“Americans discard 4 million tons of office paper every year – enough to build a 12-foot high wall of paper from New York to California.”
~American Forest and Paper Association
That statistic was one of the most shocking pieces of information I found in my research for writing my chapter in Get Organized Today. It is really quite amazing how much paper is used (and wasted) in our every day lives!
Paper is one of those areas that people struggle with every day because paper and information are constantly coming at us from outside sources. The key is how to effectively deal with all that paper and information in a way that works well for you.
Since paper is one of the most overwhelming areas to sort and organize, I thought I would share a few of my favorite easy paper organizing tips from my chapter:
- Don’t let junk mail touch a surface in your home or office.
- Set a timer and work on stacks of paper in 15-minute chunks.
- Touch it once, and only once, to make a decision.
- If at any point you say “I will never read this” or “I don’t know what this is”, it is time to let it go.
- Create a central location for your kid’s school documents that is accessible to your children.
- Only keep artwork or papers from your children that are meaningful to you. Store these papers in a memory box or scan them to create a digital photo album.
- Resist the temptation to print.
- Give yourself permission to let “it” go.
In order to keep your paper organized and manageable, it is important to maintain the systems you set up and be aware of your incoming paper sources so you can minimize the intake.
Happy Organizing!
