Paper Decluttering 101: Mail — Amy Louise Organizing

Mail is a significant source of paper clutter in many homes. It's easy to let it pile up on surfaces or even accumulate in boxes and bins that clog up rooms and closets. As a home organizer, I've seen firsthand how much mail contributes to clutter and stress. My Chicago-based clients and I often tackle mail to create a more peaceful, functional home environment.

WHY IS MAIL SUCH A CHALLENGE?

Much of it is junk. One of the most frustrating things about mail is that so much of it is junk. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 50 percent of the mail we receive is classified as "unwanted." If you don’t have a system for dealing with this influx, junk mail is going to become a paper clutter problem for you.
Deferred decision-making. Mail is, for the most part, a nuisance that adds to our daily decision fatigue and vaguely reminds us of things we’d prefer to avoid. It’s even harder if the mail contains actionable or sentimental items. Couple this with a weak back-end system for completing tasks and archiving memories, and it’s easy to understand why people put it off for another day. Unfortunately, that day rarely comes and suddenly you’re well on your way to developing an overwhelming paper backlog full of who-knows-what.
Lack of knowledge. Do you remember when you became a full-fledged adult and suddenly you received more important-seeming mail? I do, and I often saved things that I later discovered I didn’t need to save. Many people don’t know what’s important and what isn’t. What people ultimately decide to keep is individualized, but if you’ve never consciously decided this for yourself, your default may be to keep everything. Hence, paper clutter.

I’m here to tell you, you can break this cycle, and it’s easier than you might think. Read on for four tips for reducing the burden of mail in your home.

FOUR TIPS FOR REDUCING THE BURDEN OF MAIL

Stop it before it starts. When it comes to junk mail, there are now helpful services like PaperKarma and Catalog Choice that can help stop the inflow of unwanted mail. Similarly, most financial institutions, insurance companies, and utilities have a paper-free option. You can usually select this when you sign up for these services, or you can access your account online and opt out of paper mail.
Have the right tools. When it comes to busting paper clutter, my three go-to items are a letter opener, a recycling bin, and a small paper shredder. I keep all three where they are most likely to get used, which is by the back door. Pro tip: Choose a cross-cut shredder for added security when disposing of sensitive information.
Touch it once. When you pick up a piece of mail, decide about it right away. Is it junk? Recycle it. Is it something that requires action? Add it to the place where you put items that need action, such as a special file on your desk or in your household command center. This can help prevent mail from becoming a problem for "future you."
Decide how you are going to deal with sentimental items before they arrive. Even in the digital age, we occasionally receive hand-written notes, letters, photos, or sets of personal holiday cards that we may want to keep for sentimental reasons. If this case, decide what is truly important to you and develop a system for archiving them. Perhaps you will decide to save greeting cards from loved ones that contain a personal note but discard ones that are merely signed. Perhaps you will save holiday cards from your closest friends and family and discard the rest. You can then create a “save box” or a filing system labeled by year to archive them.

WHEN YOU HAVE A BACKLOG

If you're dealing with a backlog of old mail, it may be necessary to set aside some time to work through it before you can implement a new system. It's important to stay focused and decide about each piece of mail as you go, which is daunting for many people. A professional home organizer can be especially helpful in this process, as they can provide guidance and support as you work through the backlog.

Additionally, many of us struggle with the start-up motivation to do odious tasks such as logging into our accounts to opt out of paper mail or making decisions around creating a process for addressing sentimental items. If this is you, a professional home organizer can serve as a body double to keep you motivated on task to complete these pesky tasks once and for all.

I NEED HELP WITH MAIL