This sorting system makes it super easy for your brain to make decisions about what to do with papers and other flat things.
Get boxes that you will use over and over again-labeled and ready:
Some will not be filled–once they are filled, close up and make a new box with that label
Sort the flat stuff into these categories:
*Act on immediately or soon: Bills due immediately, correspondence requiring fast response, money, checks, etc.
*Low Priority: magazines, old bills, old receipts, etc..some of this might be tax stuff, and you can sort it later
*keep/file: Papers you know for sure you need to keep (you can figure out a filing system later if you don’t have one)
*shred/process: Papers that have confidential information and need to be shredded, or the labels removed so you can recycle, or burn
*non-papers: This includes pictures with frames, office supplies, and any item that is flat but not a paper.
*recycle: catalogues, magazines, junk mail, misc. that you decide.
*memories: photos, old letters, things you can go through later and decide.
Do you have any other categories that are very large–like things relating to your business or something else
Now it will be much easier to sort these other boxes when you have the time.
Take each box and sort them into: keep, recycle, and decide later
