Organized in 40 Weeks: Kitchen Clutter

I decided to follow Lisa Woodruff's Organize 365 Whole House Challenge.  This week she is encouraging those following the challenge to clean up "kitchen paper."  Since I am both a challenge follower, organizer, and a blogger, I felt like elaborating!  What does kitchen paper mean to me and to you?

Organizing Kitchen Paper Clutter

First of all, your kitchen clutter may not be her kitchen clutter.  She encourages families to maintain a command central in the kitchen.  This means all of the paper entering your house would go to your kitchen command center.  This also means that when she tells you to tackle your kitchen papers, she is telling you to go to the place where your paper gathers and to start there.

Where does your paper collect?Do you have a family command central for paper, bills, and calendars?

My paper used to gather in the kitchen, then it would begin to gather on my dining room table, then it would begin to gather on my desk, and it might even have gathered into my living room.  What a mess, right?  We let papers collect and gain control of our homes.  Enough is enough.

This is why Lisa Woodruff suggests picking the kitchen as your paper station.  If your kitchen is large enough to keep a family command center to house the bills, papers, coupons, advertisements, and to do list components, then set apart a portion of your kitchen for this use.  If your kitchen is too small, then you may consider having an entry way table committed to this use or a family desk for a command center.

Decide where the papers of your home will be met head on and organized.

The "Saturday" Basket

Alright, so Lisa calls her basket a "Sunday" basket, but I choose to do my organizing on Saturday.  Therefore, my basket is called the Saturday basket.  What is a Saturday basket, you might ask?  It is your incoming paper zone.  Everything that you need to address at some point will come into your house and into this basket.  Immediate mail needs will be taken care of immediately.  The basket will be gone through once a week, you pick the day.

On Saturday, I grab my basket and I begin to go through the mail, advertisements, coupons, new store rewards cards.  I'll tell you what to do with those items in just a second.

First Step for First Timers

If you do not have a ground zero aka family command central, you can still get started on this part of the 40 week project.  Lisa suggests putting all of your papers into one big laundry basket.  Pull it all together in one place, then conquer it.

Here are my suggestions for sorting through the laundry basket of papers:

Take one blank piece of paper.
Write your priorities down from top to bottom.
My list is something like this:

1. God
2. Personal Health
3. Husband
4. Child
5. Home
6. Family and Friends
7. Work
8. Ministry
9. Hobbies

This is how I file my working (current) papers.

I make hanging folders labeled with my priorities.

I make folders inside of each hanging folder with subset categories.

Example:

Under Home I have a folder labeled house cleaning, one labeled menu planning, and one labelled home organization

You can then group your papers into these categories.  If the piece of paper doesn't belong in any of your priority categories, then it probably doesn't need to be in your active life.  You can make a separate pile of papers that need to be filed in permanent storage.

Master To Do List

As you begin to group your papers, grab a notebook or legal pad.  Think about it, you kept these papers for a reason, but has that reason ever been met?  You need to add papers to your to do list.  You may have kept the Shakespearean play calendar, because you really wanted to go to a play.  Add it to the to do list under "husband" for a date night.  Maybe you kept a set of coupons and have been meaning to use them.  Add it to your home to do list and to your menu planner.

Your master to do list can be a very amazing resource.  However, be realistic.  This is not your life on paper.  This is what might happen in an ideal world.  Take a breath and you will weekly make a plausible to do list.  Lisa intends to get three home items done a day and three work items done a day.  In her life she realized she can realistically do no more.  In my life, I can realistically get one item done a day.  GREAT!  Then at least I'm closer to my own goals for an organized life and doing the things on my to do list that I put on that list.

The Clip

Lisa at Organize 365 also talks about her "one" clip that she uses to keep coupons, kid's papers, outgoing mail, etc. in line on her refrigerator.  I just bought my clips recently and since we are a homeschool family, I don't seem to be using it for kid's papers yet.  I'll have to see how they get used in the future.

The Gist

I mentioned in my last post (which was about 6 months ago) that you will have temporary files, working (current) files, and permanent files.

• The Temporary Files go in your Saturday Basket.
• The Working Files are filed in an easily accessed file tote.
• The Permanent Files are kept in a filing cabinet or set of plastic filing bins.

All your temporary files will become a part of your to do list and become a part of your working files, be thrown away, or will be filed in your permanent files.

Any questions?  I'd be happy to answer questions and you can also join Lisa Woodruff's Organize 365 Facebook group page listed on her website.  Enjoy!!!

Brooke

Owner and Designer of Designing Life Etsy Shop
and Designing Life Local

Fall Cleaning Series: Day 2 - Taming the Paper Monster

Getting Household Papers Organized

Today, I shifted my attention from my kitchen to my living room. My living room is the space in which we spend most of our day . . . when we aren't cooking or eating. Our television, computer, desks, bookshelves, video games, and one wonderfully ancient denim sofa are in our living room. We also enter our home into our living room.

Before I could do anything with the room, I had to start with the papers.... I had papers collecting on top of my printer, papers on my desk, papers on my computer desk, papers on the coffee table . . . papers pretty much everywhere. They were about to form a paper monster and eat me alive. They had to be conquered.

The Paper Monster

I figured out that I was dealing with my own paper monster.

Neat Paper Monster

While I love checking out Neat's amazing paper scanners, I have a lot of papers that I want to keep on hand.  I have a set of working files, but not all of the working files were working.  Here is how you can separate your files into three groups.

Permanent Files

Working Files

Weekly Files

Permanent Files

The Permanent Files are in my filing cabinet upstairs.  Our finances are filed according to Ric Edelman's guide.  I have the rest according to what our papers can be grouped into easily.  Each person/couple will have a different set of file labels.  I have a home business, others will have files on their careers.  I have a file for homeschool records, many others will have a file for each year of school their child goes through.  Your permanent files are files that you need to have, but do not need to access frequently.  Perhaps once a year or less.

Working Files

Working Files are files that you need to access more frequently.  They may pertain to a project that you are working on.  Bills that need to be paid monthly.  You might keep your address book pages in this box/cabinet.  You want them nearby, but you don't need to get at them all the time.  These should be labeled clearly and have useable information inside.  If you have your bills inside, you need to include a printable tracker that helps you to know when your bills need to be paid and where you can record when you paid the bill.  If you have yearly goals, you may want to keep a file on your goals and review them monthly to stay on track.  Working files need to be workable.

Weekly Files

Weekly Files are those files that you will access every week and contain papers that you will use continually.  You need these papers filed and labeled so that you are able to wrap your mind around your tasks.  Without Weekly Files you accumulate papers and add more papers to the papers that are out . . . "because you are working on them."  Even papers that are a part of weekly planning need a job.

This is where my "Working Files" were failing.  I had my Permanent Files and Working Files, but I didn't have Weekly Files.  I just made a pile of all the papers that I was currently working on.  Then I added more papers to my pile that still needed to be worked on, then more papers on top of that, until I forgot what was underneath the pile.  I was overwhelmed by feelings of fear due to this paper monster.  Let me explain . . .

The Fear of 'Things Left Undone'

"The papers in my house began to scare me.  However, I have come to realize that it isn't the need to organize the papers that evokes my panic, but the fear that I might discover things left undone, items on my to do list that I never finished, or even worse, people that I've disappointed by not following through.

As I go through my papers and remember tasks that became forgotten, I have to give myself grace. I don't remember every task every time. I don't follow through with everything that I commit to with the best intentions. I will hope to do better next time, but today . . . I just really need these papers to get organized."

Have you discovered box file folders?  They hold more files helping you organize.



Taming the Paper Monster

I have all of my files separated out, filed, and for the most part put away.  I've made a huge step in taming my paper monster.  I still need to go through my labels, add a few more files (such as one for to do lists), but I have a great start.  Organization doesn't really have an end.  You keep organizing and reorganizing your life because life never stops changing and we never stop growing.  Take a look through your papers and see if you can't figure out a better system of paper control for your home.

Day 1 - Conquering the Kitchen

Day 2 - Taming the Paper Monster

10 Paper Storage Solutions



I'm not sure about you, but I have issues with paper.  Think bunnies multiplying except replace the bunnies with papers and that hardly describes the gravity of the issue.  I get papers and magazines and advertisements in the mail.  I take notes, I use printables, and my son draws these adorable pictures.  Then they begin to gather together to take over my home, surface by surface.  They often start with the computer desk, but then the start to make piles on the floor.  Then little by little they cover my TV stand, my end table, and my bookshelf.  You think I would catch those little papers before they got so far, but no.  With moving every few years, my storage tools come and go and are often busted up by the moving companies (no, really, my filing cabinet is irreparably dented at the drawers).  I need new options and I need them fast!  Here are some if the solutions I've come up with to prevent my paper problem from consuming every surface in my home:

Letter Sorter

 Brocade Letter Sorter Via The Container Store

 

Quick Pros and Cons

A Letter Sorter is a great way to separate out the mail designated for each member of the household.  Just remember, that the letter sorter can become just another place for junk.  Also think about where you will put the letter sorter and how much room you are willing to give to your incoming mail.  If all family members can commit to looking through their own mail daily, this can be a great place to stick mail as soon as it comes in the house.

 

Letter Tray

 Dokument Letter Tray Via Ikea

 

Quick Pros and Cons

 A letter tray can be a great place to store ongoing projects or to store documents as they come into the household or office.  You can also assign a tray to a particular family member or assign them to ongoing tasks such as bills, taxes, or work files.  Again, you will need a surface that is large enough to house the set of trays, but if it keeps all of your papers in one place it can be a great benefit.

 

Magazine Files

Magazine Files Via See Jane Work

Quick Pros and Cons

Magazine files have so many uses!  You can store magazines in your files or you can store kid's papers, computer paper, or current ads. It's great to use one to house misc. papers.  Once the misc. magazine file becomes full, you can go through the file.  You can store the files on a bookshelf or under an end table.  Just remember to go through the magazine files, no need to store things that are just going to take up space in your beautiful home.

 



File Tote Box

 File Tote Box Via The Container Store

 

Quick Pros and Cons

 The File Tote Box is a great way to keep hanging files nearby and stow things away quickly.  If you keep one in your home office near your computer, you can easily print out tax information and file it away or keep track of receipts and bills.  However, this is a temporary storage option.  Permanent files need a permanent home.  You will want to keep temporary files and current information in a box like this.

 



Paper Storage Case

Paper Storage Case Via The Container Store

 

Quick Pros and Cons

Paper storage cases can be great for storing children's art, ongoing crafting projects, and any oddly shaped papers you may have sitting around that you may still want to keep.  The main purpose for this case is to store scrapbook paper, but a 12" x 12" box can be used for myriads of paper projects.

 

 

Colorful Storage Boxes

  Stockholm Office Storage Boxes Via Container Store

 

Quick Pros and Cons

 Office Storage Boxes in bright colors just make me chipper!  Why not hide all the paper mess in these wondrous boxes?  For larger boxes, you can keep track of larger family photos.  Letter size boxes are perfect for storing written works of art.  Speaking of art, the mid-size boxes are great for keeping art paper.  However, you must be sure to designate a purpose for each box.  It could be easy to lose papers if you are not intentional about how you use each box.  Store the boxes on a bookshelf to make a statement.

 

Desktop File

Bamboo Desktop File Via Container Store

 

Quick Pros and Cons

Desktop Files are very similar in use to the file tote boxes except these are intended to live on top of your desk.  If you have tons of space on your desk, this is an even easier option for grabbing out files that are used often and storing them away quickly.  These can also be great for keeping track of children's homework and yearly school files.  The bamboo is one option but there are also many other colors and textures in the realm of desktop files.  If you have extra desk space, then consider including one of these files on your desk.

 

Mesh Desk Organizer

Mesh Desk Organizer Via Amazon

 

Quick Pros and Cons

 I love this product!  It is a desk organizer, but it has shelves and two areas for binders.  This is a great way to create horizontal storage space on your desk allowing you to keep home organization binders on your desk or even on a kitchen counter.  The shelves are ideal for desk accessories, keeping things up off the desk and out of your way. It may be a challenge to fit this on a small desk, but it is definitely worth considering.

 

Nickel Paper Caddy

Nickel Paper Caddy Via See Jane Work

 

Quick Pros and Cons

This Nickel Paper Caddy is a very stylish option for your desk, bookshelf, or counter.  You can keep files, binders, notebooks, and magazines resting on the caddy.  Personally, I think it is so beautiful that I would absolutely have to keep everything tidy in respect!  Again this item will take up some space, but if you have the space and money to afford this product, you will indeed enjoy having the organizational capability that it provides.

 

Lateral Filing Cabinet

 Outlook Lateral File Cabinet Via Smart Furniture

 

Quick Pros and Cons

Many of the other tools are temporary storage options.  You need to have a filing cabinet to house your permanent files.  In a filing cabinet you store last years taxes, medical records, car insurance information, etc.  These are all files that are necessary to keep, but do not need to be accessed often.  Instead of the metal vertical filing cabinets that most of us are used to, this lateral file cabinet is much more refined.  The one negative for this cabinet is the price tag.  A nice looking file cabinet will cost you more, but you'll enjoy having it in your home. 

Whatever you buy for your home, home office, or office, consider buying organization accessories that make the experience more enjoyable.  I hope going through these paper storage solutions has helped you as much as it has helped me!  Now which ones shall I buy?