Managing Mail Clutter
Every business day, you bring handfuls of mail into your home. The mail makes demands on you bank account and on your time. If you don’t sort, manage, and discard the mail, it will also make demands on your sanity by cluttering up your workspace (usually the kitchen counter) and robbing you of your precious time.
So, how can you manage the deluge of incoming mail? First, discard the junk. When you bring the mail into the house, sit at your desk with your recycle bin and shredder close by. Sort through the mail, and immediately recycle all junk mail, catalogs you won’t use, and newspaper flyers for things you won’t buy. Don’t waste your time opening yet another credit card solicitation or thumbing through the mailbox shopper brochure. Anything addressed to “Occupant” should be tossed without a thought. Be sure to shred the credit card solicitations and mail that contains personal information.
The next task is to sort the remaining “useful” mail into the appropriate boxes or folders. If several members of your household receive mail, set up in-boxes for each person and place their mail into the appropriate box. Set up a box for bills that need to be paid and a box for pending items – items waiting for some further action from you or someone else.
What is the best way to make sure the bills get paid? One technique is to pay your bills immediately as they come in and not let them build up. Every day after the mail is sorted, go to your bill box and pay all bills in the box. Another approach to paying bills is to designate a day of the week to pay all the bills in your bill box. Put the bill paying date on your calendar so you won’t forget. After paying the bill, file the account statement annotated with the payment date in the appropriate file.
One of the most efficient ways to eliminate clutter and get bills paid on time is to set up electronic billing and automatic bill payment. Many companies provide their customers with paperless billing where you receive your bill by e-mail. You can arrange with the company for automatic payments from your bank account or to your credit card. You can also set up electronic bill payment through your bank or credit union where you write the electronic payment checks online and the bank transfers the payments for you. Some banks and credit unions will also let you set up automatic payments from your bank account. Automatic payments are convenient and efficient, but be sure you keep track the charges to ensure that they are correct. If you use electronic billing and need receipts for tax purposes, be sure the provider has the appropriate retention schedule.
Magazines subscriptions provide another opportunity for clutter. When you receive a new magazine issue, throw out the previous month’s edition. If there are recipes or articles you want to keep in the old edition, tear out those items and file them, then recycle the old magazine. If you find that you haven’t read the old editions and you keep receiving new editions, call the magazine and discontinue your subscription. The magazine may have wonderful information and you surely intended to read it when you subscribed, but with your busy life you no longer have the time for or interest in the magazine, so keep it from showing up at your house. If you really need to see a particular edition, go to the library.
Of course, the best way to cut down on the volume of mail is to stop the mail from being sent. To remove yourself from new credit card solicitations, contact the Consumer Data Industry at www.optoutprescreen.com. You can also register with the Direct Marketing Association’s Do Not Mail List at www.dmachoice.org to reduce the volume of advertising mail.
With a little thought and a little planning, your mail clutter can disappear; you can get your bills paid on time, and maintain a stress-free workspace.
