Seriously, you need to find the Zen in this task. I put on the tv, move the dog out of the way. Telling yourself 30 minutes/day can tell your brain it’s multiple days. So I tell myself it’s one pile/that day. Or one box. Then I can see that cleared space or shelf and get the mental check mark when done. That pile: gone.
Inefficient: sure. But not a battle.
I went through the girls memorabilia and saved one cute school thing per year (more or less.) One report card. Fine. But it must be so hard when it’s all in one big box, all of it.
I’ve culled a lot. Problem is, the junk keeps coming.
I also refuse to scan. It’s an additional task. Open, review, scan, check, send, shred the rest. And I don’t want these details out on the cloud, their cloud.
I made a little headway already today, without anxiety, so there is hope. I agree @Sybylla that the anxiety is from having not addressed it; my major source of anxiety in life is that my house is not in order, I seem incapable of getting it in order myself (especially with my husband having been actively working against me in that respect since the day we moved in together 23 years ago!), and I have no option but to deal with it myself. Well, one step at a time…
Thank you for all the tips and encouragement!
I have a box system. They just sit on a shelf in the office. Cards, memories, monthly bills, important bills. Newest in front. Once they’re full I transfer the contents to a shoebox and date it. I save the bills but just shred or burn after a year. Or ten years. Pretty much I’ve never had any need for any of it. I can only think of one time I actually went back to find something in 20 years With on line payment that’s way down.
Receipts are quick. Anything I think I’ll need I stuff in an envelope with the year on it— mostly things that have warranty or might need returning.
Things I know I’ll need like insurance or tax stuff is filed.
Then I have a shred box. I just toss future shredding in it. I did spend a couple days just running the shredder once but binged a tv show so went well.
No way would I spend time scanning anything.
I’m right there with you, @twinsmama. I seem to inherit all the paper in the house that nobody else knows what to do with. I deal with it a chunk at a time. I commit to 30 minutes at a time, but I may do more or less. When I get too mentally drained to make a sound decision I quit.
Generally, I start with the stacks of papers first. That’s where the things I need to follow up on are most likely to be. I start with 3 bins near me: a recycling container for papers that don’t contain sensitive info., a shredder, and a bin for things I want to save. Anything I’m not sure about goes into the save box. Memorabilia usually ends up there too so I have time to figure out how to save it. I also keep 3 in-boxes on the desk: one for things that need immediate attention, one for things that need attention but can wait, and one for things that need to be filed.
A shredder is a great idea. I have one but I need to get a larger one. The one I have holds a grocery bag of paper shreds and I have to change the bag too often. I found that by using a shredder the work goes much faster. Once I started thinning things out I found that I had room for things I really wanted.
I am facing this any day now. I’m replacing the floors in my office and I have to dismantle all the cabinets and desk to take out of the room. I am in the middle of closing two estates and my parent’s piles of papers are everywhere stacked on the floor from clearing out my Dads Memory Care apartment (important stuff pulled out long ago so he wouldn’t trash it by accident). So far I’ve cleared out 3 small drawers. The task is overwhelming. Luckily I have no qualms about throwing everything in the trash
OK, I have really calmed down. Visible stuff has been reduced to a very small action pile (and a couple of empty binders, because I think I need to go back to keeping essential info in a binder as I did when the kids were younger). A lot has been filed, and all the files will have to be purged and reorganized another time (especially school stuff). A lot is waiting for the new shredder to arrive, and some is in the recycling bin. Memorabilia and reference materials (current travel brochures, etc.) are in boxes. I will now tackle the accordion file full of old warranties and instruction manuals, in hopes that I can reclaim that space for something else. Then I will call it quits for the day and go outside with a cup of tea. If I had anything stronger than tea, I would go outside with that.
Uh oh. I pulled out the accordion file from the bottom shelf of a bookcase, and the shelf of books above it came down. Sigh.
OP - I had a very hard time parting with D’s schools stuff too. What I ended up doing was buying really, really thick binders. I have one for elementary school and one for middle school. I then got folders. Every grade got two folders, I kept report cards, academic awards, and some examples of writing/math in one folder. Then a sampling of art work and all EC awards and programs in the other. It forced me to pair down to only the “best” work.
I have a small, shoe box sized plastic container with art work from preschool (I know, it’s a problem and D will probably pitch the whole thing in the trash when I’m gone). For HS, it was just academics and awards and I was able to do them only in folders. There is now a college folder ; ). All of it takes less than 3 feet of space on a book shelf.
Honestly I had a lot of fun sorting through her stuff and we got a big laugh out of some of the early stuff at her HS graduation party as she gave me permission to put out the binders.
I can’t even start about all the papers DH thinks are necessary to keep, including decades old charge receipts in case he wants to look up an old restaurant or something. I went through tons of my paper when we moved and had DS go through his stuff with me; I wanted to keep more than he did but it’s all in a few cartons now. DH was literally filling boxes while the movers were loading the truck, which is why he didn’t pay attention to the suitcase he packed to take in the car and it got loaded on the truck. We also have several boxes he brought from the east coast after clearing out his parents’ house, which he didn’t have time to go through. Which we then paid to move to California. But since I talked him into the move, I figured he could bring whatever he wanted.
Re shredding, rather than do it yourself, check for local recycling events. We took advantage of some free shredding days sponsored by local banks. Also there might be a local business at reasonable rates. When my mom passed away days after we moved, I found a company half a mile from her condo that both supplied shredding services to businesses and accepted walk ins. I brought in several cartons. It wasn’t too expensive and saved me hours of work. After DH’s stash and all the work moving, I was very circumspect in what I kept of my parents’ paper - one carton.
One of the many times we went through my mother’s papers, while alive, we found old restaurant reviews for cities she’d never even expressed an interest in. She insisted they could come in handy. Not.
DH’s principle was: if you can access that info otherwise, online or in a library, or from a friend, trash it. That helped me get rid of lots of academic stuff of my own. Or instructions, some article, etc.
I have a decade+ of utility bills. I thought I might get curious about comparing costs. Or need, eg, the oil bills, if we sell, to provide to a potential buyer. Other day, someone said, you can always get histories from the utility co. i said, what if they don’t keep them?
He said, if they don’t keep them, why should you? Made sense.
My building has a recycling trash can by the mailboxes. Whatever makes it past that that is personal but still junk gets shredded immediately when I step inside my home. Only way to stay on top of junk.
Re post 29– at one point I had decades old utility bills—my shoe boxes went back that far at one point. I did save one or two that went into the memory box. Then had a bon fire for the rest. A pretty big one.
We’ve had so many old travel brochures/maps etc that I saved. Out it all went save one or two. My pictures have all I need. I want to travel more. Maybe even to the same places but old info doesn’t help me.
With my mom (and late MIL/FIL) it was stacks and stacks of multi-page Medicare benefit statements and Medigap insurance Explanation of Benefits forms. Forests are grown and harvested for these things.
Some or even most of the “saving info” habits comes from prior internet era where you couldn’t find any data unless you got it yourself. So everything got saved—utility bills, gas receipts, just everything. And before credit cards—which now send you itemized bills. We learned that from our parents. It sticks. But you don’t even need a receipt to return stuff these days if you use a credit card. (No comment on privacy—just the convenience factor).
My dad has a great filing system. I just don’t know why he’s bothering to file all that crap. It’s all in his checkbook or billing accounts already.
I’m big on scanning everything, and I am pretty organized about it. The files are on an external hard drive of mine, so I don’t have to pay for cloud storage or anything. I’ve even scanned all my daughters elementary school artwork. I know the scan isn’t the same as the originals, but I like that I can bring back the memories without putting up with the clutter. I delete the financial files after seven years, which keeps them under control.
A couple on months ago our health savings account asked for receipts several years old! I was ticked off that they would ask for something that far back, but I was able to easily locate them and upload them the same day. DH got notified at work a couple of days later that many employees were similarly affected, and those that couldn’t come up with their receipts would be compelled to pay back that money. Ouch!
@gouf78 I love travel brochures, too, although I’ve learned not to keep too many. I must say, they look much more interesting after 50+ years - my parents had a drawer of them, and the oldest were definitely worth saving. I really like memorabilia from old restaurants, and I have a few old menus from when my mother won an essay contest and got to eat at all the best restaurants in New York in 1959. I’ll bet the Four Seasons menu is worth a few bucks.
Re: the kid artwork…each of our kids chose two special art things they created…and we had those framed. They are hanging in our house…and that’s fun. The rest was photographed…and our kids were fine with that.
My mother had all of my report cards through college, deans list letters, notes from teachers, misc school junk, awards and ribbons. All of it went in the trash. I had my high school diploma to prove I graduated from school…and one framed item that was actually framed because it was on a book for art teachers.
We have one Rubbermaid bin, large size, for each of our kids. My guess is they won’t want anything in it…but they can each deal with one Rubbermaid bin.
Our stuff is just not going to be there for them to deal with.
Having gone from someone whose house was a mess to one whose home is always in order about 7 years ago I had to decide : Did I love paper or a clean and orderly home. I realized at least for me I had to choose one or the other. Paper lost. Best readjustment of attitude ever.
I agree