Can you believe it is Day 6 already.  Some of you are really going after it this one very unpleasurable part of our lives we call “Paper Clutter.”  Some of you are beginning to put a toe into this and test the paper.  The best way I can explain it is to approach it like when you have to take a bandage off.  You know you won’t like it but it has to be done.  Once you get going start out with just 5-15 minutes.

This is all going to go better if you own a shredder.  Get the best you can afford.  Otherwise you are throwing money away and don’t forget to oil it.  You know how paper dries out our hands, same goes for the shredder.

Today I have decided I will do at least 15 minutes of paper clutter.  I want to do more but the tomatoes to be harvested and the red peppers that need to be chopped up and put in the freezer are a higher form of priority because they are perishable.  The paper clutter game is getting easier each day I go.  Day 1 and 2 I was kind of dancing around it.  Day 3 and 4 were the hardest so far.

Day 3 I woke up and asked myself how bad do I want to be rid of this paper clutter?  I had been staring at this big box of cancelled checks that have been moved around in my house so many times I can’t even remember.  After all it was in a box with a black garbage over it and clearly labeled.  The problem was that it was a box of the past. Not just recent past like a couple years ago.  Some of the stuff in there was 27 years old!!!  It didn’t take up much space but it always seemed like I was moving it.  I didn’t realize it was weighing me down emotionally.  Cancelled checks are a journal of your life and if you are wanting to make changes, they must go or you will never be able to move on.  You, see I have been FLYing since 2005 but have dealt with paper clutter way before that because of my job as an outside salesperson where I dealt with all kinds of paper.

I realize I am getting close to the end of my journey of the very old paperwork and it has its own set of issues.  It wasn’t until last night that I realized I must write about the beginning because that is where most of you are in this journey:  The Beginning   So this is what this blog today is going to be about.  I am going to spend some time explaining it for you instead of doing another major declutter marathon today.  I want more to get involved in this game.  Rather than making this a very long blog, I am going to write another blog that explains how I did it so it has it’s very own blog that can be reviewed easily through my archives.  So give me a few moments and I will have that one written for you and I think you are going to like it.
Keep Working On The Paper Clutter and Keep FLYing!
Marilyn

Notice how I used label tabs and a sharpie pen and then date the last time I was in the box?

P.S.    Get Ready!  I am going to show you how I have waded through buckets and trash cans full of paper clutter in my next blog.  I am working to get it out to you tonight so that you may try this method that I came up with years before Flylady and have continued this way since I found Flylady.  Are you ready to be open to this?  Get your engines warmed up and once you learn how you can do this without tearing your home completely apart or fear of throwing something away that was important, I just know you will get as excited as I am to show this to you!