PAPER CLUTTER AND SOME NEW IDEAS ON WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

You have no doubt read articles in women's magazines on paper clutter and how you need to touch each piece of paper only once, set up a file system, get your name off mailing lists, purge old papers, save tax papers, yada yada yada. Sure you've done some of that, but you're still on the brink of a full-blown paper panic: the feeling of impending doom that sweeps over you when you throw your car keys down on the kitchen counter at the end of a hard day's work, and glance at the stack of today's mail, on top of yesterdays' mail, on top of who knows what else.

Do you want a simple and easy to use method to upgrade your paper handling skills? Here are three basic steps to reduce the piles on your counter and your stress level simultaneously:

1. USE THE SHREDDER. Shred anything with your name and address on it to deter identity thieves. Just rip off the small section and shred it. I shred envelopes too, that carry my banks' names on them, to leave no paper trail for identity thieves. The majority of identity thefts still occur with real paper, not on the internet.

2. USE THE RECYCLING BIN. Once you rip your name off catalogs and magazines and shred those little pieces, toss the rest of the catalog/magazine in the recycling bin.

3. USE THE TRASH. Whatever can not be recycled or does not need to be shredded, throw away. Yes, just do it.

THESE ARE NOT DIFFICULT OR TIME-CONSUMING STEPS.

If you follow these three steps each day, your paper processing stress will plummet, and your piles will shrink.

Want more specific ideas on what to do with the papers you choose to keep?

We'll get to that soon. But you GOTTA GETTA GRIP ON THE CURRENT MESS BEFORE SETTING UP A BETTER SYSTEM. Shredding, recycling, and trashing are the first three steps. So get practicing. It will only take a minute or two each day.

Just do it.

ARE YOU A HOARDER?

Your garage is so packed it's difficult to squeeze your car in. The laundry basket is overflowing and has been for the past month. You're having trouble keeping up with the daily newspaper and have started a growing pile of unread papers by the recliner in the living room. And you're afraid to call me to help you.

At some point, with most every client I work with, usually while knee-deep in boxes and general household "stuff," I will hear the question, "Do you think I'm a hoarder?"

And for every case I have worked with--every case where the client him or herself contacted me--the answer is "No." Here's why:

Hoarders don't call me.

A spouse of a hoarder might call. A child of a hoarder might too. But as a general rule, hoarders themselves do not seek out the services of a professional home organizer.

Hoarders do not see their problem until it has grown to such an extent that authorities threaten to condemn their home, cite them for littering, nail an eviction notice to their front door, or remove their children (through child protective services) or themselves (through adult protective services) from their home.

It takes an outside agency or close family member or friend to see the mess first.

Hoarding is no longer believed to be the natural result of the behaviors of a lazy, good-for-nothing slob. Thanks to a growing body of psychological research, hoarding has finally been labeled a mental disorder, for which treatment is becoming more available and viable.

So don't worry; if you call me on your own accord, you are most likely NOT a hoarder.