How To Eliminate Piles And Learn To Love Your Shredder By Charlotte Steill Simply Put Organizing Clearing out old paper can be a daunting task. Let’s face it, for most of us, it is downright overwhelming and we would much rather have a root canal. I have come to learn from nine years of working with clients, helping them to sort, file, but most importantly eliminate paper that all it takes is a first step. And in order to take the first step one must let go of the need to do it perfectly or to do it all at once. There is an old adage that asks the question: How do you eat an elephant? The answer: One bite at a time. So it goes with our paper. No matter how many years you’ve been accumulating all it takes is one bite at a time. Still don’t know where to start? Follow these simple steps: Buy a shredder: Crosscut are the best for preventing identity theft. Choose a spot in your home where you can sit comfortably to sort and shred. Designate a time and honor the commitment. It could be 10 minutes each morning or 1 hour each afternoon or evening. It doesn’t matter how long it just matters that you do it each day. If you are really backlogged it may seem that you’ll never get through it all but I promise if you sort and shred it will become a cathartic exercise you’ll learn to love. Quick sort your papers into 3 categories: keep, shred and recycle or toss. Don’t worry about where or how to file the papers you need to keep; focus on identifying the essential papers and getting rid of the rest. The exception to this would be action papers such as bills, invitations, orders etc. Keep those in an area to be processed. Buy a filing cabinet or a filing cart and hanging files: If you don’t have a proper place to create files it’s easy for paper to get out of control. If you have a file cabinet that’s full to the brim use the same sorting process to eliminate old paper. Create new habits for new paper: As you are sorting through the backlog of paper in your life it’s important to start new habits for the new paper you’ll receive each day.Create an action area for paper that needs to be processed such as bills and check it daily to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. File on a weekly (daily is better and it just takes a second) to keep piles under control. Use the recycle bin liberally. If you must keep a piece of paper make sure it has a specific home. File or store based on retrieval.