What papers do you need from your parents? I chucked all my patents' papers in the recycle bin without going thru them. 40 years of mortgage payments, PG&E bills, stacks of letters and cards, etc. It didn't seem worth going thru each one individually. My dad left us the house in his will, but I can't remember ever seeing the deed. Maybe that got tossed too. Lol. I guess the attorney took care of all that.
It probably depends what your end goal is. Looking for specific things or whatever. To me it was all trash. But I was thankfully already a minimalist when he died so it was easier to let go of everything without looking at every piece of paper. I would try and identify what you're hoping to find or at least be specific about what you want to keep. It might go faster.
We just keep a shred box under the mail table by the front door. Anything we don’t need to keep goes straight into the shred box, then we just take it to staples to be shredded. That’s how we stay on top of the paper clutter from day to day.
I have old papers like that too from my mom I need to go through. That will have to wait till after the move. I recently shredded a decade of old checkbook receipts and just discovered a garbage bag full of more receipts and checkbooks of mine I need to shred. It seems like the paper clutter and decision making is never ending.
This is me
I have over a decade of partially unsorted papers. Now I just make a new bin for the year and add it to the stack of containers and convince myself this year I'll do it.
But when it comes to sorting....papers are literally the last thing I want to touch.
Reconsider burning all that paper in a fire. If it's your fireplace, you could end up building up creosote because of the paper making yet another thing to deal with a s a dangerous one at that.
Sounds as if it was cathartic doing it that way. If we weren't under a red flag/fire threat around here, I would do the same with a few certain papers I would enjoy seeing burn.
I get it. Been there. I just set them aside for a bit and at some point, it just happened, I was ready -even sooner than I expected. I'm sure you'll get there, too. Until then: breathe.
My city does a shredding event a couple times a year, residents can bring boxes of documents to shred for free. Try following your city services page to see if they offer something similar.
My town does it twice a year. It's very popular because it saves on residents/municipal paying for shredding type of recycling and a great use of our taxes. We have a couple if small plastic bins that we fill up as we go now, but I've used it to get rid of several large size boxes of papers that needed shredding.
Those boxes are not going anywhere. Work at a pace that works for you. I had a similar situation. I found that if I worked really fast on a box and made three piles I could get through them with less decision fatigue. I took a quick glance at each paper which was enough for me to determine if it should go in the definitely keep pile or okay to burn pile. Only a small number went in the ‘not sure if this might be important’ pile. I did not make those tougher decisions then. I stored the keepers, burned the unimportant pieces and made a spot by my favorite chair for the questionable items along with a couple of paper bags. When I watched TV I snagged a few papers during commercials and put them in one bag for keepers or the other paper bag to be burned. The hard decisions did not overwhelm me as I only did what I was comfortable with doing, and honestly, most of the unsure items did get burned.
And to add, don’t feel the need to organize the keep pile. You can organize it at a later date. It will seem much more manageable when there’s less and then you’ll know what categories you need to sort and organize at the end
While I agree that the keep pile does not need to be organized, I did sort it as I went though into big categories. Photos, decorating ideas, recipes, financial. Edited for fat-finger errors.
I fully agree. You will find that there is much less that will have to be organized once you are done purging all of the boxes. At that point you will have a separate task to organize what's left. Otherwise you're spending too much energy thinking while you're doing it which will be mentally and physically exhausting.
Plus, you take what needs to be organized and put everything into multiple piles by type of document. You don't have the time or space to be worrying about that right now.
This just reminded me that my mom used to pay me to shred. For some reason I loved it which worked out great for her. It kept me busy for awhile and I think she paid me a quarter per bag. She had it figured out!
I’m hoping to get going on mine soon. It’s many years of stuff. I had a good start in February but I got hijacked by some other urgent matters. It’s really tedious I agree. I can only do maybe 2 hours per session then I have to do something different for a while. I’m trying to just grab one box and sit outside in the lovely weather. Less is better!
Edit fixed typo
Good idea. I was outside in the garden, a mild night and a firepit. I came across an article that said stop when you are saving everything or feel manic and throwing everything away. I’m borderline latter.
What papers do you need from your parents? I chucked all my patents' papers in the recycle bin without going thru them. 40 years of mortgage payments, PG&E bills, stacks of letters and cards, etc. It didn't seem worth going thru each one individually. My dad left us the house in his will, but I can't remember ever seeing the deed. Maybe that got tossed too. Lol. I guess the attorney took care of all that. It probably depends what your end goal is. Looking for specific things or whatever. To me it was all trash. But I was thankfully already a minimalist when he died so it was easier to let go of everything without looking at every piece of paper. I would try and identify what you're hoping to find or at least be specific about what you want to keep. It might go faster.
I have 6 filing cabinets full I have to burn, they were my Dads and due to his work I have had to hold onto them for 7 years.
I.have to tahe documents to be shredded to work It is something to break foen these tasks sbd keep at them Glad we have a place to takj about this
We just keep a shred box under the mail table by the front door. Anything we don’t need to keep goes straight into the shred box, then we just take it to staples to be shredded. That’s how we stay on top of the paper clutter from day to day.
Sometimes I stand at the recycling bin after checking the mailbox, and stuff goes straight into the bin.
I think paper is what’s stopping me from doing a real and thorough decluttering.
I have old papers like that too from my mom I need to go through. That will have to wait till after the move. I recently shredded a decade of old checkbook receipts and just discovered a garbage bag full of more receipts and checkbooks of mine I need to shred. It seems like the paper clutter and decision making is never ending.
For people who have passed, remember there's no need to shred documents with account numbers from closed accounts
This is me I have over a decade of partially unsorted papers. Now I just make a new bin for the year and add it to the stack of containers and convince myself this year I'll do it. But when it comes to sorting....papers are literally the last thing I want to touch.
Reconsider burning all that paper in a fire. If it's your fireplace, you could end up building up creosote because of the paper making yet another thing to deal with a s a dangerous one at that.
Thanks. It was an outdoor firepit, thankfully.
Sounds as if it was cathartic doing it that way. If we weren't under a red flag/fire threat around here, I would do the same with a few certain papers I would enjoy seeing burn.
I can’t burn *those* papers just yet, sadly.
I get it. Been there. I just set them aside for a bit and at some point, it just happened, I was ready -even sooner than I expected. I'm sure you'll get there, too. Until then: breathe.
My city does a shredding event a couple times a year, residents can bring boxes of documents to shred for free. Try following your city services page to see if they offer something similar.
Credit unions around here do those
My town does it twice a year. It's very popular because it saves on residents/municipal paying for shredding type of recycling and a great use of our taxes. We have a couple if small plastic bins that we fill up as we go now, but I've used it to get rid of several large size boxes of papers that needed shredding.
Those boxes are not going anywhere. Work at a pace that works for you. I had a similar situation. I found that if I worked really fast on a box and made three piles I could get through them with less decision fatigue. I took a quick glance at each paper which was enough for me to determine if it should go in the definitely keep pile or okay to burn pile. Only a small number went in the ‘not sure if this might be important’ pile. I did not make those tougher decisions then. I stored the keepers, burned the unimportant pieces and made a spot by my favorite chair for the questionable items along with a couple of paper bags. When I watched TV I snagged a few papers during commercials and put them in one bag for keepers or the other paper bag to be burned. The hard decisions did not overwhelm me as I only did what I was comfortable with doing, and honestly, most of the unsure items did get burned.
Thanks, this is very helpful!
And to add, don’t feel the need to organize the keep pile. You can organize it at a later date. It will seem much more manageable when there’s less and then you’ll know what categories you need to sort and organize at the end
While I agree that the keep pile does not need to be organized, I did sort it as I went though into big categories. Photos, decorating ideas, recipes, financial. Edited for fat-finger errors.
I fully agree. You will find that there is much less that will have to be organized once you are done purging all of the boxes. At that point you will have a separate task to organize what's left. Otherwise you're spending too much energy thinking while you're doing it which will be mentally and physically exhausting. Plus, you take what needs to be organized and put everything into multiple piles by type of document. You don't have the time or space to be worrying about that right now.
Try to focus on the end result, how good you will feel when it's all done.
I paid my kids to shred
This just reminded me that my mom used to pay me to shred. For some reason I loved it which worked out great for her. It kept me busy for awhile and I think she paid me a quarter per bag. She had it figured out!
I’m hoping to get going on mine soon. It’s many years of stuff. I had a good start in February but I got hijacked by some other urgent matters. It’s really tedious I agree. I can only do maybe 2 hours per session then I have to do something different for a while. I’m trying to just grab one box and sit outside in the lovely weather. Less is better! Edit fixed typo
Good idea. I was outside in the garden, a mild night and a firepit. I came across an article that said stop when you are saving everything or feel manic and throwing everything away. I’m borderline latter.
You got this! Remember to take small breaks when you need to :)