Today we're talking about a small area, but an important one... paperwork and mail! Have you ever received a reminder? Or misplaced the invitation to your birthday party or the information letter from school? Here are my top tips and tricks:
- Think about where exactly the mail should end up or have its temporary "home" when it comes into the house. In the kitchen? In the living room? Or in the entrance area? It should be a fixed place.
- In this place there is ideally a storage for the mail. (Letter rack, napkin rack, A4 box...). However, this place is only intended for short-term storage.
- Check the mail daily, preferably at a fixed time! For example, as soon as you get home or if you work from home after lunch... whatever works best for you in your daily routine.
- For the important documents like bills, bank statements, health insurance receipts etc. you get two compartments or A4 boxes. I call one box a to-do box for the bills I still have to pay or for other paperwork I still have to do. The second one I call a filing tray. This means I only have to file the papers in the folder. Make an appointment in the agenda at least once a month so that you don't forget to pay the bills and are always "up to date".
- For papers such as invitations, timetables, events, I recommend creating a separate area, e.g. a pinboard or magnetic board...
- I recommend throwing unnecessary paper into the waste paper bin as soon as possible. Waste paper also needs its own storage facility.
- If you never read advertising brochures and the like anyway, I would put a "Stop Advertising" sticker on them or cancel or return the brochure so that it doesn't arrive in your house in future.
