Use This Super Easy Method to Declutter Paper Fast

I’ve worked with many clients on paper organizing, and I use this same simple method every single time. I use this same method to declutter my own papers fast, too.

At the beginning of every year, I take a little bit of time to declutter paper in my filing cabinet. It’s good to start out the year with a clean cabinet and start tracking down all the papers I’ll need to do my taxes.

Some background on that last statement: my papers are organized in the cabinet, so it makes decluttering paper quick and painless. We’ll talk about a simple filing system next week.

When I need to declutter paper fast, I use this quick, simple 3-pile method.

The Fast 3-Pile Decluttering Method

With this simple but effective method, you’ll sort your papers into keep, shred, and recycle piles.

Pile 1: Keep

The keep pile is anything that can’t be easily replaced or that you need for reference. This would be things like tax documents (including receipts if you need them for taxes), medical records, account information, the final pay stub of each year, insurance policies, etc. Basically anything you can’t track down by using an online account or making a phone call.

If you’re not sure what you should keep, check out this post that tells you which papers belong in your long-term files.

Pile 2: Shred

All the papers you can track down or no longer need, with any personal information or account numbers need to be shredded. A shredder is one of the best investments you can make when it comes to paper organization and security. Costco usually sells them on rebate during January, but you can also find plenty online.

I recommend using a crosscut shredder like this one I use. I’ve had it for about 4 years now and use it consistently.

If you’re decluttering and have a huge pile to shred, you can take your paper to a local paper shredding company or a store like Staples.

Not sure if you should shred that paper? This post will tell you which papers you can easily get rid of.

Pile 3: Recycle

Any papers that don’t have personal information or account information can be recycled. For example, receipts you used cash for don’t need to be shredded.

Going through my cabinet, I don’t often have a lot of papers to recycle. Most of them need to be shredded. Any time I can, though, I try to give my hard-working shredder a break.

You can find out how you can reduce the number of papers you shred and recycle in this post.

How to Use the 3-Pile Decluttering Method

The easiest way I do this method without getting things too crazy is to go through one file or pile at a time. As I work on each pile, the method in action looks like this:

1. Anything that I’m keeping goes back into the file (or I make a folder if the one I’m using has seen better days).
2. The shred papers go into a pile so I can review them one more time before shredding them.
3. I throw anything that can be recycled immediately in a garbage bag.
4. Then I start all over again with the next file.

Try this super easy method to declutter paper. Use the three piles: keep, shred, and recycle.

To help you decide what to keep, download this FREE Paper Organizing Cheatsheet.