insidious growing paper mountains everywhere - make them stop!!!

[titferbrains]

How on earth do you keep up wiht all the farkin paper that accumulates in the house? I seem to have piles of magazines, old papers, things to file, things to reply to etc which all require solid time to go thru and get rid of, and as soon as I get rid of one pile another forms...

I am pretty organised, used to be a PA but have odd bits of filing now that need to be tackled and I don't have time for htem now as I have sick baby and DH works long hours. A

Anyone have tips on making self stricter about throwing things away? good rules to stick to?

I now try to tackle each bit as it comes in - I open the post by the front door and stick junk straight in the bin.

Idea - If you have loads to file, and not enough time, for now put it all in one box file/storage box and close it - don't add to it. Deal with the essentials as they come in, and set yourself a target to file away 5 - 10 things from the "old" pile per day?

I try to keep magazines in one place, separate from "paperwork". Once a week I take a box round the house, shove anything paper in there, then go through it, throwing away/actioning as necessary. If I run out of time, I quickly look through to check no urgent items, then the box stays to tackle the next time i get a chance. Not sure if this is helping?

I have a 3 drawer burea with files in for everything and a pending file. Plastic wallets for each person's personal stuff ie birth certificates, files for tax credit info, bank statements, instruction manuals, etc. Everything goes in teh top drawer and when that is full I sit down for an afternoon and sort/file things into the relevant file.
I also have a noticeboard in the kitchen with school dates on, invites, appts etc. It is by the door so I see it everytime i leave the room.
I also have a small set of plastic drawers for all the "art" that my children produce. When it is full I stealthily move thigns to the bin.
Still have small piles of paper around but not so much now and things don't tend to get lost/eaten becasue it all goes in the top drawer. I think the secret is to try and keep it all in one place even if that place is big and messy.
oh, I also have a diary to remind me when bills need paying etc.

Hope that helps.

I also have a magazine/paper rack in the front room for current papers (emptied weekly on bin day) and a dedicated file for recipes and one for "other stuff" which is anything I want to keep but don't know why or where else to put it.

After many chaotic years, I have the following system and have managed to maintain it for the past year, so it can work! We have no space for a filing cabinet.

• Letter rack for stuff that needs doing (admittedly often desperately overstuffed). It is one from Ikea with several compartments, so good for vouchers, loyalty cards, chequebooks etc as well.

• concertina file, labelled with months April - March. All bills go in here when paid, along with anything else involving outgoings. Then I just archive it at the end of the tax year.

• upright magazine file with envelopes for important stuff - insurance policies, pensions, contract for rented house, tax stuff etc. Would prefer a box file but there wasn't one to hand on the day I was seized with a desire to get organised! The envelopes were a desperate thrifty spur of the moment measure too but in fact work v. well as they keep things together.

• ring binder for stuff relating to school and kids activities - forthcoming events, calendars, invitations. Try to bin outdated stuff as a I go along. Current week's stuff goes on fridge with a big magnet.

• ring binder for correspondence

• another concertina file for slightly less important and/or transitory stuff - organising holiday and so on. I try to muck it out as I go along.

• passports, birth certs etc live in desk drawer.

I too open the mail over the recycling bin, and try to put everything away straight away. It's a battle though - a lifelong messy person, it has taken me just over a year to really crack it. I still have two huge boxes of muddled old paperwork to go through. Good luck!