How do I get myself motivated to get rid of excess paperwork? I a

It's sort of like eating an elephant: one small bite at a time!

offer your self a reward..............

when it becomes a health problem;) ...my cousin has me do the touch it once routine..open the letter. Act on it ie Pay the bill then and there. Bill payer from my bank is wonderful...an invitation...call accept or decline. then pitch the letter or bill.

Eat a live frog in the morning, everything after that is easy. Mark Twain.

If your paperwork is all over the place, like clutter, gather it all up into a large box. get a box for recycle and a box for the papers you have too keep, Then put on a movie and sort while you enjoy the movie. It's a good way to save you from mindless eating while watching TV. Double rewards.

An inch is a cinch a mile is a trail! Remember that now get started. Sit on the floor and sort through them and make piles of each. Once you have the recycling pile make sure you tear your name off OK one pile done now if all bills are paid place each pile in a file cabinet with correct heading. This was your mile and yes your back may hurt but what you have to do next might cause you to feel overwhelmed. Since I know your pain I did it all at once and have continued to file things as soon as they are paid or if yhey are medical papers or what have you. So next is to put each set of papers by date,yes I can hear you screaming or maybe crying but it's not that bad and then every month will be in order and you can locate paperwork easily. Plus you will be truly organized. So just do it and you will feel better and if you don't do it you will have a bigger pile for when you "make time" . The time is now. Then when you get your mail as your walking through the door sort it out recycling you walk start to that bin and the rest you pay or if it's just a statement you balance your checkbook and make sure that it is all up to date then file and so on then next year you can shred this month's items meaning which ever month you have started with. It's October so next October you shred October 2017 items and in November you shred 2017 November paperwork all the while still filing 2018 paperwork. Only difference is that now October 2018 will be in back of that file because you have started a new cycle. Trust me it works. I save medical bills for over a year to make sure that it should all taken care of and I have gotten bills after a year of having had something done. If you have a job that requires you to save receipts for tax purposes then start a file for taxes. When the time comes you have that file ready to go. It's super overwhelming at first glance but then once done you go have a cup of tea with a cookie or 2 and you will probably fall asleep. Seriously it's just not that bad we just convince ourselves it's worse that it is because we procrastinate to avoid a task we don't want to do but it needs to be done so just get it over with later today and your done for real if you keep it up and if that means that you designate an area for your shredder your lockable file cabinet and your to pay for the month then you set up a make shift office. Mail recycle and either file because it has been paid or put in on your desk orderly so that you can pay on time then file once you have paid. 4 steps.

Motivation: how great you will feel after the job is done! A glass of nice wine works too. We just downsized from a big house to a smaller apartment, going from 6 file boxes to 1.

Hints: If you have a computer scan some of the documents, back up the information, and toss, recycle, or shred the originals. Also, if you have to keep any papers folded, fold them inside out so you can see what you have at a quick glance. My favourite trick now to keep us organized is to get rid of unimportant paper everyday.