Clients often contact me because they are overwhelmed by paper. Paper accumulates so quickly. It comes into the house six days a week and it’s often difficult to process. As Jane Austen says, “Letters of business too! How odious…”
Take a moment to glance at a pile of papers in your space. If you had to guess, do you think those papers will bring a smile to your face? For most of us, the answer is no.
Since paper isn’t typically a joyfully category, I strongly suggest that you don’t start to declutter paper. I’ve worked with a few clients who wanted to start out of the KonMari order and with paper. None of them moved on to the other categories. Paper appears to have sapped their motivation to declutter.
It makes sense that paper is a challenging category. You read each piece of paper to determine what it is and then are often left with an action item. The pile of papers represents a long to-list. It’s often easier to organize them and then move on to other more interesting tasks or experiences. However, you are reminded about those projects or bills each time you glance at the stack of papers. That’s why that paper is so stressful.
Give yourself permission to declutter or tidy two other categories first, clothes and books. You’ll build confidence in your decluttering skills and prepare for the paper as you work on the other two categories. Also, decluttering the other categories allows you to connect to your energy and sense of style. You’ll have a better sense of what spark joy if you start with clothes. When you are ready to start on paper, motivate yourself by finding some paper organizers that you love. It’s best to store items standing up, letter sorters and expanding files are great for this.
The goal when decluttering paper is to let go of most of it. Yes, most of it! Paper is often a reminder to take action. Once you have completed the task, let the paper go. Look into online bill payment options so you have less paper to file. Remember, you are choosing what to keep in your life and how you want to spend your time. The more paper you keep, the more time you will spend on paper management.
If you have questions about decluttering paper, schedule a free consultation with me.
