Paper Organization Tips
It’s early February and I am guessing that you are receiving a lot of mail as of late - tax statements, camp flyers, late holiday cards, and all of the usual bills, solicitations, and catalogs. So I thought this would be a great time to talk about paper organization tips and tricks!
When we talk about paper, we always need to start with mail. Besides forms that may come home from school or a doctor’s appointment, most of the paperwork that enters your home is through your mailbox.
Tip #1: Mail
Ideally, it’s best to go through your mail each day as it comes in. If you prefer to tackle your mail less often, just make sure you have a reminder so this task doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
When you do go through your mail, do it near bins for recycling and shredding. The pile you are keeping should be split into (1) things you want to read for fun or reference (cards, magazines, catalogs, etc.) and (2) things you need to take action on (bills, invitations, etc.).
The first category of items, the ones to read, should “live” where they will be seen and read. These items tend to be forgotten in the busyness of life, so make sure you go through this pile once a month or so.
The items you need to take action on should be put where you will end up responding to them. This could be a desk in a home office, or a certain part of the kitchen counter, or perhaps the living room coffee table. I would also suggest that you store your stamps, return address labels, and checkbook here as well - a one-stop shop for paying bills.
You should also have a “system” for when and how you pay your bills. If you have trouble remembering to take action, put a reminder on your phone every week or every other week to tackle these timely items.
If there is something that you need to respond to immediately, put it where you cannot miss seeing it - whether that’s on your keyboard, taped to the mirror in your bathroom, or hanging out of your purse.
Before we wrap up this mail section, please think about how you can reduce the amount of mail coming in altogether. Can you turn off paper statements for some of your accounts? Can you sign up for a service to reduce solicitations and junk mail?
Tip #1a: Tax Statements
For all of the tax statements coming in, I keep them together in a folder labeled “Current Year” Tax Info. This file is right on top of my desk for easy access. I keep sticking things in there until it’s time to pull together my tax information for my accountant. I will use that same folder when filing my tax returns and related backup for the required seven years. Since I don’t need to take action on these items right away, I don’t want them in the pile with my current bills.
Tip #2: “Future” important paperwork
What about the paperwork that will need action or referencing at some point in the future, not right now? Where to keep the mammogram script that you need four months from now? Where to keep the permission slip that the teacher doesn’t want back until the day of the trip? What about the camp flyer you received in December, but aren’t going to look at until February? For these, I don’t recommend a folder on your desk like I did with your tax forms. This population is too small for that prime real estate. Instead, I stole a trick from Gretchen Rubin (@gretchenrubin). I have 12 file folders in my filing cabinet - one for each month. This is where I store these “future” items - in the folder for the month when I will need/use them. This is also where I might store a Mother’s Day or birthday card that I didn’t use this year. Then I set a reminder on my phone for the 1st or 2nd of each month to review what’s in that month’s folder. It’s simple and isn’t taking up a lot of space in my brain.
Fun tip: Buy yourself some beautiful file folders. Forget the manilla ones! Staples carries some beautiful file folders, so check these favorites from Amazon:
Tip #3: Filing
At some point, unless you are completely paperless, you will have some paperwork to file. So where should you put it? You may laugh at this, but mine goes in one spot labeled “To Be Filed” until I am ready to file it. If I need to reference it before it’s properly filed, I know where to find it. Since I keep very little paperwork, this pile stays small and I can save my filing for just once a year. Every January, I file these papers away in my filing cabinet.
Tip #4: Papers to reference
What about those tidbits you ripped out of a Real Simple magazine? That new paint color to try? The new recipe? The gift idea for your sister for next Christmas? Where do those papers go? First, stop. Think about whether you really need this piece of paper. If you think you’ll reference it in the future, put it in a file where it’s easy to find when needed. Again, another reason to buy cute file folders.
Tips #5: Business paperwork you use weekly
This may apply more to the entrepreneurs in the group, but if you run a small business, you also should create a system for your client files, marketing materials, invoices, expense receipts, etc. I like to keep these files out and visible since I access them so often. I only use my filing cabinet for long-term files that I don’t reference very often.
Tip #6: School Artwork
There are lots of options with school artwork so I’ll cover them in a future blog post. If you have any specific questions about school artwork that you want answered sooner, please reach out and I’ll get back to you. You can find my email address on the contact page.
Whew. That was a lot. If you are still with me, I hope you got one or two good nuggets out of these tips.
If you want help organizing your paperwork and putting some systems in place, please reach out! If you don’t live in Northern NJ but need an accountability partner to help you get through this, check out my body doubling sessions:
