Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, when politicians are overwhelmed, it seems like they only know two ways to deal with it – they either want to spend, or cut back.  That’s it.  Similarly, when many of my clients first call me, their frustration and overwhelmed feelings with being inundated by clutter cause them to also want to do these two things.  They either want to run out and buy more organizing products to make their clutter go away, or they institute unrealistic cut backs on themselves. 

For instance, my favorite “cut-back” is limiting yourself to handling a piece of paper only once.  While that’s great in theory, it doesn’t make much sense. It essentially means that you have to deal with that piece of paper, like making a decision or completing a To Do item, right then and there.  What if you don’t have the time?  That’s a LOT of pressure to put on yourself, don’t you think?  Instead of employing the “spend or cut-back” mentality, there’s another option that can be less stressful and help you be more successful.  However, this method might take a little more time upfront…which is why I think it becomes a last resort.

Take a moment to step back and try to remove yourself from the situation.  You need to understand the dynamics of what’s going on in your space, whether it’s the office or the home, before you can make any changes.  For example, instead of deciding you just don’t have enough filing space and you need to purchase another file cabinet, take a look at what you’re filing.  You likely have duplicate papers and even duplicate files that you haven’t looked at in quite some time.  Remembering that 80% of what you file is never referenced again, can help you really focus on what is important and what’s not, and then make the decision to shred or recycle.

Another example is the piles of paper that accumulate in the wrong place.  If you like to sort through your mail in the home office but it keeps piling up in the kitchen, maybe you can bring the sorting files to the kitchen.  No, you don’t have to move your file cabinets.  You can, however, utilize a portable file box that fits in a kitchen cabinet.  (Even if you left the box on the kitchen counter, that would look much better than a pile of mail, wouldn’t it?)  When the mail comes in, pre-sort it into five or seven categories you identified for that box.  Later, you can take the file box back into the office and finish the job.

I know many of us are busy and would much rather be doing ANYTHING but filing our mail.  However, given a little effort upfront and a few minutes each day, the paper piles you loathe so much would remain under control.