Do you have paper clutter or stuff clutter?

Getting Organized:
In your Home and Homeschool 
 

Dear Friends,
Most of you have issues with clutter in the form of paper, stuff, or clothes. Paper is a problem for many people because paper comes into our homes on a regular basis.
If you have stacks of papers, you need to realize that you don’t need 80% of it. The problem is sorting it down to the 20% you do need. Having a filing system in place will help you take care of the papers you need to keep. If they are important enough to keep, they are important enough for a filing system.
Set up some basic files based on your tax return. Most of the papers you need to keep are related to your tax return. A small percentage of the papers you need to keep are for legal matters or homeschool. When you have your files set up, you have a place to file the papers you need to keep.
Next, you need to shred papers that you don’t need that have identifying information on them. You might need to set up a box to put papers to shred and spend 5 to 10 minutes a day using a paper shredder.
If you have piles of paper, start with one small stack. Deal with each piece of paper as you go through the stack. You have three choices — file, trash, or shred. Resist the urge to keep putting a paper back in the stack. If you sort papers into stacks, only do a small amount at a time and deal with those stacks. Don’t restack them to deal with them again later.
The ladies I have talked to over the past two years who have issues with paper have something in common. They keep putting papers back into the system to make a decision later. Meanwhile, their piles of paper continue to grow.
Some of you have papers that have literally been an albatross around your neck for years. You need to let go of these papers. It will take consistency. I talk to ladies who have overcome their paper clutter monster, and I know you can do it, too!
If you are dealing with too much stuff, get some black trash bags. Use them to bag up things to give away. Use them for stuff you need to throw away. You need to be ruthless in getting rid of the clutter that is stealing your joy.
Clothes clutter in your home robs you of your joy and your time. When you have too many clothes, you spend a lot of time managing them. Your kids do not do a good job with their laundry and putting it away when they have too many clothes. You also struggle with putting your own clothes away when you have too many clothes.
Start today with purging clothes while you are doing laundry. Toss the worn out clothes. Put the things that are too small in a bag to donate. By using black trash bags, your kids cannot see what you are throwing out or giving away. My kids will hold onto clothes well past their usefulness. I have had to teach them to let go of clothes that are worn out or two small.
You can keep a few sentimental clothes for your children, but you do not have to hold onto everything single piece of clothing. The same goes for your closet. You can let go of the clothes that don’t fit you well.
This week, we get to pick an extra area to declutter. Do you need to declutter paper, stuff, or clothes?
Your Zone Mission today is to shine your tub and shower. Declutter in 1 other area. If you have a lot of paper clutter, work on it for 15 minutes.
Your Home Blessing for today is to dust and vacuum.
My menu plan for Tuesday is sloppy joes and tater tots.
Have a great day!

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About Tami

Tami Fox is a homeschool mom of 6, who in age from 26 to 11. She and her husband have homeschooled for 17 years and have graduated three of their children from their homeschool. They are currently homeschooling 3 boys who are in grades 11, 9, and 6. They use hands-on learning and unit studies to ignite the fire of learning in their children. Tami is a homeschool author and conference speaker. You can contact her by email at Tami@TamiFox.com. Buy her book, Giving Your Children Wings at https://tamifox.net/giving-your-children-wings/.

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