Piles of Paper? Learn to Organize Paper Clutter

By Karen Porter, Editor

EasyHomeOrganizing.com

Overwhelmed by paper clutter? Organize it! Organizing paper files or piles is tedious but necessary. Sometimes you need to find that certain paper. But sometimes organizing paper files means getting rid of the files (and the piles). Here's how.

♦If you need a reminder not to print every email and document on your computer, do this: Put a quarter in a piggy bank every time you decide to print a document. After a while of doing this, you'll realize you have enough savings (in quarters) to take a nice vacation. And you'll be more aware of just how much you needlessly print documents.

♦Instead of printing every email or document, invest in CD's or floppy diskettes (as long as you're keeping a computer with a floppy disk drive).  You can copy your special e-mails into electronic files on your computer. Then save these files onto a diskette or burn them onto blank data CDs.

♦CDs hold LOTS more data or photos than diskettes and have a longer shelf life than them too. Of course, DVDs hold even more than CDs (but they don't come in the same standard formatting as CDs do.). Whatever you do, DO NOT (or rarely) print your e-mails (just print the ones that it's vital that you print and file a hard copy of). Printing creates more paper to handle, re-read, file, etc. Your time and space is more valuable.

♦These CD-R below will do just fine for storing data and photos. As long as you don't finalize a CD-R, you can add more to it until it's full. Memorex is a reliable software name brand, unlikely to cause you any glitches with this product later.

♦But it's still a good idea to make two identical CD-R as backup of important data and photos. That way if something does happen to one CD, you've got the other one still. You should do the same if you use diskettes or DVDs too for this purpose.

♦If your data is really valuable to you, consider storing a third CD-R with the information in a bank safe deposit box so it's out of your home in case of fire, theft or natural disaster.

♦Another great item to use to store or back up data and photos is a travel drive (flash drive, jump drive, etc.). You can read more about portable travel drives here.

♦Another good tip to clear paper clutter is to scan letters and other paper items using a scanner into electronic files on your computer. Then transfer these files that storage media as well. Go here to read more about scanners.

♦You can even scan photos too into an electronic media format (not a bad idea if you keep way more photos than you can display ever). Then you can discard those old deteriorating prints. In its place you can create all types of digital photo albums and slide shows.

♦Make sure you shred original papers that you scanned and no longer need hard copies of in your paper files. Also shred items like credit card offers that you receive in the mail and aren't using. Shred anything with personal or financial information that a thief could take advantage of. Go here to read more about shredders (which can shred paper, credit cards and CDs) .

♦If you don't feel like shredding every item one by one as received, put a "shred basket" somewhere in your home office. Then shred this basket of papers once a month.

♦You can put these paper items in a portable file box. Some lock and are fire retardant.  Some of the plastic ones are called file totes. Just store it on an office shelf or in a closet.

♦If you still have lots of paper clutter that you just can't part with (or shouldn't part with because it's important paper documents like copies of your tax information), then put it in cardboard file storage boxes (also called "bankers boxes"). Then stack the boxes on a shelving system that allows you to access each box separately without having to move any other box.

♦The "file box and bin warehouse storage system" is one such shelving unit that stores sell. And you can mount it to the wall for stability. And whether you put it in a closet or the garage, you can easily retrieve a stored file without digging through stacks of boxes.

♦Don't forget to label the outside of each storage box on the front and side so you can see at a glance what's in each box. And if you fear cardboard boxes are too susceptible to water or mildew damage in your home, use plastic bins.

♦If these are "inactive" paper files, meaning you don't need to access them more than once or twice a year if even that, these are archive files. Put the shelf with file storage boxes in a closet or another room or area not frequently used. You'll seldom be looking for these files.

♦If you have "current" or "active" paper files, you'll want to organize and store those closer to your home office or work space. Go here to read about how to give your filing system a good home.

♦If you need more detail and more organizational systems for how to file paper and clear office clutter, particularly paper, go here to find books by top experts about how to file.

♦Also, you can cut down on invoice and bill statement paper clutter by requesting your bills as electronic statements. You also can pay them through online banking, usually free from your bank. Go here to read more about online bill paying and banking.  Don't forget, if you want to keep copies of these electronic statements, you can copy or download them to your computer hard drive or a CD-R.

♦One final paper clutter rule:  Don't keep any paper document that you can easily locate elsewhere, including on the Internet, when needed or any paper that will be outdated shortly. And that covers a lot of paper including common forms such as from government offices like the IRS.

This article did not cover every tip about how to clear paper clutter (people have written lengthy books on the subject) but it should get you started with organizing paper files and clearing paper clutter in your home.

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