The first time I sat down to craft this program (formerly called the September Sweep), I wrote about how much I struggle with paper clutter around my home.
Well guess what? I still struggle with paper clutter around my home. It just goes to show that all of the motivation, knowledge, and strategy in the world doesn’t mean you’ll be perfect at living a clutter-free life day in and day out.
That said, I have been battling paper clutter demons for a while, and this five-step method I’m about to share with you is still the framework I use to get a bunch of large, neglected piles (from my kitchen counter, dining room table, and entryway console) down to something much more manageable — or even gone completely.
Day 8: Sort through your paper clutter.
Here’s what to do: Gather all your paper piles up from around the house into one monster paper pile, then sort it.
If you already have a good thing going with the way you handle mail and other papers, stick with it! But if your current system isn’t working like it should be, use these five categories below to sort and send all the paper clutter in your big pile to its proper home:
This system doesn’t need to be perfect. Just use this framework to slim the pile down as much as you can.
If you have way too much paper clutter to handle right now, just focus on going through just one small zone—like your dining table, entryway, desk, or kitchen counter.