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Amber’s Home and Office Organizing Blog index

Sorting Mail

Simplifying Your Mail System

A few weeks after my sister and brother in law moved into their new home , my brother in law and I tackled “the office”. Technically, it wasn’t really the office but we tackled all the household paper in one night. Yes, we were up late and I smile now as I remember my husband and sister were lounging, snacking and watching TV as he and I slaved over the paper. We reduced their files down to only two drawers (I was very proud of him) and then we came up with this mail system.

Four action verbs helped them summarize what type of paper lands on their kitchen island and telephone nook. 

File- Every time my brother in law would pay bills or a financial or medical statement arrived in the mail, it would float around. Now if a paper is ready to go into the filing cabinet in the basement it sits in this holding spot till the folder is full. Then they file the paper (perhaps once a month or so).

Shred- Need I say more? This is a must. They don’t want to keep their shredder in the middle of their nice new kitchen so again, paper is held here until they shred a bunch in the basement office.

Active- this category is mainly for my sister. She places orders, has to fill out registration forms for my niece, and is currently working through decorating samples. So anything “open” and anything she needs to work on and follow up on sits in her active file right here in the kitchen.

Bills to Pay- My brother in law pays the bills, so my sister zips open the bills, pitches the filler and places the bills here ready for him to pay.

Now, you’re probably thinking, where are their coupons, stamps, menus, etc?  They could fit in this box in their own folders but they choose to keep them organized in the drawers directly below. So there you go. It really can be that simple! If you have kids, add a folder in for each. If you have other major projects going on, add those in. My advice is keep it to 5-8 categories tops. This isn’t meant to be a filing system, merely an action box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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