Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Organizing with Kids: Papers

Are you inundated with paper? Despite all of our technological advances, phones, watches, tablets, and the like, I have yet to meet someone who does not struggle with this at home.

When you add children to the mix, paper becomes an even bigger issue. It's one thing to throw away junk mail, it's quite another when your sweet child comes home with his latest drawing or craft.

We can't hug all the cats, and we can't save all the papers. But, we can get a better system in place for handling it all and figuring out where it goes.

The challenge with paper is that it comes in daily and doesn't take a break. If you are getting massive pileups, you may not have a problem with getting rid of papers, you might just be backlogged because you don't have a good system in place to deal with the daily influx.

Here are some ideas that can help you get a handle on all those papers.

  • Reduce your mail. 
Set up online accounts and e-billing whenever you can to reduce paper clutter. Sort mail as soon as you get in. Just tossing all the junk mail and excess envelopes and pages will reduce your visual clutter and burden by half and keep important and time sensitive items from getting lost.


  • Identify a sorting spot. 
Typically the best spot is where you and your family go in and out daily. This could be in the kitchen, a hallway, a mudroom, a corner, a place near where you naturally tend to take off shoes, coats, put down keys, etc. This is the first line of defense, where your papers should go to be dealt with.


  • Keep a clipboard for any and all time sensitive material.

It's a fact that when you have kids your brain changes and you aren't able to focus. A clipboard is my solution to this problem. Anything that requires a response, like a kids party invitation, a bill, or a health form, should go here. This way you don't have to worry about losing it, and you have everything in one place when it comes time to sit down and pay bills. One clipboard in a designated place is a lot better than an unidentifiable pile.

  • Creatively display worthy kids art and projects in a designated area other than your sorting zone.
Consider displaying your kids favorite projects or artwork someplace else. This will make your more likely to put it up right away and get it out of the pile. You can get really creative with this, just make sure it will be something you will actually do in real life.


Hang a length of twine and clip papers with clothespins. Make a magnet board or a custom fabric board. Frame the standout pieces that you will want to keep for the longer term. Do something fun to recognize and celebrate creativity, that can be incorporated into your kids rooms or play areas.


  • Get one or two attractive organizers to act as a holding area. 
A holding area is the purgatory between the clipboard (immediate) and the unattractive office file box. It's for things that have already been opened and dealt with: paid bills, voided checks, whatever you need to hang on to and file eventually, but don't have time to do today or this week.


When the holding area gets full, and you have a little time, then you take the whole thing and file and organize it. I recommend something with a few compartments, but not too many. The idea is this is a temporary zone. Like the laundry bin, when it gets full, you need to address it.





The key to staying on top of papers, whether you have one child or eight, is to have a realistic system that works for you, your personality, and your home.

Make sure your system is simple enough for everyone to do, so everyone in the family can participate and keep the paper at bay.




2 comments:

  1. Great ideas and the mail always seems to multiply in our house, even when we try to stay organized. We also like to use a clipboard.

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