Reader Question: Getting Rid of Paper Clutter

Whenever new mamas sign up for my email newsletter, I ask them to share something that is driving them nuts right now. 🙂 If I’ve got a tip or trick that can help smooth that out, I’ll share here!

Today’s hair-pulling problem is from Ginger, and I think you’ll all relate!

GINGER WROTE:
If I could instantly change one thing, I would change the piles of “stuff”
on flat surfaces in my home.

While we’re definitely not immune to the stuff-everywhere problem over here, I have found some helpful ways to keep the crazy to a minimum.

Today I want to talk specifically about the snowball-monster that is (cue “Jaws” theme!) paper clutter!

Taming Paper Clutter

When my first child started school, a tidal wave of paper began pouring into our house. Everything from Tempra-painted construction paper and caterpillar-counting worksheets to PTA signups and ads for karate, ballet, and soccer came home every day in her backpack–and piled up on our counters, desk, and tabletops.

Desperate, I signed up for an organizing course! Based on David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, it taught me how to take the millions of papers (and ideas, worries, and mom-guilt that came with them!) and process them.

Now they’re (mostly) off my counter, and my brain feels way less cluttered.

Where My Papers Go (So They Aren’t All Over the Counter!)

My ultimate goal for paper is to have as little as possible of it in our house.

The pieces and pages that do stay all have a place to go. I’ve trained myself and taught the kids the simple ins and outs of this system, and now (even with 3 kids in school!) the tidal wave is more like a slow trickle. (Or that drip-drop water torture, maybe?)

Here are the places my papers go (instead of on the kitchen table, and all over the counters!):

1. Garbage/Recycle Can

(I don’t have a gorgeous photo of my garbage can, so credit: here. 😉 )

Whenever I bring home the mail or unload a school folder, my brain is always asking the big question:

• Can I (please!) throw this away????

Because my big-picture goal is to be as paper-free as a family of 6 can be, I always try to toss anything I can the first time I touch it.

So: as I bring in the mail, I dump all the junk in the trash.

As I pull paperwork out of backpacks, I make a stack of keepers, and toss the rest right then and there.

2. Inbox

After the trash can, my inbox is the first port of call for any paperwork that crosses our threshold.

This is where we put anything I need to take action on:

• Paperwork to be signed for school
• Checks to be cashed
• Post-it notes to be processed
• Artwork to be photographed or filed
• Invitations or events to put on the calendar
• Bills to pay
• Etc.!

If my kids need me to look at or sign something, I tell them to put it in my inbox.

If I pull something out of the mail that I can’t handle right then (I also try to practice Allen’s two-minute rule for quick-to-handle tasks)–you guessed it: inbox.

The caveat to this little trick is that you do have to take some time to empty it out and process this stuff, or you’ll end up with a massive pile and half a dozen forgotten bills. But taking half an hour once a week makes a big difference!

3. “To-Be Read” Zone

Rather than stacking books and magazines in my inbox or letting them float around the house, I try to keep things I want to read at a more leisurely pace in one of my “to-be read” zones.

These are basically just places I end up when I have some downtime that might allow me to pick up a book or magazine. For me, these spots are:

• the family room coffee table,
• my nightstand, and
• my purse (for reading while I’m waiting somewhere).

Where you keep your to-be-reads should be based on your personal routines (one mom kept hers in her kids’ bathroom so she could read while they played in the tub!).

Just remember to keep it consistent, or your reading material will turn into clutter again. 😉

4. Evernote

The Evernote app is a basically a cloud-based digital filing system. You can use it on your phone, tablet, or desktop, and I love that it allows me to record important information anywhere, without taking up any physical space.

For me, Evernote is basically half filing cabinet (where I keep long-term info stuff like business cards, notes from well-child visits, or important receipts), and half refrigerator door (where I used to pin short-term info stuff, like party invitations or online coupon codes).

It’s where I keep anything I need information from, short or long-term.

You just type in your notes or snap a photo of your document, and save to the app, and it is accessible across all your systems.

Here’s what it looks like:

The left half is a screenshot from my phone, where you can see I saved a Moana costume template, brainstormed some FB group ideas, took notes for the Nester’s Cozy Minimalist course, and saved some online articles I wanted to keep for later.

The right side shows an Evernote folder on my computer. (Apparently December 2015 was the month I chucked all the hardcopies of our board game rules. 🙂 )

There are tons of things you can save to Evernote. Here are just a few things I save to mine:

• Kids
  • Class rules & schedules
  • Logins for all school-related websites
  • Teacher contact info
  • Growth charts & info from Dr. visits
  • Funny things they say
  • Notes for our family scrapbook
• Personal
  • Notes from books/classes
  • Workflows (a step-by-step list I make of things that I want to do quickly, like how to quickly edit an image for my blog)
  • Workout sheets for gym days
  • Copies of sentimental notes, letters, & documents
  • Health info
• Home management
  • Manuals/Instructions for EVERYTHING from board games to appliances (I just google the item and “manual” or “instructions” and save the PDF!)
  • Trip info for upcoming vacations
  • Invitations & info for parties/weddings/upcoming events

5. Camera Roll

Every week my kids bringing home a pile of things they want to show off from school. I’ve let them know that even though we want to, we can’t keep every single thing, or our house would be covered in paper!

Our middle ground between keeping everything and tossing everything is snapping a photo.

We take time to go through their favorites together, and take pictures of anything they want to remember.

Once every few months, I pull all their photos into Chatbooks and order them a mini-album. (Get your first Chatbook free here.) Everything is organized and in one place, and I don’t have to keep 18 years worth of artwork somewhere in our house. 😉

6. Show-It-Off Spot

Now and then my kids create or bring home something that makes them beam. It might be a painting, an A+ test, or a Mother’s Day note they can’t wait to give me–the only criteria is that it makes them (or me!) glow.

These very, very, very special things get put up in our show-off spot, on the side of the fridge that faces my command center and our kitchen table.

I only display one thing at a time for each kid, so I have one magnet set aside for each of them. When they bring home a new most-special thing, I replace the previous favorite and move it to my “Special Box” file box.

7. “Special Box” File

My kids (and the hubs and I) each have a banker’s box with their name on it. This is the space where they can keep things they want as long-term keepsakes. We each get one box per 5 years of life, so that helps us be choosy about what matters enough to go in.

When my kids decide something is a keeper, I tuck it in a folder that lives in this plastic file box under my command center. When it gets too full, I gather each kid’s “Special Box” and transfer their treasures into it.

What other great tips and tricks do you have to help with paper clutter? Share with us in the comments! 🙂

xo,
Jamie