5 Tips on how to Organise your Paperwork

5 Tips on how to Organise your Paperwork

5 Tips on how to Organise your Paperwork is in collaboration with City Safes.

Last week I gave you a tour of my new home office set up and I had so many comments about how decluttered it was.

It hasn’t always been!

I’ve made a concerted effort in the past 6 months to declutter the whole of my life – out with the old and out with the new in some respects! I wouldn’t say I was a hoarder before, but I did find it difficult to throw some things away.

The Magical Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo changed all of that for me. In her book, she explains how to go through your house, by category not room, to discard those things that are just not necessary and useful in your life.

One of the last categories she suggests you declutter is Paperwork.

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If you’re anything like me, I hold on to paperwork for years. Just in case. Those documents end up crammed into drawers, cupboards or in random piles in various places in the house and they are never needed. So I’ve recently discarded all paperwork that isn’t necessary to keep.

These days, so many documents can be accessed online anyway that it isn’t necessary to keep a paper copy.

In my new home office workspace, I have a filing drawer with hanging files. In here, I keep the bare minimum of documents and paperwork I need. In fact, most of the files are empty as I’ve decluttered so much! We also have a safe to store very important paperwork and ID documents.

If your paperwork piles are taking over your house, here are my 5 tips on how to organise your paperwork:

1. Choose one place

Try to store your paperwork in one place, rather than spread all over the house. It doesn’t need to be a filing cabinet; a simple ring binder or folder is sufficient storage for most people and this can go on a bookshelf or in a cupboard.

Having one place to store paperwork makes it so much easier to find what you need but also to really see what paperwork you’re keeping. Every few months, go through and discard any papers you no longer need.

2. Store important documents safely

ID documents should be stored in a safe place where they are secure but you can easily get hold of them when you need to.

As well as the original version, I also keep a scanned copy of them so if I ever need to send a copy to someone, I can do so quickly without having to dig out the original each time.

I’ve recently discovered City Safes who offer new and reconditioned safes and it’s a great option for those wanting to store documents securely at home or at work. They also provide services such as delivery, installation and servicing of safes. It just gives me peace of mind to know my important documents are secure – and not hiding underneath a pile of paperwork!

3. Keep on top of filing

Try to file each paper the moment you are no longer using it. Don’t build up piles of paperwork, documents and receipts around the house.

Apart from the benefit of tidiness, this ensures that the next time you need a paper, you can easily locate it.

4. Find a filing system that works for you

Whether it’s keeping all papers together in one envelope, filing them in a cabinet or a concertina folder or a drawer, it is important to find a system of keeping your documents neat and organised that works for you. This will make your life easier.

5. Go digital

So many bills, receipts, policies and documents these days can be stored online instead of on paper. It’s a much easier option for most people to log into their insurance account to view their policy document for example, than to raid through a stack of paperwork at home.

Digital files can be located on the go as well and of course the benefits of not printing paper are more eco-friendly. So if someone suggests sending you a bill or document, check with them first to see if you can access it online instead.

I hope these tips on how to organise your paperwork have been helpful for you.

Do you have any tips you can share on decluttering?

Want to do things the Marie Kondo way?

Buy the book here in Australia, here in the US and here in the UK.

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This post was in collaboration with City Safes.

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