Tips For Organising Paperwork
May 26, 20141. Use Trays to Organise Incoming Post
You can pick up office stationery very reasonably from discount shops so buy yourself one tray for each member of the household. Label them and put them somewhere visible and convenient. Make sure every item of incoming post gets allocated to one tray. If it's not addressed to a member your household then the chances are it's either been delivered in error or it's junk mail. If you suspect it's been delivered in error, write 'not at this address' and 'return to sender' clearly on the front of the envelope and post it in the postbox.
2. Join up to Mail Preference Services
Mail preference services are free to join and allow you to remove your name from mailing lists. This should trim down the amount of junk mail. Companies will try and get around this by sending out junk mail to 'the occupier' but this should be much easier to spot and can be quickly filed in your paper recycling bin.
3. Open Post
Sounds obvious but how many of us try and guess at the contents of an envelope without opening and just put it to one side to open later? Doing this will just cause papers to build up and putting off opening a letter could create more problems, especially if the letter is a bill. Don't assume that if you ignore it it will go away. Businesses usually have whole departments set up for collecting outstanding payments so, by ignoring bills you are risking more problems, such as incurring further costs, developing a poor credit rating or possible legal action. If you get a bill in the post that you are going to have difficulty paying, contact the company as soon as possible and speak to someone about payment options. Companies would much rather receive some payment, even if it is in instalments. Try and open post as soon as it arrives. If this is going to be hard set yourself a day in the week when you go through your post tray and open everything.
4. Invest in a Filing Cabinet or Concertina File
You can find small lockable filing boxes and concertina files in your local stationery shop or you can purchase them online from sites such as Amazon. Divide your file up into sections and file any paperwork that needs keeping in the relevant section. Examples of sections could include; banking, ID, health, loans and financial agreements, household, car, pets, employment, benefits, and so on.
5. Action Post, Date and File
If a letter requires some form of action write this on the front of the letter. When you complete the action put a line through the action and date it. Once you have completed any action required file the letter using your new filing system.
6. Shred Documents that Don't Require Filing
You can either shred things by hand or you can invest in a shredder. The reason for shredding documents you don't need is to make the document unreadable to any potential fraudsters. Pay special attention to names, addresses, bank account numbers, dates of birth or financial records. Identity theft is a real problem and more common than you might think. If you suspect you are the victim of identity theft then contact your local police station with any documents you may need to back up your concerns.
Posted by K Clark. Posted In : Managing Paperwork
I am experienced mental health worker with 15 years experience working with young people and adults with enduring mental health needs. I have set up this blog to share some of the tips and skills I have learnt along the way. If you have any suggestions or particular questions you would like me to answer feel free to email me at 
