Piles of personalized mail and paperwork cover our desks, kitchen tables, family rooms and home offices. Short of building bigger piles, is there a way to manage all this? Yes! You simply need to establish a workable solution and strictly follow the process.
The accompanying infographic, Organizing Your Personal Documents, presents an easy, common-sense method of handling your personal paperwork. It helps you categorize your personal documents by type and action. Some documents should be kept, some shredded and others filed away securely. There are suggestions for creating a filing system, including what types of paperwork to file and how to file, label and store your documents.
Why does this matter? Well, some paperwork you just do not need to keep while others you must keep safe and easily accessible. For example, don’t clutter your home with old bills, expired coupons and the like. But you may need to present your tax returns, social security card, auto title and more on various occasions, such as for a tax audit, new job and car sale, and these must be saved.
Handling your paperwork as you receive it not only helps to keep your home free from excess papers, it also ensures that you hang onto your important personal documents, keep them in a designated place and have them ready to use when you need them. Keep the infographic handy — and file it under O for Organization!
