Do you have boxes, folders, and bins of all sorts of sentimental papers?  I bet you do! This is its own project!  After you have organized all of your actionable and reference paper, this is the third big project I want to address.

Sentimental papers can include photos, brochures from vacations, memorabilia, event programs, letters, kids art projects, and more.

Sentimental papers and memorabilia can be a hard thing to sort through.  Our memories connect us to events and feelings.  In no way would I ever suggest you get rid of something that is important to you.  You need to figure out the best way to store and keep your memories.  As you sort through them, you may find things that are no longer important.  The goal is to keep the things that are meaningful to us.  Imagine if you needed to downsize, what could you take with you?   What good are memories if you can't enjoy them if they are stored in a box under the stairs?  Think about why you are keeping them and come up with the best storage solution for you.

If you have kids, you may have all kinds of kids art and school projects as well as anything else they may have created.  Do you keep the brochures from vacations, printed programs from events, letters from your great Aunt Bertha?  Not to mention, all. the. photos.

Tips for photos:

• eliminate duplicates, blurry, people you don't know, places you can't remember
• if you don't want some, gift them to people who might enjoy them
• create albums or photo boxes to store them

Kids papers:

• you don't have to keep everything! (I have six kids, they don't want much when they are older)
• Keep a few samples writing, math, artwork, report cards from each grade
• take photos of the artwork, and create photo books to remember (you will still have the same "feeling" if you look at the original or photos)
• ask your kids what they want to keep, you may be surprised at what they are willing to part with
• kids artwork binder  (check out this binder here, and email me if you are interested in  getting one)

Vacation, letters, programs, etc.

• photo album or scrapbook
• shadow box 
• online photo book
• give items to people who may enjoy them

Sentimental papers and memorabilia can be a hard thing to sort through.  Our memories connect us to events and feelings.  In no way would I ever suggest you get rid of something that is important to you.  You need to figure out the best way to store and keep your memories.  As you sort through them, you may find things that are no longer important.  The goal is to keep the things that are meaningful to us.  Imagine if you needed to downsize, what could you take with you?   What good are memories if you can't enjoy them if they are stored in a box under the stairs?  Think about why you are keeping them and come up with the best storage solution for you.

Enjoy your walk down memory lane!I'll be back tomorrow to talk about what's next!  

Grab a friend and gather up your paper. Now, it's time to take some action!

Part 5 in a 5 part series

How much paper do you have?  File cabinets, boxes, bins, folders, bags, etc?  Do you know what to do with all of your paper?  There are three kinds of paper that most of us have.  

• actionable
• reference
• sentimental

Actionable paper refers to paper that has an action attached to it.  This could be making an appointment, responding to an invitation, paying bills, planning a vacation, reimbursements, ordering information, prescription refills, coupons, etc.

Reference paper refers to paper that you need to keep, but you don't need to access on a daily basis.  Some examples of this are mortgage, insurance, taxes, birth & death certificates, warranties, receipts for large purchases, financial documents.

Sentimental papers can include photos, brochures from vacations, memorabilia, event programs, letters, kids art projects, and more.

We can get so overwhelmed with paper that we don't know what to do with it.  It piles up on the kitchen counter, desk, baskets, drawers, etc.  The thought of going through all of the paper can be overwhelming.   We can become paralyzed just thinking about what to do.  If this is how you feel, you aren't alone.  A lot of people want to get their paper organized and don't know how to start.

I want to encourage you that you can do it!  You can take a step on getting your paper organized.  And, the first step is:  Start!   How do I start, where do I start, what in the world is the first thing?

Begin with gathering all of your papers,and begin with a sort.  You have one decision to make:  keep or toss.   Once all the paper is sorted, get rid of the toss (recycle or shred) and then you have only what you want and need and then can begin to organize what is left. 

This first part can take a lot of time, but once you have eliminated the paper that you don't need, you may be left with a much more manageable pile.  Now, it's time to organize the rest!
I'll be back tomorrow to talk about what to do with the actionable paper!  

Tell me, what's your biggest paper struggle?

Please share with your friends who can use some help with their paper

Let's Do This Together!

Part 1 of a 5 part series