How to Declutter and Organize Your Paper Chaos

I love organizing. Having a place for everything in my house brings me a lot of joy, and I’m always thinking about how I can get things even more organized. But, one area that I’ve always struggled to stay on top of is paper organization. Mail organizing is the bane of my existence. I have a document organizer that works great, but I almost never actually look at it or organize it.

Basically, when it comes to paper organization, I’ve always been a bit of a hot mess. But, every few years I get a wild hair and decide that this will be the time that I finally get it organized once and for all. We’ll see about that. But, it is about time for me to do a little bit of paper organization, and I thought I’d bring you along for the journey and share what I’ve learned about keeping papers and mail organized over the years.

Paper & Mail Organizing: Tips & Tricks

Step One: Have a Dedicated Mail Spot

One thing we definitely do a good job of around here is having a dedicated spot for all of the “to be dealt with” mail. It’s really easy to lose track of important mail documents that you aren’t ready to deal with yet! We’ve got a spot right next to our fridge where we drop things that need to be handled in the next few weeks. Does it sometimes pile up over time? Yes, yes it does. But it always gets dealt with, and we never lose anything!

This could be a small basket on your entry table, a drawer in your kitchen, or a tray on the counter. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, the key is to have one spot in your home for important mail. Our system is to bring the mail in and immediately sort it into what can be thrown away and what needs to be handled later. Then, we toss the trash and set the other stuff in our mail spot. Once we have time to deal with it, we circle back and then throw it away. Easy peasy!

Step Two: Do a Paper Purge

If you’re just getting started getting your paperwork organized, you’ll want to start by doing a big clean-out. It’s intimidating, I know. But, it’s also important!

Start by gathering aaaaall of the paper in your home. I mean everything. School papers and important documents and identification and tax forms and so forth. Gather it all into one spot and make a big ol’ pile.

At this point, you might just want to quit. Or just throw it all away. I understand. But, trust the process and just keep going!

Once you’ve got it all organized, sort it into categories. I do this in phases – first I sort into four simple categories:

• Needs attention (things like bills or forms to fill out)
• Keep short term (tax records, short term contracts, etc)
• Keep indefinitely (house deed, birth certificates, etc.)
• Trash

As you work, be sure to consider what you really need to keep. We live in a digital world and the vast majority of your paper clutter can be accessed online now!

After you’ve got the initial purge and organization done, you’re ready to move onto the next step.

Step Three: Categorize Your Papers

After you’ve got the initial organization done, you’re ready to categorize a little more thoroughly. At this point, I take each of the categories from the last step and break things down a little bit more. Here are some examples:

• In the “keep short term” pile, I might sort out things that I need to access on the regular versus things I only need to have on hand in case of emergency. I might sort out the insurance paperwork versus the tax paperwork. It all depends on what you have that you’re organizing, but this should feel pretty intuitive!
• I organize the “keep long term” papers by identification, house-related items, insurance-related info, and other stuff. Maybe you’ll have a pile for kids’ schoolwork and art, too!

Again, this will vary quite a bit depending on what papers you have. Just think about how you need to use and access the info, and organize accordingly. Try not to think too hard about this part, it should just be a general categorization.

Tip Four: File in a Document Organizer

Now that things are categorized, purged, and hopefully feeling less overwhelming, you can file it! I like to use a small document organizer for my paperwork. I don’t keep enough papers around to need a full file cabinet! Plus, this is easy to store, easy to access, and encourages me to keep the paper clutter to a minimum.

Label each section of your document organizer and file the papers accordingly. Don’t have a document organizer yet? Here are a few I love!

Document Organizers

• Fireproof 3-Layer Storage Case
• 13-Pocket Expanding File Folder
• 12-Pocket Colorful Expanding File Folder
• 8-Pocket Thin Document Organizer
• Fireproof Accordion File Organizer
• File Organizer Box with Attached Lid
• File Box with Five Hanging Folders
• Slim Collapsible File Box
• Fireproof Document Organizer Box with Lock
• Zipper Accordion File Organizer
• Fireproof Expanding File Organizer
• Large File Organizer Box

How to Maintain Your Paper Organization

So, you’ve got all of your papers organized, you’re feeling good, life is great. Now what? How do you actually stay on top of it? This is where I’ve always struggled!

This time around, I set a monthly reminder on my phone to prompt me to spend ten or fifteen minutes organizing papers that have come into our home. I’ll take a second to check in on the document organizer and make sure things are where they should be, purge anything that can be purged, and deal with papers that haven’t been dealt with. Hopefully, this simple little shift will make a big difference and help me stay on top of it for the long run!