As I shared with you last week, I am working on getting happier this year through the help of, “The Happiness Project,” by Gretchen Rubin.
The first month of her book focuses on boosting energy and has several ways that you can do that.
I have been working on four specific goals for this month.
1. Going to bed on time.
2. Dealing with the nagging list of things to do.
3. Kicking clutter to the curb.
4. Returning to a good exercise routine.
Last week I shared with you my closet transformation. That little transformation helped me see the possibilities that our space could hold if I could let the clutter go. This past week I have taken not one, not two, not even three…No, I have taken SIX car trunks full of clutter to Goodwill to reclaim my home.
As each batch of clutter leaves my home, I am discovering the potential of my home and the potential for my space to be exactly as I want it. It might not be a space that resembles the pages of Real Simple Magazine, but it brings me one step closer to the home I desire.
Ironically, I asked my husband if he had noticed the house potential peeking through the clutter after my sixth trip to the Goodwill drop-off box. “Do you even know what is missing?” I asked. He looked around and said, “I guess I will figure it out when I try to find something.” Yes, we don’t even know what is missing which goes to show how little those items had meant to us.
Now that we had begun to see our house through the rubble, it was time to get a few organizing systems into place to get rid of the paper trail that makes its way into my home.
Finding a system that makes sense in your home and that you can maintain is the most important step towards transforming your paper clutter. What works for me might not work for you. Admittedly, I have tried more systems than I can count.
I have realized two things about myself and my paper clutter:
1) My system needs to be convenient- I would love to banish all papers down to to our home office. Walking down to the office though is not convenient though and that is why the clutter continues to build on my kitchen counters.
2) Everything must have a home- Half of the problem for me is not having a home for the papers in my life. I needed something that could house the chaos, yet I could find the papers at a moments notice.
I decided to use a magazine organizer that I had bought years ago that had housed dusty magazines. I bought a set of decorative file folders in the $1 section of Michael’s and created a folder for those troublesome papers.
The file folders you create might be different than mine, but this is what was needed to organize our family papers.
1. Coupons- This coupon folder holds the newspaper coupons and coupons for places that we might like to dine out. I also tucked any gift cards that we might have in there so that I can grab them when we go out.
2. Emily & Ethan’s School- Each child has a folder where I can put the month’s current newsletter and school calendar.
3. Tax Information- As tax information comes through, I can add it to this folder along with any receipts that I need to keep on hand for tax deductions.
4. Amy’s Work- Check stubs from jobs I have done and reports from my ad network go in here.
5. Recipes/Crafts- I always find things in magazines or recipes that I want to try and end up losing them. Now I have a folder where I can keep these on hand for dinner or crafty inspiration.
6. Receipts- I try to tuck receipts for important items somewhere. What ends up happening though is that they immediately become misplaced. Now I know exactly where they are!
I decided to implement the same system down in my office where my cluttered desk resides. As a work-at-home mom, I needed organization to do my job well. Again, I had another dusty organizer in my office that needed to be put to good use.
In my work file folders were these categories:
1. Current Projects- Anything that I am currently working on goes into this folder for easy grabbing.
2. Inspiration- I try to keep an inspiration folder on hand. It could be something I see in a magazine that would make the perfect article for our site, a recipe that I would like to try, or ideas from other bloggers that I want to keep in mind.
3. Product Reviews- If I request a product to review for The MotherLoot, the company usually sends a product sheet. Now it is all neatly tucked in a folder and the papers can be easily recycled once I am done with the review.
4. Contracts- This folder contains the contracts that I am under with different companies and can be referenced when needed.
The papers are still all there, but I have reclaimed my counters. What a beautiful thing! I couldn’t be more pleased or feel more organized now that everything has its home.
The next thing I needed to do was organize the kid’s art and special papers that I wanted to keep. I went to Walmart and got a two decorative banker boxes for a total of $6.88.
Each of the kids now have their own box to put their treasures in. These will go in their closets so they can save what they really love and then we will do an editing of the box in the summer for the next school year. It is just a big open box of possibility for them and will keep these papers from being strewn all over the house.
What systems have you found work for your family when it comes to organizing life’s papers? Please share or share links to your organizing systems. I would love some additional inspiration!
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17 Responses to “Boosting Energy by Transforming the Paper Clutter”
I love those banker boxes! I have a bunch of plain ones but I might have to go buy a set of the patterned, hehe. Great ideas here!
I love folders and accordion files so I have a few of those around for various papers. I buy cute patterned folders for holding all of the current school year’s papers (newsletters, menus, progress reports, etc).
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The dollar bin at Target has some very cute magazine holders! I picked up a few for this very reason…to tackle all of that paper clutter in my kitchen! I have also place a cute basket in a corner of the kitchen entry for my husband to throw his keys and work badge in to. That way he knows were they are and I don’t have to shuffle them around!
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GREAT JOB! I am a collector of papers, and mine end up in piles most days. I’ve been trying to get back to my Household Notebook system (examples are demo’d @ http://www.organizedhome.com) and, even though it takes very little effort to PICK UP THE NOTEBOOK OFF THE COUNTER, I just can’t do it with gusto.
Maybe someday! LOL
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Amy W- That is great that Target has them in the dollar bin. The magazine organizers are helping a lot for me and I love any way that I can keep it frugal.
We have a hanging key organizer in our entry that has helped with that too. It has a spot for incoming/outgoing mail and a bulletin board to tack checks that need to be deposited or an important paper. It definitely helps to have a spot fore everything!
Teresa- Those were over at Walmart by the garage sale and office supplies. I put one in each child’s room. I am loving them!!
Accordion files are so great too!
Thank you guys for sharing!
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What a great post! Seems like I keep everything organized EXCEPT papers.
Thanks for the help!
~Liz
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Those banker boxes are gorgeous! I love black and white…I may have to steal your idea on that one.
I am very overwhelmed with my 2nd grader’s school papers. I need to create a better system for her artwork, too. She has three great very LARGE drawings she did for Christmas and I hate to throw any of them away but they are too big to store neatly. Arrrggghh!
Our breakfast bar is a constant eyesore/disorganized nightmare.
On a positive note (pats self on back) I have filled a big box for Goodwill donation and a big box of outgrown clothes to give to a co-worker.
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Love these ideas! I too am very visual so if I file anything “to do” it gets lost.
For the commenter on large artwork items – I often put things up on my kids doors or the back of their doors for a little bit, then I’ll take a picture and have that as a keepsake since keeping such a large item is next to impossible.
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I just want to say you are my muse today. I have been stressing about the paper clutter in my life lately.
We file away all of the house’s papers why would I not do it to my personal papers? I love the easy access of the magazine holder.
And I think the box for kid’s school papers is genius. I like the idea of giving them ownership of it, too.
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Amy Reply:
January 19th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Niki- I am so glad that the post was helpful. Let me know if it ends up working for you and good luck tackling that paperwork!! ((hugs))
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I love this! I have a large filing cabinet in my office closet, but I need a way to file the papers that are still in use until they make it to their home in the filing cabinet. Thanks for a great idea! I took a bag to Goodwill a week ago, threw another bag of trash away (from my office junk), and took a bag of books to the library for donation. I have finally reclaimed my work space and it feels great. Next up is the kitchen. I don’t think I’ll get rid of much in there, but it can definitely be organized nicer.
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[...] week we are sharing a yummy orange chiffon cake (made from a cake mix), how to gain control of paper clutter, try a new soup recipe, enter our giveaways, and a notebook full of ideas to inspire [...]
I’ve been searching on the internet for an economical price for the decorative banker boxes. Haven’t been able to find one yet, even on Ebay. I think what I’m going to do is buy the plain ones instead and decorate them myself.
-MPmomof3
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Amy Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I picked those up at Walmart over by the office supplies. You might want to try there!!
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Awesome idea! I have to agree with the other comments! Paper clutter seems to be the bane of my existence!
-Meredith
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I love these ideas!! I hate paper clutter!! A friend has a kindergartener with lots of artwork–they use 16″ pizza boxes to store the big stuff.
Ask your local pizzeria for boxes or I know they sell them at Sam’s club in bundles of 50.
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