I have never met someone who struggles with clutter who doesn’t have paperwork clutter.

It’s an ‘old world’ problem because the younger generation are predominately digital, yet digital clutter is the modern version of paperwork clutter. The trouble for those of us of a certain age and maturity (!), is that we have both digital AND paperwork clutter to deal with.

I think my love of physical paperwork started as a child. I would visit my dad in his office and thought how clever, successful, and important he must be to have all these piles of paperwork on his desk. He would then have his personal assistant bring him more very important paperwork, some of which he needed to sign. He would go to meetings clutching handfuls of the stuff, and with a briefcase presumably full of more important paperwork (or was it sandwiches?!).

As I grew up, I equated lots of physical paperwork with being organised, intelligent, important, and successful. I would spend hours organising and colour coding my filing system, printing labels, putting things in either alphabetical order or chronological order.

When I started Clutter Clearing, I loved creating forms, files, and documents to make it feel official and professional. When I helped my husband set up his business in 2005 by managing his admin, office, and marketing, it was a great excuse for more paperwork, files and systems. Then we were forced to make the shift to digital ten years ago when we couldn’t afford all the ‘stuff’ – the paper, the ink cartridges etc. Now we don’t have a file or a filing cabinet in sight – and I would never go back.

You know your Paperwork Clutter is out of control when…

1. You’ve got a pile of magazines to read that go back years and which you’ve kept because you think they may have interesting articles in them, even though you had no idea what’s in them.
2. You’ve got a pile of papers at the front door, in the lounge, on the table, in the kitchen….. lots of piles of paperwork, everywhere!
3. If you were told you’re being wisked away for a weekend and the plane was leaving in 2 hours, you’d have to ask for another flight or day because you don’t know where your passport is.
4. You don’t take things back that are under waranty when they are faulty because you would never be able to find the receipt quickly or easily.
5. You don’t know – to the nearest £/$5, how much your regular household bills are, or what date they are taken e.g. gas, electric, water, council / local authority tax, insurance, car insurance, phone etc.
6. You always deal with things at the last minute in a panic, which means you don’t always get the best deal or as many choices as you would if you read the paperwork e.g. insurance renewal, holidays, 0% credit card / loan percentage offers expiring.
7. You save paperwork because it ‘might’ come in useful in the future, but when that time does come (which it rarely does), you can’t find the piece of paper that you though might be useful, which means you might as well have just let it go.

You can clear your clutter fast, or you can clear your clutter forever, but you can’t clear your clutter forever, fast.

To find out how Clare can help you clear your clutter Forever, without the need for an expensive home visit, click here now: https://www.clutterclearing.net/clares-help-centre/