Paper Pile Organization!

Confession: I am a piler. I have been one my WHOLE life. I have tried systems beyond belief that work for a while, but then I just have piles in the system and on the counter and it overflows my life. I try to be like those wonderfully organized women who immediately open the mail and deal with it, but my life just does not work that way.....and it is not just mail. Now I have 2 kids in school. I never got the system down with just Ellie, and we constantly missed assignments, due dates, money for field trips etc. etc. etc. Honestly, the teachers that El has had for the past 4 years probably think I am the worst mother EVER. Then Tyler went to kindergarten and it got WORSE. This year I have almost felt like I was treading water, but the longer I tread, the more tired my arms become and I gradually begin sinking....and instead of water, I am sinking in PAPER!

Knowing this was a huge issue, I FINALLY began a new system that.....drum roll please.....WORKS for me! I did not want to blog about it until I REALLY tried it out for about a month or so. I know that it takes approximately 30 days to develop a habit, so I wanted this new system to really become a habit.

Something clicked in my brain as I was reading (yet another) book on organization. She said in the book to "Follow the paths that are already established in your home."

1. Observe where you need help in organization (easy: paper piles)
2. Look at the natural paths of your problem areas. (For me, that is the kitchen table and counter. It always has about 10 or more piles of paper on it. Things constantly get lost in those piles so I am missing due dates etc.)
3. Establish a system AROUND the natural path of your problem area.

So, I made this:

This new School Folder sits right on the counter where the kids naturally throw their papers when they get home. It took a bit to get them to actually put them IN the folder, but now when they come home from school, their school things are immediately put here. Every day (before school the next day), I got through the entire folder and

1. Recycle all the papers that are useless info or repeats of things we already keep (and boy, there are many)
2. Write down important dates and due dates in my handy-dandy planner
3. Sign anything that needs signed and then leave that in the folder.

In the morning before school, the kids open up the folder and put the signed things back in etc.

Working WONDERS!

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The other way to organize my piles that has been working is my chair organizer that I made for my kitchen chair. If it is mail (even un-opened because I don't have time to open it right when I get it), and it is not school info, it goes in the chair organizer. Grant it, my piles still exist, but now they at least look pretty and match my kitchen :)

Now, this is a shameless plug for my business, but this has helped me so much that I want to share the wealth. Some people who have bought them have bought them for the homework and school pile problem and have bought them for each child. They sell for only $21 a piece and you can tell me any colors of styles that you would like, to match your kitchen or match any room where you have a chair like this one. I had a home-school family buy some for their kids school-room to organize their work for the each day!

To order your own click HERE!

What organizational tools work for your family for piles??