Week 3.

So by now your paper is all sorted and put away but wait more paper arrived every day this week. What did you do with it? Let’s set-up a system before we recreate the problem. Clear the paper pileup once and for all.

2 Incoming Mail Bins: The biggest problem most people have is the mail. It’s comes daily and includes a lot of junk. For me the biggest problem is the junk. It has my address on it so I can’t just throw it out. Right? So now I open the mail by the trash can, toss the junk after tearing off the address, then put the things I need into the incoming box that needs to be filed, and another for the things I need to take action on. On Friday afternoon I will file the papers into my new file system.

Receipts Bin: My other big problem is receipts. First they clog up my purse then when I clean out my purse on the run I dump them on my desk. Not anymore! I’m much more pro-active on removing them from my purse and putting them in the file box. Most of my receipts are for business and need to be filed in my monthly bookkeeping folders. I’ll share that system with you next week.

Shred Bin: I finally gave up on those cheap shredders for home use. They are useless and time-consuming. I now put all the stuff that needs to be shredded in a bin. Last week after I purged my files I had “a lot” of shedding. 21 pounds of it. I brought it to the UPS store and paid them to shred. How easy is that? So now as soon as my bin is full I’ll deal with it.

Tax related: In the beginning of January I set up a file for 2012 taxes. As the paperwork arrives in the mail I put it in this folder. That way when I’m preparing my taxes it’s all in one place. I keep it in the cabinet close to my desk and after filing the taxes I then transfer it to the permanent tax folder in the cabinet that is further away.

So maybe my system doesn’t work for you. Maybe your paper is different but if you make an easy plan and stick to it then you will be successful at maintaining order. Come back next week to learn how I organize my business receipts. A friend that is a professional organizer loved this idea so much she uses it with her clients.