How to Organize Your Life #47: Paper Flow

November 5, 2013 By Rachel 3 Comments

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Updated Sep. 23, 2019. Originally published Nov. 5, 2013.

If you’re just stumbling across this, please click here for the other posts in the series.

Getting it Where it Needs to Go

Well, here we are at the end of the road. This is the last post in the Getting Organized series. (After this, I need to get organizing my “stuff”!) By now you have a system in place for keeping each category of information or paperwork. Now you need a system for making sure that as each new paper enters your home or life, it keeps moving through until it lands where it’s supposed to be, instead of piling up someplace.

I debated where in the scheme of things to put this post, because the paper flow is actually pretty fundamental to staying organized. I thought that maybe it should go near the beginning. But ultimately I decided that unless you’ve determined where the papers should land, you can’t really figure out what route they need to take to get there.

So what routes need to be in place to avoid ending up with “traffic jams” of paper in your home?

Figuring Out the Need(s)

One of the first things you need to do is figure out what types of papers you have coming into your life. If you’ve been following along with this series, though, you’ve already done that! (If not, use the links at the top or bottom of this post to get to the “index,” which will give you a good idea.)

Then you need to figure out where the papers are coming from. That is, what is the starting point for the influx of papers into the house? Is it mail? Stuff the kids bring home from school? Magazines from Grandma’s? Recipe sheets from the grocery store?

Of course, there is the paperwork you generate yourself to be considered, as well. Do you take notes when you’re on the telephone? How about when you read a book? Are you making kitchen plans or planning for holiday gifts?

STEP 1: Brainstorm all the ways paper enters your life on a regular basis, either by coming into your home from outside, or by your generating it yourself.

Now we get to the part where it varies from person to person. Your paper sources will be different from mine, your destinations will be different from mine, and your typical “traffic jam” locations and causes will be different from mine. So you kinda have to figure this out yourself, but I’ll give you some pointers.

One source at a time, think through the paper’s route. Let’s use the mail as an example, because pretty much everyone has mail. When the mail comes in, what might be in it? Bills, for starters. Where do we want the bills to end up? In the place we designated for bills, of course! So how are they going to get there? Where do they tend to get piled, and why? How can we avoid that (the piling) and ensure they flow smoothly through to the designated location?

If you need to, it’s okay to designate midpoints! Maybe the mail is getting piled in random places because it isn’t always convenient to put it where it needs to go right away. Well, then you can’t find it to get it where it needs to go. So you might need to designate a “mail drop” where it’s supposed to get piled until you’re ready to put it away. Then you can find it. But make sure you’ve built into the system a time/method for putting it away at some point.

So, for each category of paper in each paper source…

STEP 2: Think through the paper’s route and intentionally designate a course it should take, making sure to consider:

Where it originates
Where it should end up
Where it tends to “hang up”
If you need to create any new places, processes, or to-do list entries to help it along its way

And be sure to re-evaluate periodically to make sure it’s still working and adjust if/as necessary!

If you’re just stumbling across this, please click here for the other posts in the series.

About Rachel

I'm Rachel; this is my blog and, although you'll see a guest post appear from time to time, I'm the only one who writes here regularly. To learn more about me, visit the About Me page.

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Create a "Mobile Office" - Titus 2 Homemaker says:

April 5, 2015 at 11:45 pm

[…] the house. Since I’m not set up to work in each of those areas, I tend to leave a trail of papers (and stacks of books) in my wake. So I decided what I really needed was a “mobile […]

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Getting Organized: Introduction - Titus 2 Homemaker says:

November 20, 2017 at 9:35 pm

[…] Posts in this series: Getting Organized: Introduction (this post) Getting Organized 1: Calendar & Appointments Getting Organized 2: To -do Lists/Task Lists Getting Organized 3: Household Cleaning/Maintenance Tasks Getting Organized 4: Routines Getting Organized 4: Routines – continued — More About Laundry Day, Errand Day, & Kitchen Day — More About Cleaning Day, Office Day, & Garden/Yard Day Getting Organized 5: Projects Getting Organized 6: Goals Getting Organized 7: Recipes (part 1) Getting Organized 8: Recipes (part 2) Getting Organized 9: Menu Plans Getting Organized 10: Groceries Getting Organized 11: Food Prep Getting Organized 12: Family Info Getting Organized 13: Health Records Getting Organized 14: Important Documents Getting Organized 15: Home Inventory Getting Organized 16: Warranties Getting Organized 17: Places to Go Getting Organized 18: Random Ideas Getting Organized 19: Storage Getting Organized 20: Cards and Gifts Getting Organized 21: Holidays Getting Organized 22: Gift Lists Getting Organized 23: Vacation Plans Getting Organized 24: Address Book Getting Organized 25: Appliance Info Getting Organized 26: Automobile Maintenance Info Getting Organized 27: Mileage & Expenses Getting Organized 28: Budget Getting Organized 29: Bills & Taxes Getting Organized 30: Financial Goals Getting Organized 31: Debt Reduction Getting Organized 32: Investments (I know nothing about investments, so this post is on hold. If you can tell me what information/papers someone with investments would need to keep track of, I’d be grateful for the information!) Getting Organized 33: Passwords Getting Organized 34: Computer Info Getting Organized 35: Computer Files Getting Organized 36: Hobby Supplies Getting Organized 37: Photos & Negatives Getting Organized 38: Garden Plans Getting Organized 39: Prayer Getting Organized 40: Journaling Getting Organized 41: School Paperwork Getting Organized 42: Extracurricular Getting Organized 43: Home Business Getting Organized 44: Emergency Info Getting Organized 45: Emergency Plans Getting Organized 46: Miscellaneous Getting Organized 47: Paper Flow […]

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How to Organize Your Life: Introduction to the Series says:

July 19, 2022 at 12:44 pm

[…] Posts in this series: Getting Organized: Introduction (this post) Getting Organized 1: Calendar & Appointments Getting Organized 2: To -do Lists/Task Lists Getting Organized 3: Household Cleaning/Maintenance Tasks Getting Organized 4: Routines Getting Organized 4: Routines – continued — More About Laundry Day, Errand Day, & Kitchen Day — More About Cleaning Day, Office Day, & Garden/Yard Day Getting Organized 5: Projects Getting Organized 6: Goals Getting Organized 7: Recipes (part 1) Getting Organized 8: Recipes (part 2) Getting Organized 9: Meal Plans Getting Organized 10: Groceries Getting Organized 11: Food Prep Getting Organized 12: Family Member Info Getting Organized 13: Health Records Getting Organized 14: Important Documents Getting Organized 15: Home Inventory Getting Organized 16: Warranties & Instructions/Manuals Getting Organized 17: Want-to-Do Lists Getting Organized 18: Random Ideas Getting Organized 19: Storage Getting Organized 20: Cards and Gifts Getting Organized 21: Holiday Plans Getting Organized 22: Gift Lists Getting Organized 23: Vacation Plans Getting Organized 24: Address Book Getting Organized 25: Appliance Info Getting Organized 26: Automobile Maintenance Info Getting Organized 27: Mileage & Expenses Getting Organized 28: Budget Getting Organized 29: Bills & Taxes Getting Organized 30: Financial Goals Getting Organized 31: Debt Reduction Getting Organized 32: Investments (I know nothing about investments, so this post is on hold. If you can tell me what information/papers someone with investments would need to keep track of, I’d be grateful for the information!) Getting Organized 33: Passwords Getting Organized 34: Computer Info Getting Organized 35: Computer Files Getting Organized 36: Hobby Supplies Getting Organized 37: Photos & Negatives Getting Organized 38: Garden Plans Getting Organized 39: Prayer Getting Organized 40: Journaling Getting Organized 41: School Paperwork Getting Organized 42: Extracurricular Getting Organized 43: Home Business Getting Organized 44: Emergency Info Getting Organized 45: Emergency Plans Getting Organized 46: Miscellaneous Getting Organized 47: Paper Flow […]

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TITUS 2 HOMEMAKER

Getting it Where it Needs to Go

Figuring Out the Need(s)

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