Fences, tetherball poles, and antennas are all things that work better standing up. But what else is more efficient upright? Paper- yes, paper. Watch this video to shape up your sheets and transform your piles into smiles.
Transcript:
Hi. I’m Lorie Marrero and today’s Clutter Video Tip is about paper, specifically something I learned awhile back – this great little saying “Vertical is Visible, Horizontal is Hidden.” So what does that mean? Horizontal stacks of paper. It’s much harder to find things when they sit around in stacks. What you want to do is try to go vertical with your paper. So obviously a file folder is vertical, that’s why we talk about filing things all the time. But it’s not quite as visible being in a drawer. And some people don’t do well with that. So we want to talk about other ways to go vertical with your paper and get that visibility back.
First of all, we have a simple accordion folder. This is fantastic for particularly a business, for bills and statements and receipts for the year. This one is labeled January thru December already, and it is the variety that is open and does not have a closing flap over the top. So keeping this on an open shelf, being able to just grab it down, throw something in the pocket, and put it right back on the shelf, is so handy and so easy to find things. So I also like doing the accounting filing this way because of at the end of the year you just tie a bow around it and you’re done. You can buy a whole new accordion folder for the new year and start over. So that’s one way.
We also have this wonderful product, magazine files. These come in all kinds of colors and materials. There are wonderful wicker, rattan styles that are a little more homey and stylish. And this is just a plastic one, but you can put whatever you want in here. You can put magazines if you’d like, or other papers that you need to have access to more frequently. You can hide the papers by putting it on the shelf with this side out, and that way it’s a little bit more streamlined on the shelf. Or if you really want to have that visibility you can put it on the shelf this way and still be able to see exactly what’s in the magazine holder.
Another way to go vertical with your papers is binders. Now, you may not have thought of it this way, but when you have frequently used information, it’s fantastic to use a binder for that because you pull it off the shelf where it is vertical, you can see it on the spine, the title, and then you can flip through it just like a book. So this is the quick reference binder that we use for our business. It’s got graphic design information on the front, and frequently used numbers and other things on the inside. You can do this same concept for your family. And we talk about this a lot, a family binder. We actually have one available in our store that is pre-made for you. (Update August, 2016: This item is no longer available, please contact us at service@clutterdiet.com for updated information.) You can also customize it with your own tabs. But it contains things like contact information and health information, home repairs, anything you might need for insurance and legal information. Maybe things for babysitters that they need to know about your kids. And all of that is put together in one central location for your family so that even if you’re not home, they know exactly where to go to find what they need. Again, this is available in our store at clutterdiet.com/store.
See you next time, and may you always be happy and grateful for having more than enough.
You may have been searching for better paper storage, or functional ways to access frequently used papers.
I’m more of a fan for just getting rid of the paper. Though I do use file drawers for articles I’ve ripped out of magazines, tax stuff, etc.
I work with the idea that if I don’t read a magazine within a week of getting it, I don’t need it and I consider canceling the subscription.
Whatever works for you I guess!