Fall is here, and along with cooler temps and football games our schedules seem to fill up with activities. Take advantage of this new season to get organized and clutter free! Start by reducing the amount of paper that enters your home and office. Paper clutter comes in many forms such as mail,  newspapers, magazines and flyers.

Mail is probably the biggest contributor to paper clutter,but you can tackle it by sorting through it everyday. The task does not need to be daunting, simply sort the bills from the junk and place any catalogs or magazines in a container. Throw away the junk mail, making sure to shred or tear thoroughly any credit card applications or other items that may put your identity in danger. Then open the bills and file them in a centralized location such as your office in the ‘to do’ file, so you will know to pay them. It only takes a few short minutes a day and if done daily you will not have to deal with a huge stack of mail to sort after a few weeks.

Invest in a simple filing cabinet or folder and then separate files by frequency of use using three simple categories: current, reference and archive. The current files will contain things that are used on a regular basis such as bills and ‘to do’ items. The reference file can contain items that you will only need occasionally such as health insurance policies and contact information such as addresses and phone numbers. Lastly, the archive folder will contain information that is needed long terms such as tax information, receipts and legal documents.

Consider utilizing your computer as a storage source as well. Instead of printing emails and articles create a folder on your hard drive and store them there. The files will be easily accessible and since they are not on paper, they wont get lost or thrown away accidently!
These are just a few pointers to help get you inspired to get organized and reduce clutter. We all have busy lives, but with a few changes and a couple minutes a day, you will see the benefit that comes with being organized and having a clutter free environment.