Purge those pesky paper piles...

Purge those pesky paper piles...

Forming another habit for dealing with stuff you avoid:

Every day we are brought a stack of paperwork, whether it's from the postal service, special deliveries, emails we need to print and save, documents from the office - it's overwhelming. It boggles my mind that so many people just toss it into a pile and ignore it, and indefinitely sometimes, to the point of literally walking on it or over it.

At worst, it's a fire hazard!

Why bother opening it? I have helped many clients open their mail only to find checks ranging from 12 cents to several thousand dollars! It didn't come from a sweepstakes, and usually, there is no surprise in the junk mail.

But all of the other documents might be important, and who won't enjoy finding that check with a few zeros on it? This sounds like the top reason to stop ignoring your mail.

You might have a dividend check or an inheritance sitting in a pile of papers that you are ignoring. It's so easy to open the few pieces that come in every day and process them rather than to let it stack up for weeks or months at a time.

There could be paperwork that will lead to a better job, some happy opportunity, letters from long-lost family or friends...a product recall, or test results from your physician.

I suggest having a recycling bin or shredder near the spot you like to toss your mail is and take that small, daily handful and get rid of what you know is junk. That's half the battle.

Set your calendar for a once-a-week paper processing appointment with yourself for 30 minutes. That's a very small time commitment.

If you need help setting up files, ask for help from a family member, friend, or professional. There is no good excuse for letting it pile up.

If you don't have your papers organized, how will you know what pile to grab in an emergency? Make that appointment with yourself for once a week and you'll get the hang of it.

Put on some happy music in the background to make it less of a chore.