De-cluttering

ROSIE BARRON IS THE TIDY COO

A Professional Organiser, who works with clients to help them Declutter and Organise their homes and live a more relaxed life. A Platinum KonMari Consultant and member of APDO (the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers), Rosie lives in Aberdeenshire with her husband, 4 Home Educated children, 8 ponies, 5 dogs, 3 cats, 2 bunnies, chickens, ducks and fish which all Spark Joy.

Images: Laura Walter Photography

Some types of paper that you might find to make decisions on are: Reference Papers - Will you refer to them again? Particularly for courses you go on.

Manuals - Do you still have the original item? Do you still need the paper manual, or would you look for the information online?

So far in this series, we’ve covered a general overview of getting organised, clothing, books, and now we are on to Paperwork. I love doing paperwork with my clients because I can see what a huge difference it makes to their lives. It’s often a massive mental barrier and once it’s cleared, the relief is amazing.

For Papers, you will need to find yourself a flat, clear space to work in. A table that you can spread out on to is ideal, but I often end up on the floor in my client’s homes. Gather papers from all over your home and bring them into one space. In this initial sort through, we are making 4 piles. Recycling, Shredding, Filing and Pending. Guarantees - Check whether they are still in date and whether you have the necessary receipt to go with them. You will need a file for this with the manuals filed in order that they expire. Then every time you come to file a new one, you can check to see whether or not there are any that you can discard.

Household Bills - If you’ve paid them, do you need them any longer?

Magazine clippings and recipes - Are truly going to use them, or are they just one more thing cluttering your brain?

Once you have discarded what you can (remembering that it is always easier to organise when you have fewer things), it is time to File.

I make 4 broad files for this: Frequent Use. Anything that needs to be referred

to frequently and that you will need easy access to refer to. It might include reference papers such as recipes, or paperwork relating to pets, or manuals. A small selection of easy to reach folders is needed for this.

Important Documents. Birth & Marriage certificates for example. I have these in a grab-and-go folder for us to grab in case of a quick evacuation, a left over from when we lived overseas. It is worth investing in a fire proof folder.

Deep archive. A subset of important documents and is anything that needs to be kept indefinitely, but does not need frequent or easy access, such as building warrants. This should be kept in the main body of the house where the temperature and humidity is stable, but it can be kept out of the way, perhaps somewhere like the top of a cupboard. Again, a fireproof folder is useful for this.

Limited time. Anything that you need to keep, but for only a set length of time (such as tax documentation).

For this limited time paperwork, put an entire tax year together – everything that might be needed for referral, and then file it with the date of destruction on it. Usually 7 years in the UK, although I am not an accountant or financial adviser, so do take advice on this if needed. Then when that 7 years is up, the entire folder can just be pulled out and destroyed without needing to check it again. Finally, deal with your pending papers. Take a look at your pending pile make a note of the next action that you need to take for it. Do any task that takes less than 2 minutes. Tasks that take longer than two minutes, plan time in your diary when you will do it, or have it on your list of things that need to be done when you next have a moment.

Deal with Future papers. Your papers are now organised, your bills are up to date and you’re feeling (rightly) pretty pleased with yourself. How are you going to keep it that way? First, move as much as you can online.

Unsubscribe from catalogues, and open your post over the recycling (I often collect my post from the postman, and the junk mail goes straight into my recycling bin, it doesn’t even enter the house). Keep a pair of shredding scissors by the recycling to deal with any information that you don’t want landing in the bin. Open all of your mail every day and see what needs to be acted upon and what needs to be filed. Put a system near where the mail comes in so that you have Action, Pending and File tray and then put aside time every week to take a few minutes to go through it.

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