Are you tired of your paper clutter? Are there piles of paper everywhere you turn? I think you are ready to get rid of those paper piles and you can do it in 2 easy steps.
1. Start with a Quick Sort.
What’s that? You are going to make some quick, top-level decisions about the papers in your pile. Take a stack of papers and sort them quickly into 4 categories.
- Don’t need anymore: Recycle immediately.
- Action items: This will be a small pile.
- Retain: These are the paper you need to keep for records, IRS, information, etc.
- Read Later
2. Now do a Second Sort with the 3 piles you kept.
Action items:
- Prioritize which are most important and make a do-to list.
- Recycle any papers you are saving that are meant to jog your memory to do something. (They are on your to-do list now and you don’t need the paper).
Retain:
- Recycle anything you can search or bookmark on the internet.
- Make a file pile in a basket on top of your filing cabinet for the paper you intend to retain and set a time to file.
Read Later:
- Move these to the place you are most likely to read them: basket near the sofa, nightstand, bathroom, gym bag, etc.
Have a look…where did the pile go? My guess is a vast majority of it went into the recycling bin. This is a great time to develop some new habits and toss the paper sooner….
Tomorrow hit another pile..and continue everyday this week. By the weekend you will be clutter-free of all those paper piles.