Hi, everyone.
I'm Alejandra from alejandra.tv and in this video series, I'm going to be sharing with
you how to organize all of your papers at home.
So we're going to be talking about binders, files, your most important files, sentimental
papers, taxes, mail, papers to scan, any open project papers, information you want to remember,
and any articles that you have pulled out of magazines to one day read.
We're talking about all of these things, how to organize them so you can find them, you
can stay on top of them, and most importantly, you can focus on what matters most.
But first, if you have stacks of paperwork, you have piles of paper, documents are accumulating
throughout all of the horizontal surfaces at home and you feel overwhelmed and you're
procrastinating the task of going through and decluttering and you can benefit from
support, there is a link below to help you, to guide you, and to give you any accountability
that you may need so you can actually de-clutter, let go, and get organized.
Because it's always easier to get organized if you've first decluttered and gotten rid
of all of the noise and made space for the things that do matter.
Okay, so the first tip is to declutter and make space.
And I know you've probably heard this a million times, but you really have to make space if
you want to begin setting up your organizing system.
So, if you have stacks of papers, piles of papers on all kinds of horizontal surfaces,
the best thing you can do is do a little bit at a time.
So, if you think about it, all of your papers didn't come in overnight.
They took months, years, decades to come in.
So the same way they came in as the same way that they're going to go out, although it's
not going to take you decades, but just do a little bit at a time.
For example, take one file folder.
Maybe you have to leave your office because there's so much going on and you can't focus,
take it to the kitchen table or take it somewhere else.
Go through the files, figure out what can be destroyed, which is shredded, figured out
what can be recycled and just do one file folder at a time and eventually you will make
progress, eventually you will make space, and it will be a lot easier to begin setting
up your organizing systems.
Okay, so the second tip is, you've probably heard this a million times, but to give all
of your pieces of paper a home.
So it doesn't have to be a fancy home, you just have to have a place to put every single
type of document that you have.
And once you declutter and you're left with just the things that you need, it's going
to be a lot easier because there's going to be less papers to go through.
So even a simple box like this that you labeled the front Tax Documents for 2020, so now you
have a place to put all of your tax documents for 2020, can save you time and energy when
it comes to looking for these documents.
So give everything a home.
It doesn't have to be fancy.
All it has to be is functional.
Tip three is once you go through all of your papers and you declutter, you let go, and
you're just left with the papers that you need, then you'll realize that all these papers
fit into two categories.
The first category are active papers.
So active papers are things that require action that you're going to use like you're using
right now or in the immediate future.
It could be open project papers, information to remember, something that you want to hang
up because it's some kind of reminder or an important note for yourself.
So all these things are active papers and you want to keep your active papers nice and
visible within reach.
If you identify as being an out of sight, out of mind person, keep them open on surfaces
so you are reminded to see the papers and consume the information.
The second category of papers are inactive papers.
So inactive papers are papers that you don't need right now, but there's a good chance
that you're going to need them in the distant future.
So this is reference materials, any kind of records, medical, financial, pet records,
home, car records, all these things.
Keep these things behind closet doors, keep them in drawers, keep them out of sight, but
keep them accessible, just not in prime real estate.
Okay, so tip number four is to take all of your incoming papers, so any incoming mail,
documents you bring home from work, from school, any bulletins, brochures, literature you bring
home from church activities, any other extracurricular activities, as soon as you get home, take
your stack of papers and you're going to sort them into recycle, trash, and shred.
So you don't have to take action on the things they were holding onto but you just need to
eliminate the things that you don't need.
Because once you get rid of these things, you never have to look at them, you never
have to shuffle them ever again, and it's going to make your life a lot easier.
So I have this stack right here I'm just going to quickly go through.
Okay, I need to hold onto that.
I don't need this receipt.
Receipts can not be recycled because of the paper, so that goes in the garbage.
This, I need to hold on to.
This I want to read.
This is action.
These two are action.
Okay, this is shred.
Get rid of that.
The envelope has my address so I'll show the envelope.
This is a coupon.
I don't need that.
Recycle.
Not going to read that.
A coupon that I'm not going to use can be recycled as well.
A credit card offer.
I can shred that as well, and it has my address on the envelope so I will shred the envelope
as well.
So I've eliminated about half the stack.
I never have to deal with those papers ever again.
Now I can take all of the papers that I need to open, to read, to pay, take this, bring
it to my mail center or wherever you take action, that could be in your kitchen, your
office, a desk, anywhere in your house, and then take action whenever it becomes a priority
for you.
But the biggest thing is to weed out anything you don't need right away or soon after when
you get home.
Tip five is to always be leaving notes for yourself.
So, anytime you have some kind of active paper or really just any paper and there's something
that you want to remember so when you come back to the document, you have clarity, you
can eliminate the confusion, and just take immediate action.
So, for example, if there is a task that you are responsible to get done once a month or
once a year, and because it's not every day, chances are you may forget, take a sticky
note to write yourself instructions on whatever the task is so when its time comes, you have
clarity on what needs to get done and you don't have to waste your time and your energy
to recall all of those thoughts on how to do a certain task.
Another example is if you have a problem with a bill or something and you need to call a
company and you speak with someone and they give you a confirmation number and they give
you the amount you're getting refunded for, write yourself a note.
When you check your account in a week or something, you have your notes to fall back on if there
is still an issue or if there's some kind of information that you still need to remember.
Or another example is if you have a lot of receipts and you went out and bought a gift
for someone and you want to find the receipt again because they want to exchange the gift,
write down at the top of the receipt, Ed's birthday gift, or something like that, so
when you are shuffling through all those receipts, the one that you may need will just stand
out amongst all of the other ones.
So those are my top five paper organizing tips.
Again, if you have stacks of papers or piles of documents and they are accumulating on
surfaces and you're having a hard time getting started going through the paperwork, there
is a link below if you need support and accountability to begin your project.
Thank you for watching and I will see you in another video.
Take care.
Bye bye.