can i try for a second to read your mind? you have endless amounts of paper parading through your house. you are tired of the piles, stacks, and clutter. you read clutter control :: everything paper, part 1. it’s a start, but you are still not sure how to control your paper clutter once and for all. i totally get it. and i’d like to help.

last week, my friend tristan read part 1 on the blog. then she texted me with, “ok what do i do next, after the folder pockets? how do i keep the clutter solution from becoming cluttered?” she went on to say that one of her biggest issues with organization is that it works for about a month and then it becomes disorganized again. i could totally relate to her text. you?

putting a system in place that works for the long haul is hard. anticipating future needs, especially when it comes to organization, gives me bit of anxiety. and i am someone who likes to organize. luckily, i’ve been tweaking this system for the past year. i think this system can work, even for the non-organizer, and i am happy to share what i have learned.

for me, the goal with my wall pockets {and clutter control, part 1} was to get the paper off the island. my friend tristan needed to get hers off her washing machine. wherever you find your paper piling, the first thing is to get it out of sight, somewhere pretty, organized, and accessible. while this doesn’t solve the problem entirely {yet}, it is a great first step and has worked for me for three years now.

here is how my sister chose to organize her paper. her system is similar to mine but more importantly, it works for her needs and her space. as you can see, she hung hers on her pantry cabinet.

now, what to do with the papers you sorted? how do you keep your clutter system from becoming cluttered? i had to consider each of my pockets to determine my next step. my sister had to consider her baskets {and you can see she hasn’t labeled them yet as she figures out her needs}. you will need to do this too, and it might take a couple days. be patient with yourself and give yourself permission to change things if it’s not working. here’s what has worked for me.

a place for everything

this is so important, and the main goal of getting rid of your paper piles. your paper needs a final place to go. a place that is easy, reachable, and that you will actually use. remember, if it’s complicated, you won’t do it.

i started with my mail pocket. obviously, if i just keep putting my mail in there everyday, it will be brimming in a week. i go through it every couple days. i do not have a set time of day for this. surprisingly, i am not that organized. i know if i forget, then i might miss a bill. natural consequences make me keep up with this folder. when i have a minute, i can sort it very quickly because i have established a place for everything.

i decided my mail generally falls into these categories {1} junk, {2} coupons, insurance papers, bank statements, {3} mail for keven, {4} invitations, {5} things that need immediate attention {like bills}.

{1} junk

the junk gets recycled. this is easy. most times, i do this as i walk in the house from the mailbox so the junk never even makes it into the mail folder.

{2} coupons, insurance papers, bank statements, etc.

before part 2 of my system, these kinds papers would just sit on the island again after i opened the mail. we have a filing cabinet in our home office. but that is way down the hall. don’t be fooled. i don’t live in a huge house. way down the hall is not even far. this is just a good example of a system that didn’t work. “way down the hall” in my mind was too far away from my kitchen paper hub. i kept telling myself i would get motivated to walk to the office each evening and file away our papers. instead, the ugly pile on my island kept growing, and overflowing on to other surfaces.

i love an excuse to visit the office section of any store, and things just keep getting cuter. i bought a file box and used manila folders i already had. i labeled the files according to the file-able mail we received. i also found that, even after my wall pocket system, papers like receipts were still laying around. so i made files for my box for any other papers i still had lying around. some of my file titles include:

the name of our bank
the company i edit for
our insurance company
medical bills
coupons
receipts
a file with each of our kid’s names
learning activities
stationary/stamps
the LITTLE things
faith/inspiration

you can see i made my labels pretty, gluing scrapbook paper behind some of them on normal manila files. the paper matches my wall pockets. i really wanted this to look and feel like a system. also, if it is pretty, i am more likely to get excited about it. every six months or so, i transfer the papers from my file box all the way down the hall to the filing cabinet in our home office. this is something i can do every six months, just not every day.

{3} mail for keven

this goes straight to his office, on his chair. out of sight, out of mind. this is my favorite mail to sort.

{4} invitations

invitations and announcements get pinned to this cute little board my sister gifted me. i usually take a picture of invitations too, and save them to my favorites on my phone until the event. then i have the details if i forget the invite on the way to the wedding/party.

{5} things that need immediate action

things that need immediate action are usually bills that need to be paid, checks that need to be written, forms i need to fill out, etc. confession :: at first i put these back on my island, or in the middle of my desk, in plain sight so i wouldn’t forget them. that is fine if that works for you. i would do them within a day and then file them in the correct folders in my file box. but even this paper bothered me, out on my island. so now i use my to do pocket {see below}.

this pocket was kind of unused until now. when i first started this system, it had some papers in it, that i maybe should have done/called/filled out, but they weren’t that important. for example, a form for a giveaway for baby formula. it was a nice thought that i might fill this out, but i didn’t. i should have just recycled it in the first place.

this is a great example of tweaking the system. today, i am going to get rid of the papers in this folder, and use it for things that need immediate action from my mail and otherwise. it has kind of been my “maybe someday i will get to that” to do folder. now it will be my “need to do this now or things will be late” to do folder.

as explained in my first post on getting your paper off your counters, any papers i might need to save for school for each child go in these folders. {school papers that need immediate action go in my to do pocket.}

i also use these folder pockets for special art or schoolwork from the year. even though i am selective {recycling most things}, artwork can accumulate quickly in these hanging folder pockets. when the folder becomes full, the artwork goes into designated containers in our basement. the system is easy, colorful, fun, and doesn’t take up a lot of space. and of course, it’s all labeled. here is the post with more information on that.

feeling motivated? overwhelmed? allow me to share a couple truths i’ve learned as you work to conquer this crazy paper clutter once and for all.

truth #1 :: as much as i wish i had a magic organizational wand, the truth is, no system in the world is going to organize itself. or keep organizing itself. every system involves a little work on your part, unless you can hire someone. wouldn’t that be amazing? the key is to make the work on your part as easy as possible. that is why it is so important to design something that works for you, in your space. something you will actually use, not something you wish you would use.

do my folders get full? yes. but full folders are better than paper everywhere.
do i declutter them right away? no. not every time. right now, i really need to clean out my receipt folder, so it is sitting open on the middle of my desk.
do my counters still have paper on them sometimes? yes. it’s real life around here. but it doesn’t happen nearly as often as before. i have a place for it, i just need to put it there.

truth #2 :: i’ve read in magazines, on pinerest, and on other blogs that you should only touch paper once. like, open a piece of mail right when you get it and file it in its final destination immediately. fill out forms and turn them in right away. rsvp as soon as you get an invitation.

wouldn’t you love to be that on top of life? most often i have 16 other things in my hands or on my mind and i just can’t deal with all the paper, right away. so until i can get to it, it goes in a folder pocket. then at least it looks pretty and organized while it waits for my attention. i guess you could say i need to touch paper at least twice before it gets to its final destination. this might not be pinterest worthy, but i know this about myself. and it works for me. i think it can work for you too.

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