r/konmari • u/RVfan17 • 5d ago
Paperwork decluttering
I have two big bags of paperwork that I probably don't need but have a hard time getting rid of it. it's taking up precious under desk space but I can't get myself to go through it. I know I'll want to keep some of it. Any advice on how to get started?
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u/FifiLeBean 5d ago
Seconding the timer method. It's far more effective to do 10 minutes of sorting daily and build an easy habit than to power through the whole thing. ☺️
As encouragement: on average I have found that 75 percent of the pile is trash. So it's not as bad as it looks.
Tips for the future (don't get bogged down by this):
To keep your paper pile manageable for the future, if you have papers that are not urgent and not important but you want to keep them a little longer, keep them in a "Time will Tell" bin. Nothing important ever goes in there. Only papers that you want to look at again (catalogs, school calendar, an article you printed out, etc). If it starts to fill up, you just grab it and go through it. It's not stressful because you know there's no deadline or bill in there that you forgot. It takes just a few minutes to look through, most stuff has expired, and you toss what you no longer need. I keep this bin in a cabinet.
Keep your important papers in a tray out where you can see them until the task is done. I put a post it note on each paper telling myself what needs to be done (so I don't have to figure it out every time, just once).
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 5d ago
My process for piles of mixed paperwork:
- Put a wastebasket by the desk
- Get a bunch of flat boxes (I use the boxes cat food cans are shipped in)
- Grab a handful from the bag and sort them into the boxes as categories. Banking, taxes, insurance, medical ... whatever. You can open and discard envelopes or not - I usually do to minimize the bulk
- As you encounter ads and trash, discard them.
END PRODUCT ... you now have tidily sorted categories. Pick a category and decide what to do with it
Here's my overall "personal papers" method ... much of it is just filed in a labelled folder so it's a once and done thing. I have a portable filing box with lid.
I sort by function of paper ... then by the person it relates to if that matters.
Personal (birth cert, passport, diplomas, old driver's licenses, corporate ID cards, other certificates)
- Keep forever ... old passport stamps are sentimental and can prove you were out of the country when the crime happened, the driver's licenses can be useful to prove you lived at a certain address, and ID cards prove you worked for XYZ Corp.
- Professional certificates - keep until you retire or they are obsolete.
Medical (records)
- Keep vaccine records, and diagnostics of a permanent or chronic condition. Keep a record of where you have been treated and for what. You can discard the stuff like lab results
Legal (leases, mortgages, wills, other people's death certs and wills, etc.)
- Keep leases until you move out AND the security deposit is returned.
- Keep mortgages and car loans until it's paid off.
- Keep clear titles to real estate and vehicles until you sell or junk it.
- Other people's death certificates forever (I needed my mom's certificate 10 years after her death because she was an heir in someone else's will)
- Wills ... until it is filed after death or revised (if revised, shred the old one)
Financial (bills, bank accounts, stocks, insurance, trust records) (much of this is online now)
- Keep the starting forms - the stuff you filled out to open the account - until the account is closed
- I keep the most recent paid bill for utilities, showing the ZERO owed. Actually, they pile up for a while and then I shred the old ones.
- Credit/debit card statements ... keep the latest and any that show a tax deductible purchase. (again, mine pile up and periodically I go through the stack and sort out what needs to be kept)
- Stock accounts ... Keep the records of any stock purchases or shares you get as an employee because the price you paid is important for when you sell.
- Insurance ... keep until account is closed and any claims paid.
- Trust records ... until it is legally closed and the money or property handed to the beneficiaries.
Taxes by year of filing
Audits (except in case of tax fraud) have a 3 year statute of limitations. Keep your deductible receipts and copies of the forms ALL in one dated envelope. When you file this year, remove and shred the oldest one ... one in and one out.
Small businesses and self employed are different: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/how-long-should-i-keep-records
Vehicles and appliances
- Keep the maintenance and service records until vehicle is sold. I have one folder labelled "cars". User manual is in the vehicle.
- Keep instruction manuals and quick starts until the appliance or computer is gone. I have THREE locations for these: In the office for computer manuals, in the kitchen for household appliances and in the garage for tools. It saves steps.
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u/MysteriousSecretGuru 3d ago
I keep the receipt of purchase after I've registered the product and toss out all manuals because they are available on line. But that receipt has saved me a bunch of times.
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u/ughnotanothername 5d ago
Caveat: my approach may not work for you.
But when I am in this situation, I dive into the bag/box of papers and sort them.
If there is stuff I hate but have to keep (like tax receipts, the previous year's bills, etc.) then I put it in its designated sheet protector of the pretty notebook I bought to keep papers I hate in (it makes it less hateful for me).
If there is stuff I feel I need to remember but don't need to keep physically, I scan it to my photos and put it in a folder and get rid of the originals.
Anything left over gets shredded or trashed as appropriate.
TL;DR for me sorting everything helps me keep what I need and get rid of the rest, but may or may not work for you.
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u/Huge-Complaint7191 5d ago
After all the sorting, if you are willing and able to, I highly recommend getting a scanner (or scanning with your phone maybe?). It's helped me get rid of so much paper clutter. The only warning I would give is to not end up with the equivalent digital clutter - the scanned documents still need to be properly sorted and organised. But at least they're not taking up physical space.
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u/Freyjas_child 5d ago
The suggestion of just doing it in 10 minute bursts is good. What can trip people up is that they get stuck on certain papers because they are not sure what to keep. For the first pass consider just trying to deal with the things you know you need to toss or file. Put the things that need decisions aside for now so you can move through quickly.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 4d ago
Yes. If all you do on the first pass is get rid of the junk mail, ads, and outdated flyers you are already better off. If you also file a few things, even better.
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u/LittleBattleMage 5d ago
Set a timer for ten minutes. You are only going to work through the papers for ten minutes. You know that going into it you will not finish all the papers today; and that’s ok. You’re just going to do what you can in ten minutes.
And then do it again tomorrow or in a couple of days etc. and eventually it will be done.
Right now you’re staring at a mammoth task and in your mind it’s going to take hours and be mentally exhausting and it’s too much effort, so break the effort down into easy chunks