When I was little I always wondered why my parents disliked opening the mail so much. They would leave it in a pile in our entry way and there it would sit for hours after delivery until they went through it after dinner. I regularly offered to open it myself--to a 10 year old it was exciting, probably because the only mail I ever received were birthday cards and party invitations while my parents were getting bills, school notices, and more bills.
Fast forward two decades and I hate going through my mail and paperwork. Hate it with a passion. The problem is that most of my mail is what I consider "junk" mail so I used to put it off indefinitely. Once I established my weekly Laundry-Mail Routine, things quickly became easier for three reasons:
- Timing: I am forced to purge my mail on a regular basis;
- Proximity: Being in the laundry room means I am near the recycling and garbage bins so I can quickly dispose of all that junk mail;
- Focus: There are very, very few distractions in my laundry room so I am able to focus and not tempted to "multi-task" as I would be opening my mail in front of my Mac.
Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project has some great tips on handling mail and paper clutter, and a very cool idea for organizing her magazines. Check it out at The Happiness Project.
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