Cut the Clutter

by Dorling Kindersley

  Despite our best efforts, paper mounts up around the house. Stacks of bills breed in corners, while the week’s mail spills across the kitchen table. Leave paper free to migrate, and each session of bill-paying will take twice as long. Keep paper in its place! Try the following tips to cut down on paper clutter.

  Decide to decide

  Keep it or toss it?

  What force lies at the bottom of paper pile-ups? Like all clutter Desktop efficiency experts tell us that the 20/80 Rule is alive, problems, the culprit is deferred decision-making. It’s fun to well, and running amok amongst the filing cabinets. Specifically, flip through the day’s mail at the kitchen table, but if it’s left we’ll need only 20 percent of the papers that are entrusted to there to molder, it’ll have to be sorted again later. Chances any filing system; the remaining 80 percent are never seen, are, important items will go missing.

  consulted, or handled again.

  Instead, decide what to do with each piece of paper the When adding to your household files, always keep the first time you handle it. Ask yourself, “Will this item need to 20/80 Rule in mind in order to cut down on clutter in the filing be paid, answered, or filed?” then drop the paper into the cabinet. Resolve to limit the contents of your filing cabinet to appropriate folder of your Action File. An immediate sort-and-that important 20 percent; discard any item that won’t be stow operation heads off paper clutter at the source.

  needed again.

  ▲ Day to day. Establish a home for incoming paper, and use it

  ▲ Store it away. Don’t consign completed paperwork to the daily to contain the incoming tide. You’ll always know where to messy mountain known as “To File.” Filing records promptly means find the week’s bills, mail, and announcements.

  you’ll always be able to find the information you need quickly.

  PAPER AND FINANCES

  227

  Clutter

  Take back your space with these simple tips to to the offending company inside the postage-paid

  pull the plug on paper clutter:

  envelope with a quick note saying, “No, thanks!”

  You’ll support the postal service and help discourage

  ▪ Children’s artwork. When you can’t see the

  junk mailers.

  -busting

  refrigerator, it’s time to triage the flow of children’s

  ▪ Manuals and warranties. Three-ring binders artwork. Sort each day’s papers into an “artwork”

  and a supply of clear plastic page protectors make it folder in the Action File (see page 225). Each week, easy to file and find product manuals and appliance

  select the best work to display as “Refrigerator Art warranties. Once a year or so, flip through the binder of the Week,” and consign last week’s entry to a

  and remove any paperwork concerning items you no

  basic file marked with the child’s name. At the end

  longer own.

  tips

  of the year, tuck the collection of the year’s best

  ▪ Newspapers and magazines. Forget placing

  works into a large envelope, mark it with the year,

  fanned-out magazines or neatly stacked newspapers

  and add it to the household’s classic files. Share extra on table surfaces. Low-sided baskets or trays use the art projects by writing letters to family members on principle of “controlled clutter” to display readable the reverse side.

  items without permitting them to overrun the family

  ▪ Calendars, menus, and phone lists. Save

  room at will.

  telephone time by putting calendars, schedules,

  ▪ Receipts. When business expenses or tax

  take-out menus, and phone lists into clear page

  considerations require that you save receipts,

  protectors in the Household Notebook (see pages

  drop paper copies into a hanging file folder

  84–87). Flip through the Household Notebook to

  in the Action File—or make use of scanning

  quickly check meeting dates or find phone numbers.

  apps and online receipts to cut paper.

  ▪ Cards and correspondence. Birthdays,

  celebrations, and events are a regular part of life

  —so why dash to the card store for each occasion?

  Once a year, purchase an assortment of greeting

  cards, sympathy notes, and stationery items. Stored

  together with stamps and pens, they’ll handle social correspondence without stress.

  ▪ Daily mail. Sort each day’s mail over the recycling bin to make quick work of unwanted catalogs,

  coupons, or ad circulars. For safety, shred or destroy credit card applications and financial solicitations before recycling.

  ▪ Junk mail. Bar the door to junk mail, depositing it straight into the trash. Where it can’t be avoided, as when it’s enclosed in bill envelopes, put the

  problem where it belongs: remove any identifying

  information from the application and mail it back

  ▲ see also pages 210–211, 212-213

  228

  CYCLES OF AN ORGANIZED HOME

  Set up a

  household filing system

  Create a household filing system as easy as 1, 2, 3. What’s the purpose of a household filing system? It’s the place where we store papers against the time we’ll need them again. Set up properly, a household filing system will allow users to find documents easily, and maintain and retrieve important papers in the future.

  Efficient paper management can be as easy as 1, 2, 3.

  “Efficient paper management

  Simply incorporate the following three key elements into your household filing system:

  can be as easy as 1, 2, 3.”

  1An Action File.

  A tabletop file used for daily, short-term filing chores. Use File it right: setting up a filing system

  your Action File to hold bills for payment, to set aside To set up your own household filing system according to the correspondence and other papers that require response, and to 1, 2, 3 plan, follow these three steps.

  provide short-term storage paperwork and other information that must be filed ( see also pages 225 and 226–227).

  Step 1 Gather paperwork and records. To set up your filing system, scour the house and collect the family paperwork.

  2Basic Files.

  Look for these types of documents and files:

  These are a household’s working file system. Kept in a file cart, cabinet, or desk drawer, your basic files should

  ▪ Automobile: Car titles, automobile insurance policies, car hold medical insurance records, credit card statements, rent repair records, tire warranties, owners’ manuals, and car loan receipts, and bank statements. Use your basic files for routine documents.

  activities such as paying bills, tax files, medical information,

  ▪ Banking: Bank statements, cancelled checks, check registers, and home maintenance.

  safe deposit box numbers and keys, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.

  3Classic Files.

  ▪ Bills and loans: Credit card statements, receipts from Archive files used for papers that need to be stored for utilities, cable and phone companies, bank debit cards, loan the long term. What files belong in classic files? Most documents, furniture loans and department store accounts.

  families save copies of income tax returns, cancelled checks,

  ▪ Health and healthcare: Medical records, doctor and real estate documents and receipts, insurance policies, dentist information, prescription receipts, medical bills, health automobile documents and warranties, and credit card insurance policies, insurance handbooks and insurance cards.

  statements. Use file cabinets or records boxes to protect these items for long-term storage. Note: original documents such as

  ▶ Smart storage. Away with boring beige and olive dra
b!

  insurance policies, legal documents, or tax records should be Paperwork files and storage containers can be decorative as stored in secure facilities such as safe deposit boxes.

  well as organized. Look for new colors and design options.

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  CYCLES OF AN ORGANIZED HOME

  RETENTION SCHEDULE

  Document

  How long to keep it

  ▪ Bank statements

  6 years

  ▪ Birth certificates

  Forever

  ▪ Canceled checks

  6 years

  ▪ Contracts

  Until updated

  ▪ Credit card account numbers

  Until updated

  ▪ Divorce Papers

  Forever

  ▪ Home purchase and improvement records

  As long as you own the property or are rolling over profits from it into new property

  ▪ Household inventory

  Until updated

  ▪ Insurance, life

  Forever

  ▪ Insurance, car, home, or property

  Until updated

  ▪ Investment Records

  6 years after tax deadline for year of sale

  ▪ Investment certificates, stocks and bonds

  Until cashed or sold

  ▪ Loan agreements

  Until updated

  ▪ Military service records

  Forever

  ▪ Real estate deeds

  As long as you own the property

  ▪ Receipts for large purchases

  Until the item is sold or discarded

  ▪ Service contracts and warranties

  Until the item is sold or discarded

  ▪ Social Security card

  Forever

  ▪ Tax returns

  6 years from filing date

  ▪ Vehicle titles

  Until sold or disposed of

  ▪ Will

  Until updated

  Source: United States Federal Citizen Information Center

  ▪ Housing: Mortgage statements or rent receipts, house title, Step 2 Give each record a home. Good filing systems are like property appraisals, floor plans, deeds, home inspections, land snowflakes: each family’s system is unique. While prefab filing surveys, title insurance policies, and property tax assessments.

  schemes (which often require filing documents according to

  ▪ Insurance: Insurance policies, policy amendments, and numbers or numero-alphabetic codes) seem as though they declarations sheets.

  might be easy to use, a filing system won’t work for your family

  ▪ Legal: Marriage certificates, birth certificates and adoption unless your family understands what’s in it and where every papers, estate files and wills, powers of attorney, medical powers record belongs. Make your filing system make sense—to you.

  of attorney (living wills), military service and discharge papers, Label file folders in everyday language, using terms that will passport and proofs of citizenship, and Social Security cards.

  help you remember what’s inside each file folder. If more than

  ▪ Retirement: Pension documents, Individual Retirement one family member handles household paperwork, make sure Accounts, Social Security information and annuities.

  everyone agrees on file headings. What’s “bills” to one partner

  ▪ Valuables: Appraisals, inventories and photographs of art, may be “payments” to another, so come to terms. Commonly antiques, jewelry, rare books, silver, china, or crystal.

  used options for file labels include:

  PAPER AND FINANCES

  231

  ▪ Automobile: Label files for automotive records descriptively, Step 3 Create a retention schedule. Everyone has a friend or such as Auto, Car, or by car model.

  relative who will never part with paperwork—ever. Over the

  ▪ Banking: Use folder names like Bank, Checking, Savings, years, their household files become so bloated and cumbersome or bank name.

  that it’s impossible to find anything again.

  ▪ Bills and loans: File by name of payee, or by type of bill Knowing what to keep and how long to keep it is the key (Utilities, Telephone, Long Distance).

  to an efficient file system. Professional records managers call

  ▪ Health and healthcare: Include files for Medical Bills, this list a retention schedule. Develop one for your organized Insurance Records, Prescription Drugs, and by family member’s home; it’ll provide guidelines that will help you keep filing name (Michael—medical records).

  systems lean and mean. You’ll need to check with legal and

  ▪ Housing: File labels can include House, Mortgage, Repairs, financial advisors for specific recommendations for your or can be listed by address (3310 Threadneedle Road).

  household, but use the list on page 230 as a general guide to

  ▪ Insurance: Set up files by insurer or by policy type: how long to keep household files. A simple list—tax records Homeowners, Life, and Automobile.

  (keep 7 years); credit card receipts (4 years); house documents

  ▪ Legal: Sort family members’ personal records in separate (forever)—makes it easy to prune stale files.

  files (John, Mary, Alice), and set aside folders for specific legal issues (Grandma’s Estate, 2004 Auto Accident)

  ▪ Retirement: Label file folders descriptively, such as Internal Revenue Service, Social Security, Pension.

  ▪ Valuables: Choose folder labels that make it easy to find information: Art, Books, Jewelry, and Antiques.

  As you set up folders and sort paperwork into them, set aside original documents that must be stored away from the home.

  Legal documents, birth and marriage certificates, titles to automobiles and deeds to real property, stocks and financial instruments all should be stored off-site, in a bank safe deposit box or in the case of wills, filed with the family attorney for safekeeping.

  Don’t forget to add photo negatives—or archived copies of digital photo files—to the safe deposit box. Memories are valuable, too!

  “Good filing systems are like

  snowflakes: each family’s

  system is unique.”

  ▶ Flip and file. “Vertical beats horizontal” is never more true than when handling paperwork. Hanging file folders allow you to locate paperwork with a quick peep.

  232

  CUT THE CLUTTER

  Resources

  Unclutterer

  MSN House and Home

  https://unclutterer.com

  http://houseandhome.msn.com

  A comprehensive site to fight clutter of all kinds,

  Check the “Decor and Home Living” area for storage and UnClutterer is the brainchild of blogger Erin Doland.

  organization solutions for every room.

  Get the how, and the when to cut the clutter.

  Clean

  Direct Marketing Association

  Consumers Answer Line

  http://www.dmaconsumers.org/index.html

  http://www.extension.iastate.edu/answerline/

  To reduce junk mail, request that your name be

  A service of the Iowa State University Cooperative

  removed from marketing mailing lists. Send a notice, Extension Agency, check this web resource for tips and including your name and address, to:

  articles on household cleaning, food safety, home

  management, and laundry.

  Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512

  National Soap and Detergent Association

  http://cleaning101.com

  Canadian Marketing Association

  This site from an association of cleaning product

  www.the-cma.org

  manufacturers offers guidance on laundry, household

  This private trade organization provides a “Do Not Contact”

  cleaning, dishwashing, and using cle
aning products.

  service for consumers to reduce the number of marketing Don’t miss their annual survey of cleaning attitudes—

  offers received by mail, phone, and fax.

  it’s always a good read!

  Dress for Success

  The Clean Team

  http://dressforsuccess.org/

  http://thecleanteam.com/

  This nonprofit organization accepts donations of

  Jeff Campbell’s professional cleaners can clean a two-interview suits for low-income women entering or

  bedroom apartment in 43 minutes. His books, products, re-entering the workforce. Clean out your closet and articles, and advice will speed cleaning in any home.

  give a sister a leg up!

  Be sure to check out the rules for speed cleaning and clutter control.

  Freecycle

  http://freecycle.org/

  Plan

  An international grass-roots organization devoted to Getting Things Done by David Allen

  reducing the amount of waste in our landfills. Recycle http://davidco.com/

  unneeded items with others in your local area through Productivity expert David Allen provides a road map

  the Freecycle network.

  through time chaos with principles for Getting Things Done. Discover the secret of 43 folders and clear the I’m An Organizing Junkie

  “stuff” from your life.

  http://orgjunkie.com

  Articles, and tips for home organization.

  RESOURCES

  233

  Reminder services

  More good stuff

  Remember The Milk

  Consumers Union

  http://rememberthemilk.com

  http://consumersunion.org/

  Outsource to-do lists and reminders with this online Publisher of Consumer Reports, this non-profit organization reminder site. Includes applications for smart phone users.

  provides valuable tips and advice on topics ranging from health care to financial matters to cleaning products.

  Jott

  http://jott.com

  eHow: Homemaking

  A voice-activated online reminder service. You can use Jott http://www.ehow.com/list_1096.html

  from any US phone. Spoken reminders are translated into Short and sweet, this homemaking resource offers how-to text, and there are options for e-mail and appointments.

  advice for myriad homemaking issues.

  Follow up then