Decluttering & Shredding Paper Piles {15 Minute Mission}

Today's mission is all about decluttering and shredding paper piles.


This is actually a mission that I've listed several times on the declutter calendar each year. The reason is pretty obvious -- most of us can't clear away all these paper piles in just one 15 minute session.

This is the kind of mission you just have to do, over and over again, slowly but surely, and those piles will diminish little by little.

It can feel overwhelming going through huge stacks of paper. That's why I suggest breaking it down into 15 minute segments. Work on it for 10 minutes, and then clean up, file or dispose or papers for the last 5 minutes.

After that 15 minute session if you want to do another one, go for it. But if not, be done for a while, and enjoy that you cleaned up your mess as you went so things are not in a worse state than when you started.

Here's some resources for you to use when you declutter paper:

• How To Declutter Piles Of Paper - 4 Questions To Ask


• How Long Should You Keep Papers {Including Printable Cheat Sheet}


• What Documents Need To Be Shredded


• Criteria When Choosing A Home Paper Shredder


• How {And Why} To Use Paper Shredding Services When Decluttering Lots Of Paper At Once

Once you've decluttered and shredded paper there should be a much small stack of papers left that you want to keep.

To help you with this part of the mission -- filing -- here's the main challenge article on how to organize your home filing system.

Below I've also attached some pictures from others who've already taken on this mission. I hope these photos will help inspire you to tackle your own paper clutter and slowly, but surely, get rid of it!

Top photo courtesy of Liz West

Shredding Receipts To Get Them Out Of The House

by Joan

This photo, above, was provided by a reader, Joan. She said, "Shredding old receipts...it feels good to get it out of the house."

Yes, it sure does feel good to get all the clutter out of your home! Great job Joan!

If you'd like to learn more about decluttering receipts, in particular, you can check out my article on how to declutter receipts here.

In addition, another Declutter 365 participant, Laurale, wrote a comment celebrating that using this method, of 15 minutes at a time decluttering various paper piles in her home, a project that had lasted many years finally got completed!

Laurale said: "I can't believe I get to say this -- My papers are decluttered and shredded. A many year project is complete!"

My Paper Decluttering Progress

by Cindie

All these pics are from a reader, Cindie. She says, "I'm getting there."

Yes you are Cindie! So proud of you. I can tell you've put in a lot of work, with lots of 15 minute sessions, but you definitely are making great progress!

Cleared Paper Clutter Off Landing Zone

Zena sent in this before and after photo, saying, "I'm so excited. I de-cluttered our "landing zone" and made a tickler file too!!

The photo on the left is before.

I explained the file to my friend and she said it is organization on crack. I'm so excited to use it. Wish me luck!!"

Once you've done quite a few of these missions you'll begin to accumulate a lot of paper for the recycling bin, and for the shredder.

Above is a photo from a reader, Clarissa, who shredded a bunch of her paper clutter, along with doing a bunch of other decluttering. She said, "Those four bags in the front are full of shredded paper! Yay!!!"

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Paper & Filing Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your papers and files, and there's a lot of types and varieties of these around your home.

Get your 2 page paper and filing decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

Getting Rid Of Paper Clutter Hall Of Fame

Paper Organization {Series}: Take Control Of Your Paper!

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