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Post by lostchild on Jul 15, 2015 21:36:17 GMT -5
Yesterday I spent two hours cleaning and sorting papers on my desk to get ready for the new school year. I also read twenty-one pages of my new assignment. Today I was at desk but spent time trying to fix computer browser...finally had to call tech support and they were still working on it when I had to take daughter to cheerleading class.
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Post by flotsam on Jul 16, 2015 15:31:15 GMT -5
Worked 50 minutes on papers for the job and tossed a bit.
Decided to get rid of 4 small books.
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Post by flotsam on Jul 17, 2015 15:13:34 GMT -5
Worked 50 minutes on papers for the job and tossed a bit.
Decided to get rid of another book.
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Post by lostchild on Jul 17, 2015 17:36:18 GMT -5
Did paperwork to enroll grandson for school and it was all organized to where the teacher said she'd never seen anyone so organized. I keep all his papers in a binder and a folder. The binder is all medical and educational and foster parenting documents are in folder. Binder is too small. Will probably transfer so it all fits in one!
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Post by Arid on Jul 18, 2015 14:18:45 GMT -5
OK; here's my "report:"
Good news: I finished my "year" of dealing with junk mail *every*single*day!"
Bad news: It took me longer than a year to do it!!
Here's what I mean:
I started out all "gung-ho," as we so often do here. However, somewhere along the line, I "fell off the wagon." I went from dealing with as many as 15 pieces of "junk mail" per day to occasionally doing none at all.
So, here's what I did: I began "processing" 5 pieces of junk mail per day. (By the way, "processing," in my case, means cutting out for shredding any identifying information--name, address, etc., keeping any worthwhile return stickers, free note pads, all those nickels and dimes, etc. I also cut out and throw away the plasticine "windows" of envelopes and the parts of envelopes that have adhesive because I've read that those "gunk up" paper recycling plants.)
I began recording on a calendar a "tick mark" for EACH item.
So, even though my "anniversary date" was May 25th, it took me until about July 12th to cycle around completely.
This means that **at least** 365 pieces of "junk mail" have left my house!! More than likely, there have been 400 pieces that have "left the building."
That may not be much, in the overall scheme of things, but it still is *MUCH* better than my chucking them all into a box or bag "to be dealt with later," as I've so often done in the past.
Congratulations to all of you who are making such great inroads into your "Paper Mountains!"
I intend to keep up with my "5-a day" (or its equivalent) junk mail routine.
Arid
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Post by papermoon on Jul 18, 2015 16:34:14 GMT -5
Arid ~ with your excellent diligence! But I'm confused... is this all *old* junk mail? How to you deal with the current stuff? For me, the great take-away from participating in this thread is that now I process all my mail every day, for over a year so far. I was making my life a hell when I ignored the mail. but I got off junk-mail lists, and stopped a lot of other unnecessary stuff. Nowadays, I keep track on my calendar... last week, for example, my mailbox was empty on 4 out of 7 days, nothing came in the mail those days. How heavenly!
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Post by Arid on Jul 18, 2015 17:24:53 GMT -5
I'm dealing with *both* "old" junk mail and incoming junk mail. If, by some miracle(!), I don't have 5 pieces of junk mail arrive on a given day, I add "old" pieces to reach that number. I'm doing 5 pieces of "old" junk mail on Sundays. It's like emptying the ocean with a teaspoon!! !! Still, it's better than I had been doing. Arid
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Post by CaringFriend on Jul 18, 2015 22:44:22 GMT -5
Hi! I wanted to share a Challenge Chart I found on the internet that really helped me a lot to change my eating habits and to give up soda. Perhaps they will help someone in this mail thread be successful. It can be found at OneGoodThingByJillee on this page Daily & Monthly Challenge Charts. There are 2 charts: one is a 365 day chart you can use to check off, the other is a 52 week chart. Scroll to the bottom of that page and each can be downloaded. I would suggest downloading them now, even if you think you don't need them right now. I have bookmarked sites and Pins of things that I knew I had to have because they were just what I was looking for, only to go back later and discover the site was no longer available! I started mine in May and to make it easy to use, in the May row I counted and wrote 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 above the corresponding circles because there are no dates on them. Then put a checkmark inside the circle if I succeeded that day. When I got to June, then July, I did the same thing. For contrast, on the day or 2 that I was not successful, I used a red pen, drew a circle around the colored circle, and put a red X in it. I have 4 charts going right now (sounds like a lot, but they are easy to maintain. My charts are: no soda, no baked goods or candy, a planned evening snack, and one charting my weight loss. For the weight loss chart, I put the dates (5, 10, 15, etc) inside the circles and printed my weight above the circle with an arrow pointing down to the particular date. I have tried losing weight in the past and would write down the weight every time I weighed myself. It was depressing to see the numbers fluctuating when I was trying so hard and I would give up. When using the challenge chart to record weight loss, I only write down the weight if it is lower than the last time. Looking at the steady decline is very rewarding and encouraging. That one is not really a challenge, but its purpose is record-keeping. At the top I wrote "I commit to losing tenths of pounds." I hope I'm not jinxing myself when I say that I lost 12 pounds in 2 months.....slow and steady, by tenths of pounds. Many posters here have been very successful without these charts, but maybe someone could find greater success using one. Good luck! ~ CF ~
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Post by flotsam on Jul 19, 2015 1:08:11 GMT -5
Thank you again, CaringFriend! Great job, Arid! Did you try to cut down on the incoming junk mail? Worked 50 minutes on papers for the job and tossed a bit. Decided to get rid of another book, filed mail and tossed about 50 personal papers. I'm not sure about my mail: the postmen were on strike for about 4 weeks, and I got only 3 letters since then. Do I really get that little mail, or is there still some on a pile in a post office?
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Post by CaringFriend on Jul 19, 2015 1:31:07 GMT -5
For me, the great take-away from participating in this thread is that now I process all my mail every day, for over a year so far. I was making my life a hell when I ignored the mail. but I got off junk-mail lists, and stopped a lot of other unnecessary stuff. I agree with papermoon in getting off junk-mail lists. Each time I moved, it took 2 months or less of daily diligence, but after that, I received next to nothing in junk mail. I opened each piece of junk mail and used the form that had my name/address pre-printed and in the section where they wanted me to order or buy insurance, I printed in red ink "Please remove my name and address from your mailing list." Then I used their enclosed postage-paid envelope and returned my message to them. Companies really do not want to spend any more $ than they have to, so they are not going to keep you on their list if they know you are not interested. Quicker yet, if they have an email address, send an email listing your name and address and ask that they remove you from their snail mail list. If they happen to then use your email address to start contacting you, simply "Unsubscribe". In a few cases with no postage-paid envelope or email address I even called with my request. The credit card company that I used was sending me blank checks in the mail almost every 2 weeks! I contacted them and requested that they stop sending me those checks and they did. I also did not renew the magazines and catalogs in which I had lost interest. Re: catalogs.....now with the internet, you can find the same content online that you did in a catalog. If you are on Pinterest, simply make a board "Catalogs" and Pin the catalog/company website to that board. Also, I still do receive only 2 catalogs and when the new one arrives, I immediately trash the old one! These days my junk mail consists of "Resident" and is usually a postcard type item. With my name not on it, it goes into the trash without a second thought. I probably get less junk mail in a month than I used to get in just one day!
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Post by RoadRunner on Jul 19, 2015 9:12:46 GMT -5
Worked 15 mins on paper clutter yesterday. Handled mail (5 day backlog from being out of town), sorted through all the paper clutter in kitchen desk cubbies, began organizing receipts for taxes and filed.
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Post by flotsam on Jul 19, 2015 14:16:00 GMT -5
Decided to get rid of another book and tossed about 120 personal papers.
BTW: I use "toss" quite liberally. In most cases it means papers go into the recycle can, not into the garbage can. Books get donated as long as they are good enough.
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Post by Diane on Jul 19, 2015 14:33:47 GMT -5
Yesterday I pulled a bin out of the overflowing closet I'm trying to clean out. I dove in and it was stuffed full of papers. I couldn't remember right away where they came from. Then when I realized that nothing in there dated later than 2011, I remembered. When I sold my roll top desk several years ago, I dumped everything in it into boxes and bins. And here was one of them. SMH!
I am not afraid to deal with papers, but I'm impossibly slow at it. If a word is printed on a piece of paper, I feel compelled to look at it and evaluate it. There are papers everywhere!
Anyway, I spent a few hours yesterday sorting and shredding and recycling and filing from that bin, and I'm about to give it a few more hours.
I'm glad to talk with others who are in the battle!
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Post by flotsam on Jul 20, 2015 15:31:16 GMT -5
Working several hours on papers means very good perseverance. Well done, Diane! Worked 50 minutes on papers for the job and tossed a bit.
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Post by flotsam on Jul 21, 2015 14:52:02 GMT -5
Worked 50 minutes on papers for the job, tossed a lot.
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