Monday, December 21, 2009

Paper War

I've been waging a war on paper the last few days. So far, paper is winning. The more I clean up, the more of it I find. The problem is, for much of it, I feel an obligation to do a thorough examination and decide whether or not it's worth keeping.

The mailperson is my enemy. He, sometimes she, keeps leaving more paper in my mail box. I'm not talking about my Christmas cards, which I cherish, but all the other stuff dropped off for me to sort out. At times it's torture to come home and see the new pile the DH has set on the kitchen table.

I've discovered tons of magazines over a year old. They were trying to hide in a magazine holder on the side of the couch, but not doing a good job of it, since they were spilling over. Of course, I decided to check the headings on the covers to see if some of the information inside might prove valuable. Wouldn't you know it, I was right. Many articles seemed to good to give up.

I've already mentioned here before about how I also have a compulsion to print out emails that seem important to me. The result is I have lots of important pieces of paper. When there's an abundance, which is the most important? And, where's the one I really need? It is a quandary.

What about you? Is paper your enemy? Are you also waging a war against it? Who is winning?

11 comments:

  1. Morgan,

    My office is about as paperless as you can get. However, I had an accumulation of paper files from years ago before I went paperless. Last week, I went through everything and either sent it to recycle or put it in storage. My office is so lovely now—lots more room and clean!

    Merry Christmas!
    Lillie Ammann
    A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm having an amnesty on magazines and throwing them out without looking. :) It's the only way to do it. The alternative is a big pile of articles ripped out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Our house is a total heap anyway and the paper chippings from the two hedgehogs of "hedgehog itus" as I call it just makes things worse. My wife decided to lay new wood flooring throughout most of the house 2 weeks before Christmas. needless to say, we are not ready for the holiday.

    As for paper.. you bet!

    Barry

    ReplyDelete
  4. My sons have become recycling freaks! That has helped out a lot with cutting down my clutter. That, and the fact that my husband doesn't believe in keeping anything. In fact, he doesn't understand why I kept the love notes he wrote to me in high school or the piece of paper he wrapped up on Christmas Eve 1997 that said, "Lynn, will you marry me?" (When I looked up, he was on bended knee, with the ring in his hand.) So I guess in our house, the paper is not winning!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not too much paper around here. I only print out emails that I need to take with me somewhere--like a pick up order confirmation for WalMart's Site-to-Store.

    I have personal folders in my Inbox so that I can keep track of the things I need and I only keep magazines from The History Channel because I use them for research purposes.


    This time of year it is hard to keep the paper down because I shop online for 98% of my gifts, but I try to bring everything out to the recycle bins twice a day to help with that problem.

    Good luck with your war.

    Cheryl

    ReplyDelete
  6. Recycling is the answer - I live in an apartment block (40 apts) with an active (sometimes downright AGGRESSIVE!!!) recycling policy [newspapers, glass, cans] and everyone seems to have got into the habit!

    ReplyDelete
  7. And the winner is: Paper, unfortunately. I'm an inveterate "hard copy" junkie, but I'm getting better. I think it all stems from my years in Corporate America when I had to make sure I had documentation to support what was done. (I was an executive assistant). So CYA became mandadoty. Guess old habits carry over into new lives. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOL, Morgan, I was cleaning out a section of my desk and found notes from two years ago that I never followed up on. I have been trying to keep more notes on my computer regarding business things I need to follow up on, but then I forget where I put the note. Was it in the business folder, or the promo folder, or the folder for that book.

    If you figure out a way to go paperless and be organized, please let me know what the secret is. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'VE FOUND THAT THE LIGHT EMITING FROM COMPUTER PAPER DETERIORATES THE EYES IT MAKES YA WONDER.I DON'T ACTUALLY USE THAT MUCH PAPER HERE AS I LIKE LIVE WRITING,TURNING THE PAGE BLACK AND THE WRITING BLANC WOULD SAVE OUR EYES,I'M STILL A HYPOCRITE ON THE PAPER ESPECIALLY CHRISTMASTIME,I COULD GO DEEPER BUT I DON'T WANT TO WASTE YOUR TIME.NE PAS.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's getting better around here, with much less paper than in the past--but still too much. Very little useful comes in mail besides bills and news magazines, and I don't always keep up with the latter.

    I do more and more of my reading on my PC monitor.

    Bob Sanchez
    http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh hell...when I am working on a writing project in particular, I often have to get the folding table out to have more room for the books, articles, newspaper clippings spread about so I can find them when I need them...research and writing. This added to the usual stuff that comes through the door like you say makes a mountain of paper, paper, and more paper. I have seen NYC editors offices, too, where you can't find the editor as he is buried, literally and you can hear him shouting, "Keep coming, I am in here."

    ReplyDelete

Your Comment Is Welcome