I deal with every bill or anything else that needs attention immediately, then immediately file anything from that that needs to be filed. At least the paper never has a chance to pile up.

Ditto Trish. OHIO is my mantra for paper. "Only handle it once." That means, I don't open the mail and then put it in to-do piles. Wedding invitation? I RSVP as soon as I open it, etc.

I minimize paper by going paperless, taking notes in Notepad on my computer, and I also practice OHIO.

I clean it off when I'm done using it every day, too.

I keep storage boxes nearby (black ones from Ikea and smaller white paperboard ones from the dollar store) that sit on the desk shelf and hold all the odds and ends.

e.g. one has cheques, cards, and passports. one has iPods and USB keys. one has the envelopes we use for giving to our church. one has calculators and staplers.

The rest of these tips sound great. I've done #1 but the rest have escaped me.

I don't. LOL

For me, inboxes are clutter-holes. I opt out.

I love the OHIO mantra and will start using it now, too.

^^ What happens when you get correspondence that requires you to telephone the sender?

My filing cabinet is next to my desk and there's pretty much nothing I need to keep that doesn't fit into the catagories I've chosen. I put anything that comes into my study in it immediately.

Also, there's a bin under my desk. We also have a paper shredder.

Paper shredders FTW. It's so satisfying and you don't have to empty the basket as often as you do with full sheets of paper in regular trash bins.
not that my desk is an example of a clutter free environment.

I'm a stickler about keeping desks clean. I actually just bought some slick Liberty of London organizers that fit perfectly in our super-shallow bookcases!! I tell my husband I don't care if his stuff isn't organized- but it better be IN the organizers!

http://www.cozylittlecave.com/2010/05/liberty-of-london-organizers.html

I throw everything away. Home, work, doesn't matter. It's either massively important or it's garbage.

Open Drawer.
Sweep stuff inside.
Close Drawer.

Done!
;-)

bepsf I love it

I have a big farm table across the room and let the crap pile up there. My desk on the other hand is totally spotless. Good to have a clear field of vision. My back is to the farm table so I hardly have to look at it.

Blurg. I'm with bepsf.

I get inordinate amounts of mail. Okay, probably not, but it seems like I get SO MUCH MAIL. Plus I have two little kids. So I get the mail, open the one or two things that seems really relevant, and then go chase after the kid carrying an uncapped Sharpie. I come back to the mail, and unplug the shredder before anyone loses a finger. Then I get distracted putting all of the Sharpies higher than 6 feet.

The rest of my house stays fairly clean. I just can't get on top of the paper.

I subscribe to the ReverendBrown method of cleaning. It keeps not just my desk, but my whole apartment neat & tidy. Toss, toss, toss.

I bought this desk:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=19099&catalog=filter&menuCatalog=room&menuSubcategory=213146

(The Basis Desk from Room and Board)

It is a nice big-but-shallow-enough-for-my-tiny-apartment tabletop which has gorgeous wood that I can't bear to cover up with tons of papers and other stuff. PLUS its big secret is that there is a whole tabletop-sized drawer/workspace that pulls out. I can have my messy tabletop of papers and books in there, pull things out as I use them on the clean top, and put them back when I move on to the next thing. It's perfect! I've also put my laptop in there and have only a monitor on my desk, with wireless keyboard and mouse. When I'm not using my computer (and when I shouldn't be..) I just stow the keyboard and mouse in the desk, push the monitor to the corner, and again have a big, beautiful surface for work. My desk is in a bay window, so all of the pencil cups and index cards and paperclips and things are on a windowsill in front of me, within reach but not cluttering my workspace. Everything else (files, stationery) go in two cloth-covered boxes stacked on each other that I put on a rolling plant stand from IKEA. It's a makeshift file cart, but it was a lot cheaper than a real one and it works well for now.

The key is the desk—it was a big splurge, but probably the best thing I have ever purchased. I love it. It keeps everything neat and clean without having to be a really neat and clean person. And having a beautiful workspace makes me thrilled to put in 60 hour weeks doing what I love!

@enmnm: When I get any mail that requires a phone call, which isn't much, I make the phone call right away if I can. If I don't get an answer, or if I can't call right away, the paper in question gets tucked into the planner that resides in my purse, and I add a reminder to that planner to take care of it the next day. I empty all the done items from my planner when I get home and file or shred as necessary.

Oops--I forogt to mention: A lot of the doing of the paper items in my purse happens while I'm cooling my heels waiting at bus stops. It gives me something to do and helps me not seethe when the bus is running late.

What is all this mail that everyone gets? Maybe it's just because I am a younger (25yrs old) person, but I get mail that doesn't immediately go into the recycle bin about once a week. I do all of my bills online (and strongly recommend everyone else do the same, it's so much easier and I've never had a problem), invitations and letters from friends all come over facebook or email, and what else is there? I'm honestly curious, please tell me!

Anyway, my advice is do your bills online and tell them to stop sending the paper versions. I keep a little sticky note with a list of the bills due, amount, and date on my desktop so I know I haven't forgotten about anything. I also keep track of my bank accounts and credit cards on a daily basis with Mint.com. I find it pretty useful. Then bank statements can go directly into a file unopened, because I've seen it all before.

Only the basics and only things that I touch multiple times a day are allowed to be on my desk; other things are consigned to drawers. It's amazing how much clutter can be banished just by putting your foot down!

On my desk: keyboard, mouse, waterbottle/coffeecup, phone, post-it cube. There are two black pens, one red pen, and a pencil in my pencil-cup. Scissors, tape, stapler, etc. that I don't touch daily live in drawers.

However, I do like to see pretty things: a framed 8x10 of Ray Eames, a postcard from an art exhibit I was in, etc.

I also try to keep a very strict palette: gray, black, and white, plus pops of bright orange (my behance action book, the ubiquitous keep calm poster) and pale green (tissue box, art show postcard).

I find that considering the presentation of my desk in an aesthetic way makes me keep things pretty.

Rather than an inbox, I use a copyholder (it's like a clipboard that stands up on its own) as an active system. All my current-project reference is placed there until the project is complete and I can file or toss its paperwork.

@PhoebeArt: First, not everything arrives electronically. Second, I have almost all my bills on auto-pay on-line, but not everything is a regular bill, and a lot of what I get isn’t even an exchange of money.

Here’s a sampling of the mail and other non-junk paper that’s passed by my desk in the last few weeks: Two wedding invitations, coupons that were included in a delivery box with clothing I’d ordered on-line, several medical bills, a copy of the updated privacy policy from my doctor, a replacement credit card and included info, a newsletter and my grade report from my university, my graded term paper (got a 100%!!), an employee benefits form requiring a signature, a reimbursement check from my health insurance company for an overpayment (which I’d paid electronically), the 2010 Census questionnaire, raffle tickets for an event at my church, envelopes for giving to church, a pool pass registration form that needs a signature and that was slipped under my door by my apartment management folks, the slip left by my apartment maintenance folks telling me that they fixed my leaky shower and how to reach them in case the fix didn’t work, a handwritten letter from a friend (to which e-mail will never compare), etc.

Oh, and I'm 29, so age isn't necessarily a factor.

Folders for each project. When I'm not working on that project, folder is closed.

At the end of the day, everything goes in my drawers or in an file box on my desk. No matter how late I'm working, the desk is decluttered at the end of the day.

This is great to read. I have issues with this stuff. I think it's just the sheer AMOUNT of stuff I get in the mail that makes me do a mental freak-out and hide it all somewhere.

Inbox. I like that Idea.

I actually got rid of my desk. That way "stuff" HAS to be dealt with immediately.

These are are all basic, but so powerful. Just mastering ONE of these tips will work wonders. When going at it alone, people think they have to try a million new methods and then get stuck. I like the simplicity of these. They may sound obvious, but they work! Nice article.

My very best advice:

I got rid of my desk. Instead, I have a couple of smallish boxes in my closet that hold office supplies. My printer/scanner is also in the closet.

As a desk, I use the dining room table. I plunk my laptop on it to get to work and, if I need to, I retrieve the office supply boxes.

Next to my chair, I keep a basket, which holds all work I need to address. I take things out of the basket and work on them, then put everything in the trash. When I'm done, I put my laptop away (and the office supplies, if applicable), and voila: no mess. Ever. No mess ever.

The few things that come as mail through the front door are put on the landing strip and stay there until I deal with them, either the same day or the next.

Envelopes are immediately moved to the recycling bin, whereas the letter/bill goes into my "The Eternal Flood of Very Important Papers" paper organizer, which holds a short-term filing system. I've chosen to keep neither waste basket nor paper recycling basket in the office corner.

Bills are paid once weekly, usually on Sundays, during my staying-organized session (meals for the new week are planned, computer scanned with ClamXav, etc.) and thereafter either archived or thrown out, as are the letters and occasional catalogues.

This is loosely based on the Getting Things Done method and works well for me.

I'm saving for a scanner so that the pile of papers waiting to be archived can be converted from tree to bits. This was a huge revelation and now I can't wait until I get to chuck all the space-filling junk out - necessary to document somehow but not necessarily as papers. Same goes for all those saved paper clips of great ideas and what not.

I work at home and I'm terrible with scraps of paper...any little thing I think of, any phone call, any abstract thought or idea, any MUST DO item gets recorded on the nearest available paper surface. Its truly chaos.

I appreciate all the great ideas here, and I've tried many of them, but I keep falling back into to the same cluttered hell-hole.

I envision myself as an organized and efficient person...perhaps all your good suggestions will have an effect!

(btw...my new computer arrives today, and I need to do something about this clutter for that reason alone...so I'd better stop reading AT and get going or it'll be triple chaos!!! LOL)