7 Paper Decluttering Tips For Mom Entrepreneurs

This is a guest post by Barbara Tako author of Clutter Clearing Choices: Clear Clutter, Organize Your Home & Reclaim Your Life. Clear clutter to clear your mind and your space to free up time and energy for your business. You can do this!  Now, to tell you the truth, I have struggled with clutter for ages. If anyone had looked in a crystal ball in my college days and predicted that I would become a clutter clearing motivational speaker and author, I would have laughed (my college roommates would have laughed too).I am not a natural organizer, and I wasn't born “tidy.” In fact, I wasn’t really interested in “tidy” or “organized.” I sometimes lost things. It often took too long to find things. I also liked to save things “just in case.” Do you remember the old television series “The Odd Couple?” Oscar was the slob-like messy roommate and Felix was the tidy three-piece-suit neat nick? Well, the best I often managed was to hide stuff when company came over, so people wouldn’t think I was a slob-like Oscar. I was creative. Does that sound a little bit like you?Years later, I got married and learned about my new mother-in-law. In a way, this is a mother-in-law story. Back in the 1960’s, my mother-in-law, who raised three boys, was nominated for Suburban Homemaker of the Year of St. Paul, Minnesota. Her home was described as “a model of neatness and comfort.” That's the truth! I quickly learned that because she had less clutter in her life than I did, she had time for what really mattered to her—her faith, family, friends, and life. I admired that, and I finally understood the benefits of Felix’s tidy behaviors. I didn’t want a magazine-cover "perfect" life: I wanted less clutter and more time and energy for my priorities.Here are some paper clutter tips I would like to share with fellow mompreneurs to free up time and energy for planning and running your businesses. 1. Any pile can become a file. Indeed, a pile is often just a new filing category that hasn't grown into a folder yet. Keep a supply of empty folders handy. Consider labeling folders in pencil. Our businesses change over time and so our folders change over time too. When piles start appearing, don't hesitate to give them a new folder.2. Create and use only one file folder for each category of information. If an item falls into two categories, put a reference note in one folder pointing to the item in the folder where you decide to file it.3. Try not to create multiple systems for the same category of paper. For example, think about your coupons. Sometimes we have them in our wallet, car, and desk drawer. That is actually three systems or places you need to look when you hunt for a coupon. Prevent this by storing "like items" all in one place.4. Form better habits: Spend just ten minutes per day straightening and filing. Paper clutter won't get out of hand and you will feel better. Staying on top of paperwork reduces mental and emotional clutter.5. Decide to decide. Paper clutter is often postponed decisions. Any way you can reward or motivate yourself for making those decisions now will help your clutter to shrink. Don't let postponed decisions drag you down. Still not ready to decide? Keep a small "active" folder for those things to keep your workspace organized.6. Make your paper organizing system fit your needs and style. Each of us is unique, so there really is no single "right way" to get organized. You can color-code, alphabetize, group by broad categories. Choose what fits your personality best.7. Feel guilty once. When paper piles start to grow, we feel bad. These piles make us feel bad every time we see them, sometimes several times per day. Feel guilty only one more time as you decide to decide or send the paper off to be recycled. Out of site is out of mind. You can free yourself up for more current important things.Paper clutter clearing isn’t rocket science. Better paper management is achievable. Over time, I began to help friends and ultimately to speak to groups to share my ideas. I wrote a simple living column for several years for the local hometown newspaper. The start of my writing business was a little unusual: The newspaper had put in an advertisement looking for a cooking columnist (I am not a great cook), and I responded with a sample article for a simple living column to help readers declutter, organize their homes, and simplify their lives. Lucky for me, the editor decided clutter clearing was as important as cooking.------------Clearing clutter is a win-win-win situation for each of us. When we clear clutter, we make our homes into relaxing and restoring spaces and free up time and energy for our priorities. We  donate our extras  to help our favorite charity and to help the recipients who may be experiencing tough economic times. Finally, when we donate, we are living green—we are living responsibly by not contributing to a landfill. In good times and in difficult times, we can make clutter clearing choices to improve our lives and the lives of the people around us.Barbara Tako has been a motivational clutter clearing and home organizing speaker and author since 1998. Her book Clutter Clearing Choices: Clear Clutter, Organize Your Home, & Reclaim Your Life (O Books, Jan., 2010) is available wherever books are sold. Sign up for her FREE monthly clutter clearing tips e-mail newsletter at www.clutterclearingchoices.com.