How to Declutter and Organize Your Paperwork Like a Pro
- laura7868
- Mar 14
- 3 min read
“This would have taken me DAYS!” I was at a client’s home to help her sort through all the papers that come at her as a busy mom. It was immediately clear that her organizing style was, what I like to call, an “Innie.” I can always tell, because my first thought when I walked in the door was, “Why am I here?” All the surfaces were clear and clutter-free. Then she showed me the paper stashes. In multiple drawers there were papers ranging from mail, to children’s art projects to school work to recipes. As an Innie, she does not like to see her stuff. Everything is put away inside of cabinets and drawers. Sometimes things are stuffed inside, but as long as it’s out of sight, it’s all good.
Until it isn’t.
That’s when she called me to help her organize it.
“Outie” is the other main category for organizing style. Outies like to see their stuff. They don’t mind things on the counters and desk tops. If you are an Outie and you put all your papers inside drawers or file folders and in cabinets, you’ll soon be frustrated. It’s important to understand your natural organizing style when you begin to organize papers (or anything else, for that matter.) Let's explore how to organize papers within each organizing style.
Papers come at us every. single, day! Without a system to handle it all, it stacks, either inside of cabinets, or on counters and tables, and it can seem insurmountable.But in three short hours we had all her papers ordered and a system in place so she could move forward on her own. How did we do it? These simple steps:
We started with pulling out everything in drawer #1. This was not just papers, but markers, magnets, and other typical “junk drawer” items.
We sorted all the trash out and put the remainders in piles of like items. Of those, we purged out duplicate items. (How many black pens can one drawer hold?)
At this point we did the same thing for all the other drawers and put all the like items together from the drawers.
We brainstormed how she wanted to use each drawer, taking into account the many ways papers come into the home and what follow-up action needed to happen for those papers.
We created several main categories: Action Needed. Reference: Shred: And a file for each of the children. Innies will want these files in a drawer, but Outties will be happy to have them corralled in a paper organizer tray on top of the desk.
We assigned a job for each drawer. One held all the electronic flotsam and jetsam. Another desk supplies. (Remember, as an Innie, she didn’t want a canister of pens and pencils on top of her desk, so in a drawer they go!) Another we labeled the “party drawer” for birthday candles, napkins, cork screws etc. One drawer was for greeting cards and pads of papers and each of the kids got their own drawers into which their latest art creations can be dropped. As an Innie, she was fine with this system, but an Outie will want labels on the drawers and paper trays so they can easily “see” what is inside.
If you don’t have drawers to contain all your papers and items, your next step would be to get containers for the different categories in your piles. Innies will want a closed container like file folders or containers with lids and Outies will want open baskets or trays. The important part of this step is just to contain like items together.
When we were finished, she exclaimed, “This would have taken me DAYS. And it would have been spread out all over and we couldn’t have eaten at the table or worked in the kitchen. I can’t believe how fast this went!”
If you are overwhelmed with papers (or anything else) please reach out. I’d love to turn those overwhelming piles into ordered plans. And I’m betting it won’t take DAYS.
You can do this! ~ Laura, your organizing girlfriend
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
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