Project Simplify: Paper Clutter

Hot Spot #2 is paper clutter. Head on over to Simple Mom for some great tips on how to tackle and manage this on-going housekeeping issue.

I would describe the level of paper clutter I have to deal with as minimal to average. Our utilities are included in our rent agreement (including internet), we don't have any house payments and all the papers that come with that, we don't have a land line phone and we paid for our cell phone in one big chunk since we're on Eli's brother's plan. I haven't even started homeschooling in earnest. Maybe I'd better make that paper level minimal.

Still there's paper around to deal with and since there's so little, we tend to let it pile up. Here are the problem areas:

My desk

Misc. papers sorter: suspiciously empty.

Basket for family worship papers: mostly full of old Sunday School projects.

Eli's desk: not my responsibility, right?

Bedside nightstands: just how many books are we reading right now?

So I collected everything in one place. I was not planning on doing any major re-filing or catching up on financial paperwork. I just wanted to get it put away.

The Pile

About 50% of that got recycled. 25% was just books that needed to be put back on their proper shelves. And that basket in the middle holds (dare I admit it?) Christmas letters and cards. (I have an excuse: most of them are from church friends and we get them all on the Sunday before Christmas. If we read them right away it would take a whole evening! We've been meaning to go through them...)

I moved the wicker paper sorter to the place where papers tend to pile up and replaced it with my cookbooks. Yes, that is a Bible next to them. Man cannot live by bread alone, right?

All those slots are labeled. There is a place for everything, now we just need to put everything in its place.

Maybe I'll actually sit down here and write or something now!

Several books went back up to my nightstand. Yes, I really do need them all up there.

This basket looks pretty much the same, but now the papers in it are useful. I put all the unread Christmas letters here. Maybe we could read one each evening and pray for the family?

Ah, much better!

In conclusion, there's not really anything I can do to improve the system. We just need to stay on top of it.