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Post by angela on Dec 11, 2014 17:54:07 GMT -5
papermoon I am so glad you were able to open that mail without fear and really look it in the eye so to speak. You are seeing the benefits of building up your bravery and action muscles. I love reading that this is working out for you so far.
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Post by angela on Dec 11, 2014 18:40:47 GMT -5
I haven't done much at my desk except a miniature bit of filing.
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Post by emeraldine on Dec 11, 2014 21:23:14 GMT -5
Greetings, everyone. I'm going to jump on this thread and stay on it, as paper clutter is the bane of my life and, lately, the chief ingredient of my recycling bin. I aim to fill that bin to the brim every week, and usually do, but lately my paper phobia has been extreme.
For a start, I hate collecting mail from my mailbox. Does anyone else feel this way? I so dislike fetching the mail that sometimes I do not do it for four weeks at a time. It must be a form of demand resistance. This week, I did collect it. Some of it had been rain-soaked and was so mouldy I could not read it, so had to throw it out immediately. And yes, there were overdue bills in the pile. I paid those right away, but still felt incompetent and, well, crappy.
As for all the unread newspapers ... My pantry's bottom shelf is full of them. Many go into the recycling bin, but I mourn the loss of all that information I will never read and absorb.
I've just spend about an hour dealing with papers and bills, thanks to your inspiring posts on this thread. Angela! You emptied A WHOLE STORAGE UNIT! That is immense. You must feel so exhilarated.
OK, I am going to maintain the momentum right now and head out to finish my weekly paper round deliveries. That will clear a pile of Christmas catalogues from my garage. (Yeah, yeah. The irony. Make more paper clutter for a few hundred other households.)
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Post by lostchild on Dec 11, 2014 22:00:07 GMT -5
Still making more paper with homework but getting it under control somewhat. I am bringing it down slowly.I didn't lose originals on desk in spite ofcats dancing on desk. Making progress in gathering up all of passwords and putting them in a notebook for reference.
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Post by Louie on Dec 12, 2014 2:03:40 GMT -5
welcome perfectionist and emeraldine! I have really fallen behind with everything this week, was not well and a lot of work stress, so I need to get back on track with my paper clutter fast! Heres my weekend paper 'to do' list: do filing post insurance papers put shredded, bagged papers in garbage shred more papers write letter and post write 2 christmas cards and post
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Post by jendela on Dec 12, 2014 5:36:36 GMT -5
Hello everyone - I am still dabbling with paper decluttering. I don't feel like I am making progress, just treading water... Paper backlogs are not getting any better, but I don't think they are getting worse. perfectionist - good work for being brave and tackling that scary pile of papers angela - any filing is good, and don't forget all the other issues you have been facing head on papermoon - WTG for facing up to your paper demons lostchild - so glad to hear that you keep making progress, despite having so many demands on your time nekomom - I would also like to get rid of some magazines - maybe we can work together? Louie - thanks again for starting this thread. So glad that you were able to achieve your initial goal. You give me hope that I might be able to do the same emeraldine - goodness, I am glad I am not the only one with a pile of unread newspapers - some of mine are still in the wrapping they were delivered in The situation has improved somewhat since we cancelled the Monday to Friday papers, but I have some newspapers (mainly the magazines/special interest supplements) dating back to late 2013. Not to mention all of the saved clippings and recipes. This week I have sorted and recycled roughly the same amount of newspaper that came into the house. I need to change the balance to more out than in.
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Post by cyn on Dec 12, 2014 10:55:41 GMT -5
I can't join this thread yet, because my paper mess is contained. At some point I'll participate, but not until the *really bad* issues are taken care of. I own a shredder, that was my first step. But emeraldine, I want to give you hugs, and encouragement, and let you know that I'm the same way: my mail is a thorn in my side! I have a cabinet in my hallway, and all my unopened mail lives in it. I've got a close idea of which drawers hold which year's worth. OMG, it's awful. At my last home, when I had just a mail slot in one of the big postal units, the post office would ofter remove all my mail and force me to collect from them, in a huge bundle. I used to get mad, and tell them to stop filling my slot with junk mail, then they'd have ample room...but of course, they get revenue from the junk, so they *have* to distribute it. Now with a mailbox, I toss the junk into the recycling box asap. But my mail is still sitting unopened. I've had credit cards expire, with new ones sitting in an envelope, unopened. I have to go through all those envelopes, when I need a particular bill or correspondence. Nobody except my Soos friends knows how loathe I am to dealing with my mail. I wonder why I do this?
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Post by Louie on Dec 12, 2014 11:55:58 GMT -5
hi cyn, I used to be the same with my mail, I would open most of it but not all and then it would just sit in piles and build up and I would miss payments, not be able to find bills and get bigger and bigger piles of paper building up. I think processing the mail has been a big issue for most of us paper clutterers. What we've discovered over the last year is that working on opening and dealing with the incoming mail each day, regardless of how big our backlog is has helped us make progress and stopped the backlog from growing bigger. It's good that you're getting rid of the junk mail at the post box, the less we bring inside the less we have to take out again. I think the reasons why we do it might vary, for me it is anxiety, quite irrational anxiety and others here have expressed the same anxiety about the mail and whats inside it. My anxiety about the mail is very very low compared to when I started I would feel quite sick physically at the thought of doing paperwork.if you read some of the earlier parts of the thread it might help, please feel free to post here whenever you want, any piece of paper we deal with is worth celebrating and talking about it helps us all. [/img]
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Post by angela on Dec 12, 2014 18:35:33 GMT -5
cyn and emeraldine I can relate to the mail issue. I do collect it from the box, but I will go for long stretches without opening. In general, I know what the bad stuff is and I don't know what to do to make the bad stuff go away so I hide from it. It is very primal for me. I often have anxiety attacks dealing with mail and the resultant paperwork tasks. It is the monster in the room for me. Having a place to do the tasks of opening and filing mail knocks some of the fear out for me, but not all. Really, there's no surprises to be had, just worse and worse consequences if I continue to not deal head on with the issues I've created. And I will be notified by mail of these consequences...
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Post by papermoon on Dec 12, 2014 20:43:03 GMT -5
As I go through my bags of old papers, I'm still coming across an ancient unopened envelope here or there. But I believe those days and fears are long gone. Here's what I do now...
My mail arrives in a locked box in my apartment lobby. I keep a letter opener in the box. As I head out each day for my walk, I check the box before I leave the building. I toss junk mail in the lobby recycle bin. If my address is on it, I tear off that bit to shred later and I toss the rest. I open all envelopes and toss the unnecessary pieces (such as inserts) in the recycle bin. I give the important stuff a quick read-through, then put it back in the box and go on out for my walk.
This works wonders for me because if there's something difficult in the box, I can walk off any anxiety that arises. Nowadays, walking the labyrinth brings me peace and clarity. By the time I get home, I've already begun to come to terms with what I must do.
And then there are the days when I check my box and it's empty, YAY! Or I open a dreaded envelope and it contains *good* news. At the very least, I greatly reduce the amount of paper clutter coming in my door. Also, there's something about opening the mail *outside* of my home that prevents the negative emotions from getting in my door.
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Post by Louie on Dec 12, 2014 21:41:13 GMT -5
if there's something difficult in the box, I can walk off any anxiety that arises. Nowadays, walking the labyrinth brings me peace and clarity. By the time I get home, I've already begun to come to terms with what I must do. walking the labrynth sounds lovely papermoon, I used to do this at a retreat centre years ago and it was so calmming. You sound like you've got a really good routine going that is working well. angela even a little bit of filing is good! well done emeraldine, I am fortunate that DH collects the mail each day and brings it home, when I thought about it though I realised that if he is away I don't collect it, I just let it wait till he gets back so maybe I would avoid it if I had to do it each day. my routine is: DH brings the mail in after work and puts it on the kitchen counter. I open everything straight away - envelopes and fliers go straight in the recycle bin, bills go on a clipboard till they are paid and then they get filed. Papers that need me to do something with them either get done straight away and put in an envelope which DH will post the following day, or they get put in a folder for me to do later - this is the part I have been a bit slack on lately. Catalogues I look at straight away and if I want something out of it I tear the page out and put it in my handbag so I can find it when I'm next at the shops. Stuff to be filed gets filed. I have taken myself off a lot of catalogue lists since I started here. I'd love to hear what other peoples routines are as well.
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Post by jendela on Dec 12, 2014 22:51:05 GMT -5
I am very lucky with mail as DH takes care of it, both collecting from our post box, processing it and paying bills. My personal mail is mainly catalogues, which go on my desk, and then get buried by other stuff, so whenever I do a clean up I will stumble across mail from months ago. Luckily, my mail is usually not very important, but I have lost new credit cards on my desk in this way. I have important financial papers mixed up with recipe cuttings, holiday souvenirs and other random stuff. I can barely get to my desk as it is surrounded by boxes filled with goodness knows what. I know that DH would appreciate it if I was more involved in our financial affairs.
papermoon, thank you for sharing your new strategy for dealing with the daily mail.
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Post by papermoon on Dec 15, 2014 2:41:36 GMT -5
Here's a tip I wanted to pass along if you have financial squalor cluttering up your head....
A couple of months ago I signed up to receive a daily email from my bank each morning with my current bank balance. Since doing this, I am always aware of how much money I have. This simple little thing has dispelled my fears about my account, and it keeps me mindful throughout the day. I haven't overdrawn my account since. I even play a game with myself each morning by guessing what the balance will be before I open that daily email, and my guess is almost always spot-on.
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Post by angela on Dec 16, 2014 1:08:41 GMT -5
Tonight I entered the day's receipts into Quicken then went into the receipt basket backlog and did a few from that pile. I also deposited checks today. Only 2 pieces of mail, bills for S. I think evening is an okay time for the putter-y things like receipt entering and filing but so far I haven't made any progress on actually doing the hard stuff in the evening. Well, I can't make the necessary phone calls! And it's kind of a weird thing, I have the one desk light now and there is one overhead light, but in the evening I don't want the overhead light on since I don't want to be seen from the road, even as a shape, and I don't want to work outside of the pool of light from the desk. Ah, it's okay, I'll just have to take some time in the day to keep working on the rest of the room and the file and pile sorting and phone calls.
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Post by lostchild on Dec 18, 2014 2:32:20 GMT -5
Shredded 5 evekopes with paid or duplicate bills.
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