Mail Filing System
Now that you have set up your mail station (if you haven’t yet, see last week’s challenge), you’ll want to create a filing system to deal with the mail you receive. Dealing with it simply means examining each piece of mail and incoming paperwork and deciding where to keep them until you are able and ready to take necessary action.
As mentioned during our mail station setup, you should discard all junk mail and outer envelopes immediately. You should also shred all unwanted credit card applications and any other unwanted paperwork containing personal information. Create categories for everything you’re keeping. Every family will have unique categories, but some examples are Bills to be Paid, Papers to be Filed, Papers to be Delegated (someone else is responsible for action), Follow-up Required, Reading Materials, and so on. The best way to identify what categories you need is to look at each piece of paperwork and ask yourself “what is the next step required for this paper?” That next step is a category. Once you’ve identified your categories, you should determine how you want to file the papers. Filing papers by category will help reduce the number of piles and unprocessed papers around your home.
Your family’s mail filing system should be based on your storage preferences, bill payment schedule, and space considerations. Some people like vertical hanging files, which can be mounted to the wall or the side of a desk, while others prefer a tabletop vertical file organizer, file box, or baskets. All of these options are available at local office shops, big box retailers, and online.
Once your mail filing system is set up, and you get in the habit of filing papers every time you open mail, you will be able to manage all incoming mail and paperwork without feeling overwhelmed by piles and missed deadlines!
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