You’ve Got Mail: The Daily Incoming Clutter

I recently was asked, “How do you deal with the incoming mail?” Dealing with the incoming mail is simple, all you need to get organized is a couple of tools, and about 5 minutes a day to deal with this chore. Mail is part of the managerial role of running your household, and as such, you need to handle it like you would do so for a company. You must put in place a system to keep it controlled and organized because it is vital to keeping your household running smoothly.  Nowadays, we have to deal with paper mail, the stuff that comes into your mailbox, and digital email, the one that comes into your computer, phone, or tablet.  For this blog post, I’m going to address the one that comes into your mailbox, which is probably piling up on your kitchen counter or your home office.

So let’s discuss the tools that will help you get rid of the mail clutter and get your mail organized. You will need a trash can, a paper shredder, a hanging file bin with a few hanging files, and a scanner.  The scanner is optional, but I strongly believe in using one.

Here is how I deal with my mail, I pick it up at the mailbox, walk into my garage, and stop by the house door, where I keep a garbage can.  Here I throw out all the advertisements and flyers. Next, I walk into the kitchen where I keep my scanner, (Yes I keep my scanner in the kitchen, I use a Neat scanner, it is smaller than the toaster, and it just looks like another kitchen appliance.) Every document that we need to keep gets scanned as I walk in, and the paper gets thrown away. I have found that this is the best way to control paper clutter.  I scan anything that I need to file. My last stop is my home office, where I shred all documents that I don’t need to keep.   I also shred pre-approved credit card offers and any paper filler that comes in with the bills. Then I sort what’s left into my hanging files.

Now that you know what you need, lets set up the system and walk through how it would work. You go to your mailbox and pick up your mail and walk into the house, do not place the stack of mail down on whatever flat service you usually do. Your first stop with the mail should be the trash can. Just throw out anything that you don’t need, for instance, advertisements, postcards, flyers, catalogs, weekly ads, etc. The next step is to open the mail and sort it. Anything that you don’t need and has personal information on it should be shredded. Bills or anything that you need to take action on goes in a hanging file that is labeled “Action” and anything else that you need to or want to keep goes in a hanging file that is labeled “To File.” This process will take you about 5 minutes a day.  Mail comes in daily, so you should deal with it every day; it should be part of your daily routine. Otherwise, it will become an enormous chore and or clutter sitting on your desk or the kitchen counter. 

The last step is to choose a day of the week that you will spend 15-20 minutes taking care of scanning, filing, and paying your bills. File any essential documents that you need an original of, and all other papers can be shredded. When you finish, your hanging file bin should be empty. The “action” part of dealing with mail is a once a week activity. If you look at my calendar, you would see my block of time for this weekly task scheduled on Thursdays.  To keep you organized, you need to set up your tools where they work best for you.  If you have a home office, you would probably set it up there, but if you do not have a home office, then the best place to set up your system is where it makes sense for you. I would recommend setting it up wherever you like to sit and pay your bills—more on routines, calendar blocking, and how to deal with email in future posts.