Does too much paper clutter affect your mental health? Paperwork is one of the major areas that most Entrepreneurs and homeowners struggle with these days. We just accumulate too much paperwork.
THE AFFECTS OF TOO MUCH PAPER CLUTTER
Mentally, all of the piles of paperwork affect how we function on a daily basis. It can cause depression, anxiety and can actually delay payment of bills and result in missed deadlines.
For some, it isn’t easy to figure out why, what and how to keep paperwork. I meet people every month who have so many talents (that I don’t have). However, they struggle with the ability to define and work with their paperwork.
PILE MANAGEMENT
Typically, the answer to paperwork is to make a pile. Then, make a pile. And, make another pile. This works until you run out of flat surfaces and find yourself eating dinner in the living room, or gathering it all up and putting it “out of sight” because there Is just too much to deal with.
The easy answer to Pile Management is….use the trash can and shredder! When you receive you receive your mail, immediately eliminate what you don’t need to keep, eliminate the trash and advertisements – because, quite honestly, you won’t look at them. If course, make sure that you are shredding anything with account information or your personal information on it. You don’t want to have your identity stolen.
DEVELOP GOOD HABITS
The avoidance of pile management means that you need to develop the habit of handling your mail every day. And, quite honestly, it doesn’t take much of your time. The simple act of shredding, tossing and tearing up paperwork can be such a great stress releaser.
And, taking the 5 minutes required to handle it on a daily basis is much easier than trying to find the time to spend 2 hours in the middle week or on a weekend to weed through paperwork.
DEVELOP A GOOD FILING SYSTEM
Once you have made the decision to handle paperwork on a daily basis and have developed great habits, take some time to work on your filing system.
Top 3 keys to a filing system:
- Keep it Simple
- Set up sub-files under a general file (i.e. auto)
- Purge it every year!
If you have any questions about setting up your own filing system, feel free to email me. I’m happy to help you develop and manage your paperwork.