put an end to piles of paper

Whether it is the mail being delivered to your door, paperwork brought home from school and work, medical forms, magazines, receipts and more, paper piles continue to grow on a daily basis. Here are a few ideas to lessen that pileup of paper and keep it manageable before it gets the better of you.

1. Include it in your schedule and set aside a certain amount of time each day to process paperwork. Open and sort mail on a daily basis. Immediately recycle anything you do not need. Keep and handle all important documents in one designated area. Divide the papers into main categories of action whether it is to Read, Pay, File or simply Do.

2. Make decisions when it comes to your paperwork. Do not put papers into a big pile and say you will deal with it later. Decide to do something with it now and take action, whether it is to read it, pay it, file it, do it or toss it.

3. Computers have not lessened the amount of paper clutter. In fact, in many cases, they have increased it. People are printing out a lot of things that do not have to be printed. If it is not critical, do not print it out. That information will more than likely still be online to reference again.

4. Evaluate your current magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Consider keeping only the subscriptions that you read on a regular basis. Donate old magazines to senior centers, shelters or doctors offices after you have read them. Keep in mind that more and more magazines these days carry many of their articles, if not the whole issue, online.

5. Sign up to pay your bills online with your financial institution. This eliminates the need for envelopes and postage, thereby saving money and time. You can have your statements sent electronically as well.

For more paper management ideas, visit my website: www.andreadekker.com