Are you living your own personal nightmare buried under mounds and mounds of unfiled paperwork?
You don’t have to work in an office to feel like you are drowning in paperwork. A typical household must keep track of bills, receipts, memos, forms and records. This can become overwhelming for anybody. However, this nightmare can be overcome by following a few simple steps. By learning the proper strategies even the most unorganized person can bring order to their paperwork pileups.
THROW IT OUT
Often times a large percentage of household paperwork is no longer useful. By eliminating unnecessary documents, the mountain suddenly becomes much smaller and more manageable. For the most part, any documents that have not been looked at for years can probably be thrown out.
FILE IT
Once you have gotten rid of all the unnecessary documents it is time to organize your paperwork. For this step it is vital to have a filing drawer or cabinet. In your filing drawer you need to develop a categorization system (e.g. tax documents, mortgage documents, monthly bills, etc.). Once this system has been developed, go through all of your paperwork and insert each document into the file based on the category that it belongs to.
OPEN MAIL NEAR YOUR RECYCLING BIN
Every day when opening the mail, make a point of doing it near your recycling bin. Anything that is not necessary should immediately get thrown out. This may include, but is not limited to, flyers, catalogs and unnecessary inserts that often come with bills. Once you have done this, immediately sort your mail.
FILE EVERY DAY
Many people hate filing. However, dislike for this task can be partly overcome with an efficiently organized file system. Once paperwork has been organized the task will become much easier. By filing documents that come in every day it becomes a small task that does not seem so daunting.
USE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS
Rather than having bills sent by mail each month, set up e-billing accounts with the companies that you regularly make payments to. This may include your phone, tv, insurance or credit card bills. By eliminating bills that physically arrive in the mail, we automatically have less paperwork deal with. Important documents that come electronically can be stored on a computer hard drive.
REGULAR MAINTENANCE
Make a point of going through your filing system every few months to discard any documents that are no longer needed. Doing this will help to ensure that the filing system does not become overloaded with unnecessary documents.
The reason that we hang on to most documents is because we consider them to have some sort of importance. Therefore, it is essential that we are able to find them easily when needed. By keeping an efficient filing system the likelihood of loosing important documents decreases significantly. This will ultimately reduce the headaches that are commonly associated with unorganized household paperwork.
What is the number one reason for untamed paperwork in your home or office? Share in the comments.