How do other people deal with all the paperwork clutter in our lives?

[snafu]

Happy Saver, WoooHooo, big cheer for a good job of eliminating 7 bags of un-needed paper awaiting to be filed, from desk, file cabinet etc. in just one week. What words would persuade you to dump adverts, unaddressed mail, promotions, envelopes and inserts from daily mail in the garage recycle bin before it touches a flat surface? A poly envelop on the desk for items that need attention would control clutter.

You've made so much progress, I'm confident that you'll hold yourself responsible to get the remainder done to free up space in the file cabinet and tell us you've finished the job. Hope you'll join DS on his de-clutter thread

[Caponi]

Thank you all. Really good advice, and now I just need to follow it.

This week I tossed 7 paper grocery bags full of paperwork - combination of un-filed crap and excess from the file cabinet. I can now see parts of my desk and I have room to keep filing. I still have a few more piles to work through. This is about the point at which I usually give up. I did motivate myself to work for a while after work last night - that's a good accomplishment for me. I'm also fighting my OCD tendencies to keep stuff I don't need and to shred everything.

My goal is to keep working through it a little bit a time, but without waiting too long, and get 100% caught up, to make it easy going forward.

Looks like some of us can learn from you *blushes
I am going to do the same.

[HappySaver]

Steve,
I'll post to the decluttering thread when I have a big enough accomplishment that I can be proud of! Not there yet but still making progress...

[naturesenergies112]

When we scrimp on the details – fail to put away the toaster, forget to pack up the craft supplies, leave folded laundry on the bed – we are creating opportunity for more clutter. This is something I am guilty of, and can hear Sparky nodding in agreement. But it really is a key way to keep clutter at bay.

[Stephen51]

Could keep them all as tinder for the fireplace if you have one