Mail and Papers

Papers, mail and projects are close to the top of the list of those things that just keep coming. You can't stop them, so you need to figure out a system of dealing with them - preferably as simply and easily as possible. Here are a few ideas:

* Touch it once. When you bring in the mail, stand by a garbage (or recycling) can and throw away everything you know you don't need. Stay close to the garbage can when you open the mail. Throw away all the add ins and fillers that you don't really need either.

* Pay your bills immediately. Even if you might make a few pennies more in interest by waiting to pay your bills until their due date, you lose them in the effort it takes to keep track of what bills are due when and trying to get them paid on time. Keep your checkbook handy, and as the bills come in, send them back out and file the paid bills - out of sight and out of mind.

* Keep your calendar handy. As the mail brings items to calendar, put them right on. Include time, address (if needed), and phone number (if needed). Then create a holding place for invitations and other papers that may need to be looked at in the next little while. If you need to go back and look at it, you'll be able to find it. If you don't need it again, you can flip through your "holding place" every so often and throw out the ones that are over and done with.

* Create a filing system. Everyone needs a filing cabinet. I asked for one for my 12th birthday and thought it was the best thing I could get! I've loved it ever since. You don't have to spend a lot of money. I've bought them at garage sales for $10. You can also find them at surplus sales, or you can just go out and buy one. But you HAVE to have a way to keep and find papers. Buy a bunch of folders, label them, alphabetize them or put them in an order that makes sense to you and start filing. But don't keep things you know you'll never look at again. Keep the stuff that you need - by law (tax returns) or by reason (financial, important papers like birth certificates, marriage certificates, social security cards, passports, etc.) You can also keep anything you'll use again. If it passes that test (and you have room and you'll be able to find it), you can keep it!

* Make an "I don't know what to do with it yet" place. Mine is a basket - just for papers that need somewhere to go and I haven't found that place yet. Keep it small, go through it when it gets too big, and let your family know about it (so they can put papers they find in it). By putting all those papers in one place, you'll know where to look when you need something, but aren't sure where it is!