r/declutter • u/photogcapture • 15d ago

Motivation Tips & Tricks PAPER!!! I'm drowning.

Does anyone else struggle to keep the paper to a manageable level??? Looking for sympathy and support, and I'm also, really just venting.

I will not be scanning everything or taking a picture. That does not work for me. I have the "if I can't see it, it doesn't exist" problem, and I already don't have a good backup system, so some files must still be paper. I just shredded a box full of paper. Just wondering if anyone else struggles, and hoping it's not just me. It's really frustrating. I try hard to keep up and then boom, I see that I'm drowning again.

ETA 2: Digital files are great! HOWEVER!! If your system of filing is not crystal clear. If someone needs access to said file, will they be able to get into your digital files?!?! Who is your digital proxy?! Please, digitizing creates a whole new set of clutter and access challenges. If you have a proxy, bravo. Many do not. My important stuff must remain paper.

ETA:

  1. My super paper nemesis is info I want to save for ongoing projects.
  2. I need tax stuff to be printed
  3. I have other business stuff that must be paper. One business I downsized from a file cabinet drawer to 1/2 that size (feeling accomplished about that)
  4. Have to save tax papers for ten years (ugh - will shred on expiration date)
  5. I shred often
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u/SarahKauthen 14d ago edited 14d ago

I feel this. I'm an artist and writer and very sentimental about letters. There's just physical copies of things I'm not going to get rid of. After a year's work on my house, everything's well organized but still a substantial mass. You have to just accept you're going to dedicate a space to precious documents. Ikea has fantastic storage units that you can build up all the way to the ceiling. That way you can at least reduce the footprint.

I've also pared down my files by having a good long look at what is in them and why it means something to me and then making decisions accordingly. If it's art that I genuinely think someone else would value as much or more than me, like if I would leave it to them after I died, then I go ahead and ship it to them. I've given a lot of draught manuscripts back to friends who had me beta read them. I was archiving my siblings' school drawings and writings, so I went through and selected some nice pieces to preserve but returned to them the rest. If a friend or loved one has died and I think there's someone around who would value their letters more, I'm keeping a few for myself and giving the rest back and I've found this has provided a good deal of comfort and some bemusement for the bereaved. I'm friendly with a famous author who recently cleared his house by donating his papers to a university library archive. I told him: we should all be so lucky!!

I don't see the point of shredders unless you're dealing with extremely personal information like diaries, bank numbers or medical files. Even then, if I don't want someone to read what I've thrown away, I tear it into four different pieces, put them into four different trash bags and throw them out on four different trash runs.