I had to clear out all my papers on several occasions. The first was after a short trip overseas on business. The second on holiday. The third moving house. The fourth clearing clutter after moving home.
Cutting Clutter After A Business Trip
1 On a travel press trip to fly home, after I had been give numerous folders of maps and press releases by destinations, hotels and museums. Plus souvenirs I had been given for free and did not want to abandon. I could not shut my suitcase!
I phoned my boss in a panic and asked him to sit on my suitcase which I could not shut, and half my clothes would not go in.
He said, 'Wear your bulkiest clothes. You came with the other clothes packed, so they must fit in the suitcase. Put them back, folded neatly.
'Then fill any extra space with some of the souvenirs. The other extra souvenirs and papers have to go in two small bags, which you and I, or somebody else, can carry onto the plane.
'You can get the porters to take the main suitcase. Then, over breakfast, you can read the papers, photograph some of them, put others in your pockets, the side pocket of the suitcase. Or ask the PR to post them to you.'
The Holiday Trip
2 On a holiday to Europe when we flew home on RyanAir. We had to fly on a budget airline not only to save money but because they offered us more flexibility of dates and destinations. We had had a big luggage allowance on Singapore Airlines.
We had a small luggage allowance. Again, on holiday I was given numerous maps, tourist brochures, guides to churches and museums, menus, and papers. I saved supermarket catalogues and free newspapers because I wanted to practise my languages and quickly learn to recognize words which were the same or similar in both languages.
Expanding Suitcases
I buy expanding suitcases. They are more compact for storage. But that doesn't help with souvenirs if you expand it before you leave home. I do the suitcase up tight. If necessary, I pack a second bag inside it. Then I have the second bag for souvenir, brochures, anything added at the destination, bought or a gift. Removing the second bag creates space inside the main suitcase.
This is a temporary fix. It gets your papers home. But where do you store them and for how long? Eventually you run out of space, or spend too much time reading out of date information on retaurants and museums which have shut.
Moving House
3 Our rent in Singapore doubled after six years. Suddenly we were moving home from one country to another, and we had to go through thirty years of papers because of the limit on the number of boxes that would go in the size of container we ordered.
4 I am a hoarder. I already had lots of heavy books. Plus my shoes and clothes, ornaments, souvenirs. Certificates. I had to decide which papers to throw out. |
We were given only one month's notice in Singapore. Time was filled with goodbye meetings with friends as well as trips to banks and other organizations, meetings with removal companies. Selling off furniture. Estimates from packers. Packing furniture and carpets separately because the movers would not take carpets, which needed a company to clean them and dry them so they did not rot or breed carpet beetles in storage.
We ended up having to move into a serviced flat in Asia because we had a holiday booked after the departure date for Europe . So instead of throwing everything away, |I selected some files of useful papers to go through at the service flat.
Then the cost of sending things home a parcel service was about 100 pounds, think the same amount in Singapore or US dollars, and double for the next size of parcel. We were sending back a parcel a day with three sets of clothes and crockery and papers. Plus last minute purchases.
We had saved a wheeled trolley which proved invaluable in transferring parcels to the post office. But it was too big to go on the airline. That too had to be abandoned with a note saying 'New condition. Too big for us to pack. Please take this for free if you like it. To avoid creating litter, we must move it to another visible location within a day. Enjoy.' I got the serviced apartment receptionist to translate this into Chinese, so then they were happy for me to leave it on their steps.
Our plan was to ask the service apartment porter for permission to leave it at the building doorway during morning. Next ask for permission to leave it by the post office door in the afternoon. Our third plan was to move it to the outside of a station in the evening rush hour. Stop for coffee overlooking it. Watch it, move it if officials approached. It vanished in half an hour.
Clearing Files
1 Delete Duplicates
Duplicate Brochures And Maps
I often come back from holiday with two sets of maps and brochures. Either my husband and I both needed one when we walked in different directions. Or were both given one in a welcome pack. But back home we need only one. If you have two homes you tend to collect two sets of everything. When you move back, you stop paying on two homes, but you start paying on storage.
It's sad to throw things away. That photo of your mother in law's mother might not mean much to you, but it could mean a lot to your grandchildren. However, in the old days, you often had several copies of a wedding photo. If you have offered it to relatives and nobody wants it, you can get rid of duplicates.
Value Of Old Items
Do you need old items?
Sharing Photos
I need a box or suitcase of old photos. With a label giving current names (of people who married and changed names)_phone numbers and addresses of the latest generation, or the oldest, especially those who wrote to me about genealogy. so I can quickly inform them if I have originals of wedding photos and family photos to share on line or to give them.
Old, blurred photos don't have to be thrown away. They can now be brought into focus, even simply be clicking on increase resolution on a mobile phone.
You can add colour, using the system on the heritage family history websites.
Or watch a video on how to do it yourself, bring into focus, remove background, add colour, using photo editing software, sometimes worth the money, sometimes worth a free trial to see what you could do with just one treasured item, or item you were dithering about throwing away, or were determined to throw away, but keep online.
2 Remove White Spaces On Paper
This is controversial. My husband says I should read a page and keep it or chuck it out. Keep every page A5 so it stack neatly and you can read the top. Keep covers. They protect contents. They look good.
Reduce Weight Of Surplus Paper
But I have a back problem. I can't lift heavy files. My system is to cut off the lower half of any page which has nothing on it. White paper can be stapled to make scrap paper for notes.
Cut covers. They take space.
Careful Cutting
You have to check that nothing vital is on the back of the page you are cutting. I pencil through pages I don't need to keep. Then I know the blank front page is just scrap paper. I don't re-read the back later. I remember the advice I once heard. A document should be read and sit on you desk only once.
Many letters have white paper around the edges, top, bottom, right and left. Once the item is small, it can go in my bag to read on the bus, any vital address can be copied into my phone, and the document can be photographed or thrown away.
At the beginning, several times I tried to save time by cutting several pages of a document together. But one page had something on the back.
To avoid accidentally cutting out printing on the back, you could first fold over the part you wish to cut. Before cutting, check both sides of the fold, the top of the paper and the reverse, are blank.
If you have half a page, the last page, you might wish to staple the pages together. That makes your folder more manageable. It saves the odd triangular base of the paper catching other sheets.
Beware that some paper has a sharp edge when cut. You can also blunt scissors by cutting paper. Embroidery scissors need to be sharp to cut thread so it goes through the eye of a needle (unless you use self-threading needles), and to cut long straight edges without snagging and leaving jagged threads, so don't use embroidery scissors to cut paper.
The Joy Of Cleared Clutter
When you clear clutter, you find lost items. Enjoy memories.
You create space. You can concentrate on today's task.
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