10 Organization Tips to Manage Digital and Paper Clutter

(Edited and reposted from 1/16/17 blog post that accidentally got deleted)

I am a little behind on my new year/get organized post because I went and had a baby 2 weeks ago ;)
I wanted to share a quick list of things you can implement today to help organize the digital chaos and control the paper clutter in your life.

1)   Set up a Secondary Email Account

I have a separate email account for stores and online shopping.  This is the email address I give out at checkout and for online purchases.  Makes it super easy when out shopping to do a quick search for coupons and easy to locate tracking information as well as receipts you’ve opted to have emailed to you.

2)   Unsubscribe

Unsubscribe from any newsletters or email lists you no longer find beneficial.  If you find yourself constantly deleting without opening, unsubscribe.  I should also add read and delete emails every day.  A cluttered email inbox, especially if it is a push notification in your phone will likely induce stress.  I hide my email app on a secondary screen on my phone in case I get behind haha (My husband’s email has nearly 1,000 emails at any given time…. Yikes and no thanks)

3)   Subscribe to Unroll Me

Unroll Me is a free service that allows you to choose email senders you want rolled into a daily digest.  If you are having trouble committing to unsubscribing all together, this is for you.  You just quickly review the snapshot of the emails in 1 condensed email each day, then delete. https://unroll.me  


Daily Rollup from Unroll Me

4) Delete Text Messages
I don’t know about you, but having a lot of text threads stresses me out.  I save pictures to my camera roll and delete threads.  I just keep running messages with my husband and mother as they are the people I text with the most.

5) Chatbooks
My photos used to get stuck in my phone for way too long.  I would print 4x4 copies of my Instagram pictures and then try to scrapbook or fit into the sleeves of photo albums (total pain). You download the chatbooks app and then every 60 pictures make up a book.  You get to select which photos you want to exclude.  Your captions and the date is included on each page if you wish and the shipping is free! The best part is seeing people pick up our “Everyday Life” books and flip through them when visiting our home.  My 2-year-old who loves pictures and going through pictures in my phone enjoys brining us the books and telling us who everyone is. Photos can come from your camera roll, Facebook, etc. not just Instagram.  You can also set up for certain hashtags to filter to your book.  Especially nice if you want to do a book from just a vacation or of baby pictures of a child.  You literally set it up and forget about it.  I just occasionally open the app to make sure I have unchecked any photos I don't want in my next book.  It is really user friendly – you will not be disappointed.  Use my referral code and get your first book for free: http://invite.chatbooks.com/kaceykramer3fe. 




2 Volumes of Chatbooks

Example of page layout

6) Stop Junk Mail in its Tracks
You can sign up at https://dmachoice.thedma.org/ to reduce the amount of mail you are receiving.  Likely you receive mail from companies you have never bought from because you are part of a mailing list that the retailer or company has purchased.  To reduce the amount of credit card offers you receive go to https://www.optoutprescreen.com/.  It’s worth pointing out that criminals have been known to dig through the trash and apply for credit with your pre-approval code.  Always shred!

7) Address Mail Before It Enters Your Home
I sort all mail as I am walking it up the driveway.  Junk mail goes directly in the recycling bin, coupons in my coupon organizer, bills are opened and envelopes thrown away (as I pay all bills online), magazines go in a basket by my desk, invites and announcements go on our refrigerator.

8) Have an inbox for each member of your family                      

My husband has a letter tray on top of our refrigerator that he checks once a week for any of his mail. Obviously, our children our too small for mail, but I am a fan of a hanging organizer on the side of your refrigerator or in a home office with each family member’s name, so everyone knows where their paperwork is stored.  Also, great for permission slips, homework and more.

9) Set Up a File Box for Children’s Keepsakes

I shared this on my Facebook page awhile back. https://www.facebook.com/thenottooshabbymom/ and you can find lots of great ideas on Pinterest.  Both of my children have one of these file boxes from The Container Store (available at Staples as well) In this box there is a folder for each year where we can store cards, artwork, certificates, birthday party keepsakes and more.  I keep in each child’s closet for quick filing.  If your child worked really hard on something you can also store that artwork or school paper in an open bin throughout the year.  At the end choose the top 10 with your child to save in a binder or in the coordinating folder for the year.  3-D school projects take a picture of them.


Inspiration Pic for children's file storage
(Image from Pinterest, credit Harris Teeter)

10) Maintain, maintain, maintain
Don’t undo all your hard work by becoming lazy.  We converted our home office to a play room for our sons.  My desk is now in a corner of our living room, our small filing cabinet and shredder is in the basement.  It is easy to just take paperwork to the basement and start a pile, but it is best if I just file and shred each time I take stuff down there before it quickly becomes out of control.

I want to point out the hardest thing about organization is not allowing yourself to get overwhelmed. Make "baby steps" your mantra. Even if you are just taking a small step in the right direction it's an improvement!