Prompt Card Example from Declutter Deck®: Excess Paper
Set your timer for 60 minutes and take a before photo.
How to Declutter Paper — Magazines, Coupons, and Brochures
Since going through my hair products, I've become more aware of how scattered things are within my home. I found a bottle of shampoo under the front seat of my car — it must have rolled there from the back seat, leaking into the Target bag still wrapped around it. I had to toss the bag and the bottle right into the trash. When you start to clean out your things, you'll have little ticklers that go off in the back of your head: I know I just bought that. If you are more aware of what you own and how much of it you have, things tend not to go missing as quickly or as often.
This time, we are on the hunt for magazines. Anything that isn't current needs to be tossed. If you do want to keep something from an earlier edition, pull out the page, put it in your pending box or file it, and discard the rest. The same is true of unused coupons. And brochures. Brochures just take up mind space. If you picked up a product brochure and want to start a project because of it, either get your project into the planning stages or let it go. If you need the brochure for reference, put the phone number in your phone. Most likely, anything you want to know is online. The same is true for appliance manuals and things of that nature.
Step 1: Take Everything Out and Make the Pile
Like we did with the hair care product card, it is time to find everything you own. Magazines can be everywhere — under the bed, on your bedside table, in a drawer or armoire, on a table in the living room. Grab them all and put them in a pile.
Next, look for coupons. Some may be stuck to your refrigerator, many in a drawer that contains the same one in weekly iterations, and still others in the back seat of your car. I worked with one woman who kept all her coupons in a basket in her car. When we cleaned out her car together, I asked about the basket. She told me it was for coupons she used every time she went to Bed, Bath and Beyond — famous for the number of coupons they distribute. They have since filed for bankruptcy and all the coupons are worthless.
Editing the woman's basket was almost a non-negotiable for her. She treasured that red basket. Inside it were the same coupons, over and over, with expiration dates going back five years. Did she really use the coupon basket, or was it something she told herself she did? I think the latter is true. Inside the basket, though, I did find a few valuable things — a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant with no expiration date, worth $25, and her car registration. Because she tended to put paper things from the mail into that basket, she had accidentally put her car registration and tags in there, too. In all, we discarded eighty percent of what was in it. Things were neither current nor relevant — some businesses had closed after Covid.
It's important to regularly sort through your coupons and toss them. It's just clutter. The neighborhood pizza company issues a new coupon every week. If you think you're having pizza this week, save one. Not twenty. The problem with coupons is that they encourage you to spend more, not less, because you think you're getting a deal. They encourage shopping. While we are trying to reduce and organize, we don't need to keep buying more. Use up what you have instead of buying more of the same. Purchase products one at a time, and be proactive and mindful about what you bring in. Just because you get a coupon doesn't mean you have to use it.
Step 2: Group Your Excess Paper
Group all like items together. This shouldn't be hard since typically one establishment repeatedly sends out the same coupon in some variation. Keep one coupon. Just one.
Step 3: Edit
Keep only what is current and actually useful. If you think you might need last month's article from a magazine, pull out the page and put it in your pending box. The pending box will need to be addressed regularly — if something sits there for more than a month, it's not really pending, it's clutter. The same is true for brochures.
Step 4: Set Up a System and Sort Regularly
Establish a place to put your magazines and actually read them. Having magazines just for the purpose of having magazines is clutter. One woman I know kept a basket of magazines by her kitchen door — she added to it regularly, it overflowed, and all the ones at the bottom were crushed. The basket had become so heavy it was difficult to move when one of her dog's toys went behind it. This isn't a system. This is just a pile of heavy magazines that no one reads stuck in a basket. To get enjoyment from a magazine, you need to look through it, read what interests you, absorb the information, and then let it go. There will be another one coming.
A small coupon box might work for you — maybe. Most likely, coupons don't serve a purpose except to entice you to spend money. Really think about that the next time you walk out the door with one in hand.
Once you have put everything back, you're finished. Adjust as necessary and take your excess paper to either the recycle bin or the shredder. Take an after photo. Then you're done for the day.
(Instructions provided by professional organizers at The Uncluttered Life, Inc.)
About Life Hack Decks® and Declutter Deck®
Declutter Deck® is a deck of 52 prompt cards that make it easy to get and stay organized at home — one focused task at a time. Pull a card, set a timer, and go. Each prompt is sized to be completable in a single session, so you always know exactly how to declutter paper, clear a shelf, or tackle a drawer without the overwhelm of doing it all at once.
Our other Life Hack Decks® include:
Date Deck® to help you and a partner stop doing the same old thing and enjoy more intentional time together.
Dorm Deck® to send along to school with your college student — full of practical reminders for life away from home.
New Mama Deck® helps new mothers ease into the transition of parenthood, reduce isolation, and manage the stress that comes with having a newborn.
If paper clutter is a symptom of a bigger decision fatigue problem, our guide to reducing decision fatigue is a good place to start before you pull your next card.
