Another decluttering and organising challenge!
Today is all about handling that post and emails that need dealing with but you have been putting it off all week. You know what I am talking about – credit card and other bills, subscription magazines, school notes that need to be replied to, filing that you haven’t got round to, servicing to be arranged, brochures that you can’t decide whether to hang onto or recycle and junk mail you just put down somewhere. It all piles up and forms clutter mountains all over your house.
The daily clutter
- Bring everything together
Sooo, the first thing to do is to gather up all the paper into one place. Then divide into categories (I love categories) such as bills to be paid, brochures, notes, phone calls to be made, junk mail.
- No-brainer stuff
Next is to recycle or shred any of the no-brainer stuff like junk mail and brochures you aren’t going to buy from. Make sure your name and address aren’t readable (I usually rip the address up separately and throw away in the bin and then recycle the rest of the brochure/junk mail).
- Go through the remainder and schedule time to do them
Now you are left with stuff that needs some kind of action. Decide when you are going to do this and make a note in your diary or on a to-do list. Then do it. I know, I know. It sounds obvious but for some reason, there are times that we all kind of hope that the to-do list will do itself. But it doesn’t. If you have emails that need action, schedule a time for those as well.
- Do it now!
Try and do some of the action items immediately – it will give you a boost and lessen the administrative load. Give yourself a reward such as a coffee and a biscuit, anything that makes doing the paperwork worthwhile.
- New habits
Try and get into the habit of dealing with paper and emails on the day they arrive. That way, you will have a clearer home and a much clearer, less stressed brain.
