Beware of piles!!
I have been really committed to this de-clutter endeavor. I've sold books and donated clothes. I've set off an area for the designated flea market objects. I've rid myself of almost all magazines. Even my kitchen is getting sleeker.
And yet, everything looks the same. Groan. Argh. Whimper.
Last weekend, I spent hours trying to clean up the piles I'd made by pulling things out of the closets and shelves. Most of the times, I didn't really have a home for all of the purge-leftovers.
So now I have a big pile in every room. Unfinished business. No home. Unable to decide if I need the papers or not, the most deadly words in my endeavor are: "I might need this".
If I wasn't so fearful, I'd toss everything unseen and unchecked.
Yes, there is a bounty of office storage solutions you can buy. A collection of floating shelves provides storage space for an array of bins that can house everything from office supplies to paperback books. Filing cabinets provide plenty of space to stow away file folders, reducing the amount of paper stacks that tend to find their way onto the desktop. Yet how much of all that paper is really necessary?
The Container Store
Keeping important documents is a necessary evil, but it doesn't have to mean a giant pile of paper. Scan important documents.
Your best friend!!
Shred unneeded papers. Here is what you should shred:
Incorporating paper management into a weekly organizing routine will mean less struggle in the long run. The more often you de-clutter by sorting, recycling and shredding, the less stress.
My next step in taking decluttering to a higher level is my paper clutter. Paper clutter includes the following items for me:
De-cluttering your life isn't just about simplifying, "cleaning up" and tossing. It is about having a vision, setting healthy and useful priorities, being mindful of your time and energy.
Asking the questions "Where is the tension in my life?" and "What activities, things and people give me energy and which of them drain me?"
I have been really committed to this de-clutter endeavor. I've sold books and donated clothes. I've set off an area for the designated flea market objects. I've rid myself of almost all magazines. Even my kitchen is getting sleeker.
And yet, everything looks the same. Groan. Argh. Whimper.
Last weekend, I spent hours trying to clean up the piles I'd made by pulling things out of the closets and shelves. Most of the times, I didn't really have a home for all of the purge-leftovers.
So now I have a big pile in every room. Unfinished business. No home. Unable to decide if I need the papers or not, the most deadly words in my endeavor are: "I might need this".
In my "youthful" exuberance and enthusiasm, I yank out the objects that I haven't used in years. I check through dusty files. My paper recycling bin is overflowing and the basement is bulging with the "treasures" that are too good to toss. I've had an expensive silk rug cleaned but don't dare to spread it out yet. I might want to sell it.
I've found myself in De-Clutter-Limbo.
If I wasn't so fearful, I'd toss everything unseen and unchecked.
Yes, there is a bounty of office storage solutions you can buy. A collection of floating shelves provides storage space for an array of bins that can house everything from office supplies to paperback books. Filing cabinets provide plenty of space to stow away file folders, reducing the amount of paper stacks that tend to find their way onto the desktop. Yet how much of all that paper is really necessary?
The Container Store
Keeping important documents is a necessary evil, but it doesn't have to mean a giant pile of paper. Scan important documents.
Your best friend!!
Shred unneeded papers. Here is what you should shred:
- ATM receipts
- Bank statements
- Birth certificate copies
- Canceled and voided checks
- Credit card bills
- Credit reports
- Driver’s licenses (expired)
- Employment documents that have any identifying
- Expired passports and visas
- Investments account #s
- Legal documents
- Investment, stock and property transactions
- Items with a signature (leases, contracts, letters)
- Luggage tags
- Medical and dental records
- Papers with a Social Security number
- Passwords or PIN numbers
- Pay stubs
- Pre-approved credit card applications
- Receipts with checking account numbers, credit card numbers or any other identifying information
- Tax forms
- Transcripts with identifying information on them
- Travel itineraries
- Used airline tickets
- Utility bills (telephone, gas, electric, water, cable TV, Internet)
Incorporating paper management into a weekly organizing routine will mean less struggle in the long run. The more often you de-clutter by sorting, recycling and shredding, the less stress.
My next step in taking decluttering to a higher level is my paper clutter. Paper clutter includes the following items for me:
- piles of paper
- journals
- lists and notes
- recipes, articles I've torn out of magazines
- household receipts, tax returns, insurance papers, etc.
- tons of printouts (Why do I have to be able to hold written material in my hand?!!)
De-cluttering your life isn't just about simplifying, "cleaning up" and tossing. It is about having a vision, setting healthy and useful priorities, being mindful of your time and energy.
Asking the questions "Where is the tension in my life?" and "What activities, things and people give me energy and which of them drain me?"
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