4 Reasons to get Control of Paper Clutter
Finally conquering the battle with paper has truly been life changing. I went paperless several years ago and I have never looked back!
Recently we went through an incredibly busy season (more on that HERE) and while my inbox didn’t stay empty as often as it usually does. I was reminded why I am so thankful to have conquered this battle. If I would have added the regular mail and paper clutter that enters my house daily on top the paper piles I had a few years ago, I would have been in trouble!
Today I want to share with you 4 reasons to conquer paper clutter.
Avoid inconveniences and embarrassment. Have you ever had an invitation to a wedding or conference come in the mail and somehow you misplace it and then you have to rush to change plans or worse, completely forget about it? If you will follow a daily paper habit (see how I do that HERE) you won’t have to worry about it! When I go through my inbox, at least once a week as part of my Weekend Routine, I make sure to add those dates to the calendar before tossing the announcement or invitation.
Save money. This summer I had to call and cancel an appointment my husband had made and would be unable to attend. She told me there would be a $50 fee. I assured her that he had no idea of this fee or he would not have made the appointment for that week. She said she would waive it, but a few weeks later I get an official notice that I owe the office $50. This was one of those 3rd party medical billing agencies that will send you to collections pretty quickly. Had I missed this statement it could have turned into a mess! Thankfully, I called back and she realized her mistake and is well. You will save money by taking care of paper quickly!
Protect your identity. While you identity can be stolen from a variety of sources, stealing trash is still an issue that can be a problem for your personal information. Make a habit of shredding what needs to be shredded immediately and you won’t have to worry about it! THIS is the shredder we use.
Protect your peace. I have told this story before, but I have a vivid memory of needing a certain statement from our insurance company and having to miss a day of work to find it. (I worked almost an hour from home.) While I had a decent filing system, we had accumulated a lot of papers that I thought we needed to keep and I couldn’t find that ONE thing. It was not a great day. Conquering paper has brought me peace. I know I can easily find what I’m looking for and that is a wonderful thing.
I have a lot of blog posts and videos on paper. Paper is one of the things I am asked about the most, because no matter what stage of life we are in, paper comes in our house on a regular basis.
I truly believe that conquering paper will give you margin for the good things.