METCALF MOVING BLOG
Minimizing Paper Clutter Before a Move: Tips for Success
If you’re in the process of packing for an upcoming move, you’ve probably run into your fair share of paper clutter. From financial documents to junk mail, paper clutter tends to accumulate slowly over time, but those stacks of paper can create a significant headache when it comes time to pack for a move. The good news? There are a few simple steps you can take now to minimize paper clutter and start being more organized in your new place.
Invest in a Shredder or Service
As you go through your paper clutter, you’ll likely come across many documents you no longer need that you don’t want to throw away because they contain sensitive information. For this purpose, consider investing in a paper shredder to shred these documents and dispose of them securely. To avoid buying a shredder, you can rely on professional shredding services to get rid of sensitive documents properly. Some of these businesses will even come directly to your home and pick up boxes/bags of documents for you, so you don’t need to leave your house.
Digitize Documents, When Possible
When dealing with physical documents, you don’t want to get rid of but don’t necessarily need in paper form, look into digitizing them. A good way to digitize documents, photos, and other papers (like kids’ artwork) is to simply scan them and save them on a computer or external hard drive. This way, you’ll still have access to the digital copies if you need them—but you’ll be able to get rid of the physical clutter.
Set Yourself Up For Success
Even once you’ve eliminated most of your paper clutter, you’ll want to prevent more paper accumulation in your new place. There are plenty of ways to better organize and manage paper in your new home.
Most importantly? Set up a system for handling paper in your household. Many people find it helpful to have file folders or other organizers where everybody in your household can deposit paper (such as mail and school work) and organize it at the end of the day. From there, it takes just a few minutes each day to sort through these papers and eliminate anything you don’t need to keep.
You can also set yourself up for less clutter in your new home by going paperless whenever possible. This means signing up for paperless billing when you set up utilities at your new place. You might also add yourself to databases to avoid receiving junk mail. There are many effective ways to do this, and you can read more about them on the Federal Trade Commission website.
Take the Stress Out of Your Move
Dealing with paper clutter as you prepare for a move can be a headache, but with these decluttering tips, it doesn’t have to be. You can continue packing and preparing for your big moving day from there.
Looking for more help with your move? We can manage any size relocation, regardless of its scale. We appreciate the need for extra caution when transporting your belongings from one residence to another. Reach out today to request a moving quote!
