In my kitchen, there is a corner of the counter that is constantly assaulted with a barrage of papers. Incoming mail, things waiting to be filed or scanned, school information notes, receipts, and so on. If it's paper, it is there at least once. Do you have a corner of your home that is a paper magnet?
Messes are one of the things I hate most in life, yet I can't seem to ever tame the paper clutter in my home. I've tried many techniques, including placing a small shredder in the corner to shred no longer needed papers and junk mail, using a drawer for specific paper items, even trying to designate specific times of the week where I would tend to filing away or scanning items that we need to save.
It seems to be a never ending battle. We recycle junk mail that does not have any personal information on it. We also use our fire pit to burn paperwork and mail that we no longer need. I am not a hoarder, but I find it difficult many times what to save and what to toss.
My daughter loves to draw. I have amassed hundreds of her drawings. Several of them are incredible, and some of them are just scribbles from when she was an infant and toddler. I'd love to keep everything, but realistically, I can't. One idea I had was to photograph the drawings individually and only physically keep the ones that I really thought were special. Then I realized how much time that would take. How do you deal with keeping children's creative and/or schoolwork without having to rent a storage facility?
With so much great technology available today, the need to have actual paper documents for bills, etc. is decreased. Other than keeping important documents like house deeds, birth cirtificates, and other critical information, the rest is mostly useless to me. Still, I file much of the unnecessary paper away. I need to break that cycle.
What tips and techniques do you have that you have found helpful in taming the clutter of paper in your household?
