Stop drowning in paper

Less clutter means more space and time

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to limit the quantity of paper that
comes into your life so it's easier to stay organized,
and so you can treat the paper you do keep

(00:24):
as more special. Today's episode is inspired by a book
I recently read by Lisa Woodruff called The Paper Solution.
In it, this professional organizer teaches people how to manage
the paper that comes into their lives without dropping balls.
In a later episode, I'll talk about her Sunday basket technique,
but today I want to talk about limiting the quantity

(00:47):
of paper you need to deal with, as paper tends
to take space and time. So there was a theory
at one point that we were on the verge of
a paperless world. All communication would be electronic and no
one would need paper for anything anymore. That didn't really
pan out, partly because people are people. I'm old enough

(01:09):
that I once worked for someone who wanted all emails
printed out so they could be treated with a dignity
of postal correspondence and then filed appropriately. Thankfully, most people
have moved past that, partly because most email is so
not worth printing and saving. But we still have a
lot of stuff. We get mail in the mailbox, We

(01:30):
get forms from doctors and dentists and schools. We print notes,
We have books, we have magazines. I've gotten better about
checking stuff over the past few years, but there were
definitely times in the past when I saved all my
magazines because I love the pretty pictures and I thought
I might look through them to get ideas in the future. Indeed,
I had this whole big paper ideal file I was

(01:52):
keeping for a while. It sat like a time capsule
for something like eight years in my closet. Eventually I
opened it. There was indeed a whole lot of nice
two thousand five photography in there, but I got no
ideas whatsoever. Kids artwork and school work is also complicated.

(02:13):
Some is good and some is less memorable. My teenager
printed up vast quantities of math worksheets this spring, which
would then sit on the counter. It took a long
time to get them into the recycling bin. As I've
been pondering this in my life, I've realized that one
of the best techniques is to avoid letting stuff stack
up when I bring in the mail. Anything I'm not

(02:35):
interested in goes straight to the trash or the recycling bin.
Otherwise it can sit in the pile for months. Magazines
now getting max of two months before they go out
the door. The daily newspaper is a little treat for me.
We subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, but it needs
to be gone in two days. It was hard for
me to admit that I will not read a daily

(02:57):
newspaper from a week ago, but I think I've finally
gotten over that. As for my kids artwork, my current
policy is that anything that really makes me smile or
that shows my kid's personality can stay. So a cartoon
my daughter drew about how she wanted to be an
artist so she could be famous. Is a keeper a

(03:17):
math work sheet demonstrating the ability to reduce for actions, Well,
not so much. I also tried to reuse the paper.
I have. I print out outlines for my Best of
Both Worlds podcast, but I try to use the back
of those sheets for grocery lists or notes. And finally,
I am a big fan of programs like doc You
sign as an author and podcaster and small business owner,

(03:42):
not to mention as someone who sometimes rents vacation houses
because my family is too big for a hotel. I
deal with an incredible number of contracts. Anyone that I
don't need to print out is a huge win. In
any case, you might try taking a look today at
what sorts of paper tend to stack up in your life.

(04:03):
How could you reduce these stacks? Can you keep stuff
from coming in? Buying e books instead of paper books
was a big breakthrough for me. Getting any recurring bills
or statements electronically is also helpful and often easier to
track down. Always ask if there's an electronic ticket option.
Don't take receipts you don't need. We're nowhere near the

(04:27):
paperless office, as anyone who's been working from home these
past few months and is now responsible for her own
printing has learned. But we could get somewhat closer. Everything
will be less cluttered if we do, and then we
can treat the paper we do have with some more respect.
I love little bound notebooks and stationary with some tooth

(04:48):
to it. These are much more exciting than a receipt
and never going to use anyway. In the meantime, this
is Laura, Thanks for listening. Here's to making the most
of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

(05:11):
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast
p o D. You can also shoot me an email
at Before Breakfast podcast. At i heeart media dot com
that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

(05:34):
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
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