Paper Pile Giveaway
Congrats to the winner of Lysa TerKeurst’s book Made to Crave. She is: Kristina; timestamp 11:51 pm on January 5th. Send your home address to me at [email protected] right away!
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Paper.
It piles.
It perturbs.
It is a problem!
Is there any aspect of trying to maintain a clean home that is more unnerving??
Sure the kitchen may get messy.
So what!!
We can always clean it up again, wiping and scrubbing until the counter is clean, the dishes are done and the pots and pans back in their rightful place.
If we want to keep it that way for a while, we need only to eat a meal or two out of have paper actually be our friend (in the form of plates on which to dine!!)
But with paper it is a whole different ballgame.
While we may be able to spend an afternoon sorting, purging and pitching our piles of paper leaving only the needed ones in our abode, it is only a temporary fix. No sooner have we tossed our piles into the trash (or recycle bin) than a whole new batch enters our home.
They come at us from all directions.
The newspaper arrives.
The mail gets delivered.
The kids return home from school or an extra-curricular activity.
Because we aren’t always sure what to do with this stuff, we end up placing it neatly in a pile.
Oh, come on! Do neat piles actually exist? I’m not sure I ever seen one.
Okay, maybe I’ve seen a few, but they didn’t stay neat for long. As soon as someone was in need of a paper they thought might be hiding in said pile, they rifled through it and left it a complete mess.
And what do the neat piles do to us women?
They shout, “Failure, failure, failure!! Why look at you mom! You can’t even make a decision. You don’t know where to put us so you just choose any horizontal surface within a three foot radius and plop us down. Incompetent woman! Can’t you even take care of the paper in your home, for crying out loud!!”
Okay, so maybe I’ve never actually had a pile talk to me like an apple tree on the way to Oz, but I have had that exact line of thought run through my brain.
Piles make me feel defeated. They remind me that I was not on top of the ballgame.
I didn’t have a plan for those papers, so there they sit, a stack of unmade decisions I put off until another time.
They are the culmination of the “for now”s in my life.
You know, “I’ll set this mail here, for now. I’ll put these papers on the counter for now. I really don’t have time to think about what to do with these clothes, shoes, toys, store items. Etc… I’ll just lay them here for now.
Gals, the phrase for now is derailing our organizational train!
Well, since January is a time for all things resolution-y, I’m sure many of you have made a goal that has to do with getting more organized around your place.
Maybe with your time.
Or with your cleaning & clutter.
Or your grocery shopping & meal planning.
Perhaps even with your paper piles!
Here’s a little giveaway to help boost your moral. It includes:
~A periwinkle (one of my favorite colors!) three-ring binder.
~A set of whimsical tab dividers for the binder.
~A sturdy vinyl folder with many inside pockets for organizing fliers & such.
~ A set of colorful push pins.
~A set of matching jumbo paper clips.
~A set of push clips for a bulletin board that hold coupons & such right where you can see them.
~A pocket 2011 calendar and matching notepad.
~Some totally fun, swirly-patterned, comfy-grip mechanical pencils. ( I always do my calendar in pencil since things may change & a I HATE a messy looking calendar!)
~An undated desk-size, week-at-a-glance planner pad to map out your days.
~Finally, a personalized copy of my book The Complete Guide to Getting & Staying Organized.
To enter the giveaway you must leave a comment on this post sometime between now & Monday morning at 7:00 am when the winner will be chosen and announced.
Either…..
Tell us what aspect of paper causes you the most trouble….
or
Give us a solution for any aspect of paper problems.
Now, if time is tight or you are simply drowning in paper at the moment and as a result your brain won’t work, simply say, “I’m in!” Drawing is random. :-)
I’ll try to hop on over the weekend and share a few of my paper tips with you too. (NOTE: I have done this in the fourth page of the comments giving directions for how to assemble a Brain in a Binder that will house your papers. Click on the comments & then scroll down to see :-))
Now…get tackling those piles girlfriends!!!!
Pile-busting Blessings,
I made a small cute tickler file with hanging folders for the counter. It’s cut and compact and customizeable! Label files with categories that work for you: bills, to file, to read, take action, hubby’s name…possibilities are endless. The trick is to actually put papers in the file when they arrive to avoid the piles!
Our papers from work that come home are the worst. I work with animals and my husband is in law enforcement so we are constantly having to certify and get tested and they all give you paper that you have to keep up with.
I am so in and was nodding me head the whole time I read this post. I think you and are the same woman or either you have been in my kitchen which is where my “for now” piles always happen – but lately just to get out of the way “for now” I have been hiding things in drawers…YIKES – can you TELL I need help! :)
I’m in!
When I come in from work the first thing I do is go through the mail as I stand at the trash. All junk goes right into the trash. I have the most trouble with papers received from insurance companies, mutual fund statements, etc., trying to figure out what to save and what to keep.
I guess this probably sounds morbid, but my goal for 2011 is to make an organized file and list of our personal records, accounts, etc., so that if needed these things can be located easly by whoever is having to administer our will. Not that I plan on leaving anytime soon! :)
Hi Karen~
I struggle with paper piles too. One thing that has helped the appearance of the pile–sort of– is a set of clear file boxes-one for each kid. I put their names on them with coloful pens. Then when I take time to sort, I can put their papers that I don’t need to keep in their file boxes and when it gets full, they take it to their room and sort it themselves (with a little help sometimes). They each have a large (14×18) envelope in their room designated for that year’s papers. Once that gets full, they have to purge from there. Sometimes I feel like I am just shuffling the paper around from room to room, but it does give me the opportunity to start teaching them how to decide to save or throw papers. My second grader is pretty good at it now. Thanks for your always encouraging blog and I look forward to meeting you on the MTC train next week!!
Blessings,
Heather
I am sooo in! I have several piles, but can never find it when I need it! The binder is an awesome idea!
God Bless,
natalie
Piles of paper all over the house is a HUGE problem for me! One solution I use is to keep a paper bag for newspaper recycling next to the chair I sit in when I read. That way, as soon as I’m done with a section of the paper, it immediately goes into the bag. My husband thinks it’s a bit unsightly (although it’s in a corner, semi-hidden behind a side table), but if it’s not right there the papers would end up scattered all over the living room.
I have the hardest time knowing what to do with school papers and mail that I’m not ready to deal with that minute, so can’t file. Reminders, upcoming events, something to check up on, etc. My big kitchen counter is a catch all and I can’t break this terrible cycle! If I manage to get it cleared, it’s cluttered again within a couple of days.
I hate / love those “ideas to try later” papers…..have tried filing….have tried boxes….but those are the piles that I can’t seem to get away from!
You have described me so well. Piles of paper everywhere. It drives me crazy. But after working all day, coming home & taking care of kids, the last thing I want to do is wade through the papers. I have a kindergartner this year and she brings home TONS of workpages every day. I want to scream!! I could really use some organizational help. Thank you.
My solution is to move. Dad was a preacher, so moved a lot when I was growing up, married a man in the military, so more moving, but this retirement thing is a challenge (have only moved three times in the last 16 years). Each time we downsize, it helps.
I tend to keep everything in notebooks and that helps with the organization process.
I’m quick to throw away! Causes problems sometimes…..
Bills!!!! Wish I could toss those too!!! I’m in!!
Love this post!!! This is so me. I have piles all over my dresser and on my scrapbook table downstairs. I’m considering homeschooling in the fall so I want to try and get all of this organized before then.
I have no solutions. I need solutions! I’m so in!
I might need it. . . how do I know what to keep or not to keep?!
This is absolutely my biggest problem! I was on my knees sorting through a bin of stuff this morning looking for something I absolutely had to have! And, yes, it all makes me feel like a total failure! I am totally in! I want the piles of paper to go away!
Oh, this post really resonates with me! I’m good about keeping receipts, bills and medical paperwork organized. But when it comes to odd things I can’t take care of right away, well, they pile up on the end of the kitchen counter.
I’m a writer, so in addition to the piles on the kitchen counter, I have piles on and around my desk on the floor. It’s maddening and I need to make a better effort to get it under control. So…I’m in! :o)
I have worked hard at clearing my piles. I am not sure if there is one thing that has helped other than just doing it…it’s amazing how the act of doing it and not procrastinating, not whining about it, not drowning it but actually doing it makes a difference!
I’m in!
I had decided that this weekend I was going to start the long and painful process of doing something with my not-so-neat little piles. When the piles get too big then I put them in a shopping bag. I have too many of those now. I can never find receipts or important papers when I need them and what should be merely going to a folder or file and getting something ends up being a paper melt down which begins the trail of thoughts that you mentioned earlier. H E L P!!!!!!!!!
I am a sentimental momma…so I have a hard time throwing anything away. A solution for me was to put a box/Rubbermaid container in the back of each of my children’s closets. I ask them what they absolutely want to keep from their school treasures…special papers, artwork, etc. I then place them in the box, they are out of the way, and don’t end up in the trash (or on my counters). With the extra special artwork, I place tape on the back and display them on my upper kitchen cabinet doors. They will only be young for such a short time…this way their work is proudly displayed, there is room for everyone’s, and I have a heart-touching mommy kitchen that isn’t cluttered.
Ugh! This is probably the worst area of clutter for me!! And now my husband has started working from home so he took over the office I was using to stash all of the paper! The piles call to me (they really do) from every room of my house because I don’t have a desk or area to sit down and deal with it. I’m in!!
im so bogged down in piles i cant think straight! Im in!!!!!!