. Which is why I created a system that I use to deal with all the paper clutter. This foolproof plan walks you through the exact steps I take when decluttering paper.

Since I am such a visual person, I love checklists. And because my Foolproof Plan to Dealing with Paper Clutter is digital, you can download it to your iPad or phone and check off the boxes from your device! Supporting the paper-free tips I share in the plan.

Additionally, I have categories of papers that I recommend keeping on file. These are the physical documents you need to keep in a filing cabinet or filing system.

Tips on how to store paper are shared along with effectively labeling your filing cabinet. Plus an entire section of the 23-page plan includes how to create habits around your paper. When you create a habit around effectively dealing with paper, you are less likely to allow the clutter to pile up. And you are more likely to maintain order in your paper piles.