Cutting the clutter

Paper clutter poses a challenge for the most organized among us, with seemingly limitless amounts of junk mail arriving daily.
 
Short of going paperless (a great option, if you can pull it off), managing and filing paper can reduce the clutter currently occupying your desk, dining room table or kitchen counter. (And by the way, keeping your papers in shoeboxes isn’t the best answer either.)

Though there isn’t a “right way,” the following are nine tips from the experts on how to manage the paper stream in your life.

1. Sort by verb, file by noun.
Renee Kutner, a self-described “chaos advisor” and founder of Atlanta-based Peace by Piece Organizing said generally speaking, documents that require action should be sorted by verb. (Such as: pay a bill, RSVP to a party, call someone back, mail the form.) Use a noun to file away papers by category. (Such as: recipes, insurance, kids’ report cards, tax information.)

2. Enlist help in getting off mailing lists.
Sure, you can place dozens of calls to get yourself off those mailing lists ... or you can hire help through websites like www.41pounds.org and www.stopthejunkmail.com. The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year, according to www.41pounds.org.

3. Open your mail over the recycling bin.
Opening your mail over the trash can and recycling bin stops junk mail before it can clutter up your desk. Head straight to the garbage when the mail comes. When you’re finished, you’ll have fewer items to go through.

4. Spend 10 minutes a day organizing your papers.
 Whether you toss, follow up or file something away, a few minutes each night helps you stay on top of growing mounds of paper.

5. Create “daily” and “long-term” filing systems.
No matter how you store your papers­ — in a binder, drawer or in trays — separating documents you need to access easily and those you want to store for reference is a way to keep the paper flow under control.

6. Purge your old papers.
Face it: Most information is Internet-accessible anyway, so ask yourself this, “Is it worth this much space for the slight chance I’m going to want to see a phone bill from five years ago?” But don’t throw everything out.

7. Integrate a filing system with your home decor.
If your dining room table has become your favorite workspace, who says a sideboard cabinet can’t act as a discreet file cabinet? “No one else needs to know what’s behind those doors,” says Kutner. “If you have a file right there, you’d probably clean off your dining room table.”