Guest post from Lisa of Warrior Mama and Organize 365:
I have always been an organized person. In college I typed and color-coded my notes for school. My 20’s were very organized and went just according to plan…
1994 – I graduated and started teaching
1995 – I got married
1996 – We purchased our first home
1997 – I started a home-based business on top of my full-time teaching career
1999 – I quit teaching and worked full-time from home
2000 – We had our first baby
2001 – We had another baby!
But by 2002, I was overwhelmed with babies, their medical needs, my booming home business, and LIFE!
Fast forward a decade.
Just as I find in many of the homes I organize, my paper was out of control even though there were good organizational systems underneath.
I would have never believed that one day I too would need organizational help. However, a decade of “pile it and file it” led to mini paper mountains everywhere.
Something had to change…
I started with old tax files and slowly purged through each paper area of my life: taxes, manuals, important documents, etc.
I made quick and steady progress until I hit the daily paper clutter — the coupons, bills and school notes on the kitchen counter, directories that seem to multiply overnight, school calendars, items you are saving to scrapbook someday, etc.
That daily paper is NOT clutter, but if you file it, you’ll forget it.
So what can you do?
It took me 6 months of refining my systems to come up with a solution that has worked for me and my clients.
My active papers are now divided in 3 places: a weekly basket, a counter top filing system, and a drawer filing system.
My new e-book, 10 Steps to Organized Paper, walks you step-by-step through tackling your past piles of archived paper, and guides you through a tailored active-paper organization sequence that will have your daily papers organized and OFF your kitchen counters… for good!
If you struggle with paper clutter and are dreading the end of the school year when ALL that additional paper clutter enters your home, don’t wait…
…download your copy today for only $5!
Lisa is a Cincinnati mom who blogs at Warrior Mama “Helping busy moms…Manage All Mama’s Assets”. Lisa also shares her organizational tips on her blog Organize365: Helping Busy Mama’s organize their busy lives.
24-HOUR GIVEAWAY!
This giveaway is now closed… the 5 winners will receive an email from me.
Today, FIVE lucky Simple Organized Living readers will win a copy of 10 Steps to Organized Paper.
How to Enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post. Where is your biggest pile of paper clutter?
If you are reading this in your email or feed reader, please visit the actual blog post to enter. Email entries, Facebook comments, and Twitter messages will NOT be counted.
Prizes:
(5) 10 Steps to Organized Paper eBook as described above
This giveaway ends at 9:00 am on Wednesday, 5/23/2012 and is open to US residents, 18 years or older. I will use And the Winner Is to select the winning comments at random. Winners will be notified by email and noted at the top of this post. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize or I will choose a new winner. Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have. Good luck!
MaryBeth says
My worst and biggest pile of paper is the “stash and dash” area under our printer. It seems like my husband and I will make a little progress organizing and purging paper clutter – bills are about the only thing we really have a handle on – until we have someone over to the house. We do a lot of hospitality – Bible study, dinners, kids’ friends, club meetings. And every time we are cleaning up for guests, we dash through the main areas of the house stashing paper. Once upon a time there was only one banker’s box – now there are FOUR. And they are not organized in any way except how long ago they were filled! A little help might go a long way for us.
Frieda Nugen says
I don’t have one biggest pile. DH cleared one by the TV in the man cave by moving it to the lateral file behind my desk. Then there’s my desk. I’ve begun Sterilite boxes to contain the magazines, but stopped buying them. Just Sunday, I took a paper sack full of magazines to Half Price Books and received $2 for them, just enough to cover the gas to get there, but it was an outing anyway, and we accomplished a couple other errands…plus I found they are having a sale this weekend *if* I still wanted anything, so I walked out without spending my “hard earned” $2.
Vicki Lock says
Coming up with my biggest pile of paper is difficult because I have several. I can so relate to Lisa – I was once organized but then came kids and moving my work home and the attention to the systems and time to keep them up vanished. I have huge piles in my office and in my scrapbook area, I am not sure which one would win for being the biggest. I need to get these under control – with three kids in three different schools next year (college, high school, and grade school). I have to get things under control.
Kimi says
Wow! I think she wrote that book for me! I have neat stacks all over the place, kitchen counter, kitchen desk, dining room floor and on it goes. I hate clutter but the papers keep on piling up. HELP!! I’m drowning!! lol
Kadie says
My biggest paper pile is my ideas i tear out of magazines and my soons preschool projects. It all gets piled on my hutch and when we have a house showing I shove it into the cabinet.
Jill says
Any flat surface seems to be a magnet for papers!
Laura says
I have a lot of paper clutter that I would like to learn how to get under control!
Sue says
My biggest pile of paper clutter is unfortunately spread from my countertop to the bar stools tucked under it to my kitchen table! This is where I need the MOST help!! Please help me!
Susan says
My biggest challenge is setting up a filing system that WORKS! I’m just a hot mess when it comes to paperwork. THere are piles in various spots, sort of organized, but not really. I’ve started and stopped tons of times. It’s hard to figure out a simple way of filing without getting overwhelmed. (Do I put a file for each bill? each month? when do I toss? etc.)
Jenifer says
My biggest pile is on my table…pushed to the end of the table…which gets moved to the buffet at dinner time and then moved back to the tabel aftewards….ugh!
Melanie says
My biggest pile of paper clutter is my desk.
Julie R says
My worst paper place is my desk. It’s used for bills, homeschool stuff and whatever else gets piled on it. It’s always a mess and the first thing you see when you walk in the house.
April says
As many have said, the corner of the kitchen counter is where mine starts. Then it tends to migrate to the table, then gets separated into “to be….” whatever piles and sent closer to their respective locations in the house…then six months (or more) later I wonder why I’ve even kept half the stuff I did! I recently started a home based business, so I’d love to get something better in place!
Maria Williams says
My biggest pile is on my bed room floor. Every time we have a gathering I clear off the kitchen table full of Daily Paper Clutter and pile it next to the bed in That Pile.
Anna says
My biggest pile is “The Box”. We have a box in our kitchen where all the mail goes that will be for filing or shredding (any bills or the like get paid immediately and are marked paid before going in the The Box). The Box does keep mail clutter out of the kitchen. Problem is, the box gets really out of hand and then I have to spend time going back through everything to find out which pieces are for filing and which are for shredding.
Melissa says
My desk is a mess! And as soon as I get it cleared off and filed, it immediately gets covered again. It doesn’t help that my husband has his own business and is even messier than I am with receipts and invoices. This book would be a big help!
Cathleen says
At home: my biggest pile of paperwork is under my bed. It starts on the kitchen counter. When we have visitors I pile it in a bag and “hide” under my bed waiting for a day to organize it. Hmm… not looking forward to what lives under there!
At the office: my left side of my desk – which drives me nuts!
ACK!
Ayisha says
My biggest pile of paper is in my home office. My husband usually gets the mail, which means there are papers in every possible place you could think of. So, when I am trying to straighten up during the week, I usually grab whatever paper I see and put it on the desk in the office. Because I know that it will end up there anyway to be filed or shredded. But file and sorting paper is usually last on my to do list. So, it all accumulates until things are falling off on the floor! I hate it! I hope this ebook can help!
Elizabeth@ReadySetSimplify says
I think it’s a tie between my kitchen island and my desk. Well, then there’s that laundry basket….
Brenda says
My biggest pile of clutter is usually on my kitchen table. My husband is just as bad as I am at cluttering the table up with junk, so when it needs to be cleared off, he cleans his half and I clean my half. Unfortunately, most of our clutter just ends up somewhere else, such as my computer desk or on top of the efficiently organized filing cabinet that I have (which is supposed to help eliminate the clutter, right?). No matter how hard I try to keep the table cleaned off, it only takes a day or two before clutter begins to pile up again! HELP!!!
Jennifer says
My biggest pile of paper is definitely on the coffee table and on the raised countertop above my sink. I get so overwhelmed with paper sometimes, a lot of which you need to keep in case of returns or for your records. It would be great to finally learn a system to organize it all.
Rita @ the busy woman and the stripy cat says
OMG, this is the book I need! I’ve been scanning a lot of papers, but I still have a huge pile on my desk at work!
Mandy S says
The biggest pile is usually always mail sitting on the coffee table or dining room table. Eventually, it gets put in the office, site unseen. So now, we have boxes of mail that needs to be gone through, among other things.
This would be perfect to finally get control of all the paper – I feel like our house is overrun by it sometimes!!
Brittany B. says
The pile is in our guest room! Our filing cabinet is in there..the papers are waiting to be filed
Lizie says
My biggest pile is in ‘the scary room!” It. is. scary…
Barb says
My trouble is definitely in keeping up with the daily bills and keeping them filed after I’ve paid them.That pile just seems to grow!
Lori says
We have a counter to the side of the kitchen that is a never ending pile of clutter. It is supposed to be the place where all of that stuff stays organized, but that never seems to last very long.
Natalie P. says
My biggest pile is on my kitchen table.
Lyza says
My trouble with paper clutter is having it on the kitchen counter. That is precious “real estate” in our small kitchen, but my husband likes it out where we can see it. That way it’s not forgotten about. Eeek!
Diana says
My desk. I have so much paper on my desk and in boxes that I can’t use my desk!
Jennifer says
My biggest pile of papers in on our computer desk. We pay bills online and all the bill stubs seem to pile up there as well as other items.
LINDA GEORGIS says
My biggest piles are on the kitchen counter! Exactly where they should NOT be!! Thanks!
Tanna says
Homeschooled for 20 years, my hubbies cabinet business and just the papers of life equal piles everywhere! Ugh!
Liz Garland says
Oh my how I need this e book! Paper is a MAJOR issue im always dealing with. At the moment my side kitchen counter top is SO full of paper and clutter that you cant see it, just all the junk! Its sad really 🙁
susan says
my biggest pile of paper clutter is on the kitchen counter.
JAMIE says
Papers from my home business UGH!!!!
Maureen says
The biggest pile of paper clutter is the magazines and the coupons for specific stores that get piled on the corner of the kitchen counter.
michelle rogers says
My biggest pile is on the kitchen counter. I SO wish it had somewhere else to go.
Jessica Matejek says
My desk is so littered with paper clutter that I sometimes have to find my mouse.
Christina Lewis says
My biggest pile of paper ends up on my counter. It drives me crazy because it is where we cook & my kids and hubby puts it there, then I move it to the top of the printer. 😀