Organize Your Mail: Create a Mail Center in Your Home

If you’ve got stacks of mail scattered throughout your home, there’s a good chance that you’re not on top of it and you need to organize your mail.

For many of us, mail gets dumped on the kitchen counter, on top of the fridge, dining room table, whatever flat surface is closest at the time the mail is retrieved.

And, ends up staying there for longer than intended.

Or, ends up being moved to an unknown location.

Sound familiar? 

Yes, frustration with mail clutter is one thing.

It’s another thing to be financially impacted by your mail clutter.

There’s a significant percentage of people incurring late fees as a result of late bill payments. 

These late payments largely result from not remembering where bills are placed. 

So, it’s time to corral your mail and manage it.

In addition to having an organized mail center, you might save some money as well!

Let’s take a look at simple steps to organize your mail and stay on top of it.

It’s time to create a mail system. 

1. Junk Mail

Do not hold onto the junk mail that is sent by mail, or stuck in your door, as part of a door drop campaign.  The amount of junk mail that can accumulate is enormous when left unchecked.

Get rid of it right away.

It’s amazing how quickly a pile of junk mail can grow.  And, dealing with a large stack of mail can be overwhelming.  So, do yourself a favor and trash the junk mail immediately.

If you have a community mailbox, you can toss the junk mail into the recycling container right beside the mailbox.  That way, it won’t even enter your home. 

If not, place a recycling bin right where you process your mail. This makes it easier to get rid of it as soon as you bring it in the door.

If you read 7 Best Ways to Stop Clutter Before it Starts, you’ll recall that having a home for everything is one of the ways that was highlighted.  There’s no room in your home for junk mail. 

Toss it.

2. Create a Mail Center

Now, this is critical to organize your mail.

Have a designated spot where the mail is deposited.  And, processed. 

This removes the tendency to throw the mail on any available flat surface.

Also, the chance of losing bills has just been reduced significantly. 

So, identify where you will have your mail station.

For some, a mail station will consist of 2 areas.  

First of all, identify where the mail will be deposited as soon as it’s brought into the house. For instance, your entryway table.  The key is for all family members to know where mail is placed. That way, whoever gets the mail knows where it goes.

Next, is the processing area. This is where the mail gets sorted, managed, and actioned.

This might be in a home office, or den, for example.  Wherever you designate, you want to ensure that you have a system for actioning your mail. 

Equip your processing area with the following:

• Recycling bin
• Letter opener
• Paper shredder or identity stamp
• A filing cabinet or accordion file
• Stapler or paper clips
• In-trays or vertical storage area

Essentially, when it comes to mail, there are 4 options for dealing with it:

1. Recycle or shred.
2. File it for future reference, such as property insurance documents, tax documents or, investment statements.
3. Pass it along to someone else – this might not have anything to do with you and might be for your spouse to handle, for instance.
4. Action required, for example, bill payments, responding to something such as an invitation. 

Once the mail enters your home and is in your mail station, it needs to be processed.

For bill payments, place them directly in your inbox, or, ‘to do’ tray.  Perhaps you’ll designate a specific tray for bills and another tray for other pieces of mail that need to be actioned.

To ensure that your mail system is practical, here are a few keys:

• Accessibility: make your processing area easily visible so you don’t forget about it and ensure that other family members are also familiar with it.
• Surface area: give yourself enough clear surface space to work with.

3. Routine:

Now that your mail station is set up, it’s time to develop a mail routine.

This is important, as it will give you a sense of how effective your system is and if any tweaks need to be made.

There’s no point in having a system that you don’t use!

Once the mail enters your home and is in your mail center, sort it and file it.

Is it headed for recycling?

Is it a bill for the to-do tray?

Does it need to be filed for future reference?

So, first, you’ll need to sort your mail daily (or every other day, depending on how frequently you get the mail).

Once it’s sorted, set up a WEEKLY system of going through your mail, scheduling bill payments, filing, purging, and responding to the rest.  

Keep in mind, that if you make post-dated payments, you can file the bill right away and further reduce paper clutter. 

Also, remember to shred and or remove personal information from any envelopes or documents you discard.

Establishing a weekly routine is the best way to stay on top of your mail clutter and reduce the feelings of overwhelm. 

This will also give you an idea of whether your system needs to be adjusted. 

The bottom line is your mail should not remain in your inbox or to do trays. If so, you’ve just relocated that clutter.

You must routinely, i.e., weekly, handle the mail in your station.  Once your mail is processed, it will either get filed or tossed.

Existing Mail

So, how do you approach dealing with the existing mail that’s piled up?

If you follow the same steps previously outlined, you will start to chip away at it.

Take a stack of mail to your mail center. Methodically go through each piece of mail.   Recycle or shred the junk mail.  Sort and process the remainder. Meaning you’ll either file, forward, or action what’s left. 

Yes, this might be intimidating for some of you.  And, once you get started, you’ll be able to see progress.  Your efforts will add up. 

Recap:

Mail clutter can contribute to growing piles of paper.  Having easy access to a specific area is a great way to get things under control.  Creating a mail station that is in a central location and accessible to the family will benefit your household.  Add to this an efficient system to process mail and you will be well on your way to a more organized home.