Drawers overflowing with letters and documents? Declutter with this simple three-rule approach

If everyone were being honest, we all have that one drawer, or shelf, or pile left on a chair somewhere – you know the one, full of letters and magazines and stuff you planned to sort through, eventually.

There’s nothing more satisfying than a good sort and clean. But when it comes to professional decluttering methods, like the 5-Day Clutter Shakedown, they tend to focus on bigger rooms and tasks, and these smaller piles get overlooked for another day.

Fortunately, Holly Blakey – an influencer who loves helping create calm and organised spaces with practical tips – has a simple but effective three-rule approach to dealing with paper clutter.

Holly's three rule approach for organising paperwork

Rather than throw everything in the recycling and realise too late you might have actually needed something, Holly’s system is simple, and involves making three different categories for your papers: Action, Temporary and Life Documents.

Anything categorised as Action needs to be dealt with immediately, or in the very near future. This can include bills, forms and other things that actively need doing.

By having a dedicated Action folder, you can fill out what you need to and then recycle the rest, or take a photo/scan of something to keep a digital record.

The second rule, filing things as Temporary, includes receipts, gift receipts, warranties and anything you need to hold on to for the time being. Keep these in a dedicated folder or space, and ensure you are regularly reviewing what’s kept.

Once things like warranties or insurance policies expire, you can throw them away or replace them with new ones. Simple.

The third is Life Documents, and this is making sure you’re keeping important, permanent paperwork separate from the rest of the clutter. This will ensure you can always access it when you need it, and it won’t get lost or thrown away by mistake.

Many comments on Holly’s social media page shared their relief at having a new system to follow, agreeing that, despite being smaller in stature, paper clutter can be the hardest to tackle.

One comment reads, "Paper clutter is the hardest because of the amount of deciding. I try to work on small piles at a time."

Holly’s three-step approach isn’t the only useful tip she’s shared. She has previously demonstrated the brilliance of the 'Paper Pause test'. This, in essence, stops you from ever bringing paper clutter into the house to begin with.

Instead of letting paper land on every surface in your home, you pause for just a few seconds and decide where it belongs.

When confronted with something – a permission slip, a takeout leaflet, a letter from your bank - pause for 10 seconds and consider if you can action it now, if you even need to keep it, if you can recycle or shred it safely right away, or if you can request a digital copy.

Other tips for decluttering paperwork

• Go digital: many organisations, including banks and healthcare providers, offer paper-free communications
• Make instant decisions: with some bills or permission slips, for example, you can decide to take action right away and then you don’t have it lying around with other papers for days
• Colour code your folders: if you're sorting your papers into specific categories, having distinct colours for each will help you stay on top of admin
• Shred sensitive papers after you’re done with them.

Small decisions in the moment help prevent bigger clean-ups later.