If papers control your life, it’s time to control your papers.

GOAL:

To get control of your delivered mail and the papers that come into your home on a daily basis!

Set Up A System
Managing today’s mail is even more complicated than in the past when everything came by snail mail. Whether you remain totally paper-based or manage most of your bill payments and personal business online, you need a system to manage the flow of paper in your home and in your life.

Make A Commitment
Follow this step-by-step plan to help you take control. This time, with a system in place, you can make it happen. Remember to adapt the plan to your personal situation.

Step 1. Create a home

• Control the chaos by setting up a “home” for everything and a process that works for you to direct incoming paper where it needs to go.
• Designate a clear, organized space to write checks and correspondence.  Be able to comfortably use the computer and phone with everything you need at your finger tips.

Step 2. Gather the tools

• Have the tools you need ready in the designated “home” location – letter opener, pencil/pen, pad, stamps, calculator, return address stamps or labels, a holder for outgoing mail and a small, portable file holder with 4 folders labeled:

a. Bills

b. File/Scan

c. To Do

d. Receipts

Step 3. Collect your mail and papers daily

• Retrieve mail from your mailbox or P.O. Box every day, if possible. Don’t neglect your snail mailbox. Especially if you receive most items electronically, you don’t want to miss an important item needed for filing income tax or something that is date sensitive.
• Empty your wallet, purse, backpack, laptop case, pockets, glove box of your car, etc. of all receipts on a daily basis.
• Bring mail, receipts, etc. into your home or office to the same designated location everyday.  Set up a place that makes sense for your living space.  Be creative!

Step 4. Purge and sort daily

Take 5 minutes to open and sort all papers into the following 4 categories:

• Recycle – envelopes items came mailed in, unwanted flyers,  solicitations, junk mail, etc.
• Shred –  to control identity theft, shred items containing your personal information
• Read –  store notes, letters, magazines, catalogs and newspapers in the same designated place for reading at a later time
• Action – sort any papers requiring action into one of your four folders in your portable, small file holder

Tip #1 Take all items to be recycled to the recycle bin right away and do your shredding immediately – now you are gaining control!

Tip #2 Place all the “Read” items in a designated location when they arrive.

Tip #3 Set a deadline, such as recycle day in the first week of the month, to help motivate you to enjoy your “Read” file and prevent a pile up.

Tip #4 To pare down your pile of magazines and newspapers, cut out the articles you want to read, then recycle the remainder. Scan any article you want to keep electronically and recycle the rest.

Step 5. File items for later action

Place items requiring action directly into one of four labeled folders listed below, in your portable, small file holder:

• Bills and Payments to be made and Statements to be reconciled – then filed
• File and/or Scan – medical statements, paid bills, reconciled statements, policies or anything to be filed in your Papervana Categories or to be scanned into your electronic Papervana files on your computer
• To Do – make a call, discuss a decision, send an email, collect items, etc.
• Receipts – save for proof of purchase, warranties, tax related items, etc.

Step 6. Take care of business

• Make sure to set an uninterrupted scheduled time to pay bills, reconcile statements, handle correspondence, etc. – once a week, twice a month, you decide
• On your scheduled date and time bring your portable outgoing mail holder along with your portable small file holder to the location where you will pay your bills, send emails, make phone calls, read, etc.

Here is an approach to use if you are paying bills by mail:

• Open the bill
• Recycle the outer envelope and unwanted inserts
• File the bill in the small file holder in the Bill folder
• Put a stamp and your return address label or stamp on the return mailing envelope
• Write a “to be mailed by” date on a visible corner and file in date order in the outgoing mail holder with the date showing
• Incorporate occasion cards and other date sensitive items into the outgoing mail holder with the mailing date visible and filed in order
• Take outgoing mail holder to the location where you pay your bills and handle correspondence

Here is an approach if you are paying your paper bills online:

• Open the bill
• Recycle the outer envelope and unwanted inserts
• File in the small file holder in the Bill folder
• Set up e-bill, if desired
• Scan into an electronic file, if desired
• Have a passwords list handy or an electronic password vault, whatever system you have established

Tip#1 – There are several highly encrypted password vaults that you can use on your desktop to manage passwords so you only have to remember one password to access them all. They can even capture your User IDs and passwords as you create them and fill them in for you as you log in to a site. If this appeals to you, search online for password managers, password keepers to compare software.

Here is an approach to handling the To Do items

• Set aside a time each week to handle your To Do items, mark it on your calendar, or set an alarm
• Make a list and assign a priority order to the list, check it daily
• Remember to do just one thing at a time
• Delegate whenever possible
• Be honest with yourself and only take on what you can handle, keeping your stress level as low as possible
• When something is driving you crazy – create a new system that will last, it’s all about consistency

Build a habit, challenge yourself!  Commit to controlling your mail for the next 30 days then celebrate and reward yourself!