on futuristic touchpads, or holographic displays? Did you also notice what was conspicuously missing? Here's a hint - Captain Kirk was never swimming in paperwork. The future always seems to be promising that we'll do away with paper, but it never seems to actually happen. The digital age (and a greater concern for trees) might be making a dent in the endless stacks of paper, but there doesn't seem to be a permanent end to the filing cabinet in sight. Paper and clutter tend to go hand in hand. Lots of us are now moving to work remotely, and suddenly the paper monster is in our very homes. For many, it feels like there are more documents than ever to keep track of. This blog will discuss ways to get the papery tide under control. These tactics will of course include showing how home safes can cut down on the clutter.

ATTACK THE PAPER AT THE SOURCE

If your house was flooding, you don't start by grabbing a bucket. You start by finding out where the water is coming from and you put a stop to it. A flood of paper into your living space is no different. You want to find out where all this paper is coming from and cut down on it from the source. This will involve a self-audit of where your paper comes from. Are you subscribing to newsletters and magazines you don't need? Are you on mailing lists that it's possible to cancel? Take a moment to go through what you get in the mail, and where it comes from. You'd be surprised how much is unnecessary.

GO DIGITAL

Whenever possible, you'll want to take the paperless options when it comes to documentation such as bills or bank statements. Every time you receive a piece of mail, try to find out if there was a digital option that you missed. Try to cancel subscriptions if possible to cut back on junk mail.

If there are documents that can't be made available digitally, you might want to invest in a scanner. Scan the documents you need, then recycle them right away. If you have magazine subscriptions, see if a digital version is available instead of the physical copies you receive.

CLEAN HOUSE...

Once you've cut down on the inflow of paper, then it's time to deal with the backlog that you've accumulated. This is going to involve a lot of digging through your home to pull up every last bit of paper, so get ready to set a day aside for heavy cleaning. Any piece of paper that is worth keeping... well, we'll get to that later. For now, it's time to get the recycling bin for all the papers that are outdated, or that you can live without. Now it's just up to the grunt work of dumping. Many people worry about tossing papers with personal information out into the recycling. If this sounds like you, you might want to invest in a shredding machine. This lets you expand the number of papers you can get rid of and still feel secure about dumping.

... AND KEEP IT CLEAN

Getting rid of the excess paper is a good start, but you don't want it to build up again. You should take a look at the recycling situation in your home if you're considering how to manage paper clutter at home. Do you have enough space for recycling? Is it too hard to remember to recycle?

Consider adding some paper wastebaskets to rooms where the paper clutter tends to be at its worst. You want to make it as convenient for you to throw things out as possible. The more paper that ends up in the recycling, the less paper ends up on tabletops and drawers.

FILE AWAY!

By now, the total amount of paper in your home should have been reduced quite nicely. Now it's just a matter of making sure that you know where all your remaining papers are. Getting some filing cabinets or folders for your home office is a great start if you are working remotely. However, not everything is going to fit neatly into your folders, and you should prepare for these exceptions. One of the biggest sources of paper clutter is the "small stuff" - the receipts and coupons that we collect over the years. A great trick for these is to get binders to put them in. Binders are much easier to store than huge masses of small paper pieces.

KEEP THE MOST IMPORTANT SAFE

Another kind of document that can be difficult to store is the "essentials" - think passports, birth certificates, and the like. They aren't really your business documents, per se, but they feel like they need a bit more protection and organization than general household papers. You could also add to this "most important list" any documents that are heirloom - think old letters, degrees, or even family photos passed down throughout the generations. These heirlooms can often be very delicate and warrant some extra protection. For these, it's well worth getting the best home safe possible to keep these essential documents safe - and to make sure you always know exactly where they are at any moment. If you're using a product from our Mycube line, home safe installation isn't a major hurdle at all. Where you decide to do your home safe installation will depend on what your "important document" list looks like. If your job requires you to work with sensitive documents, getting the best home safe possible for your home office is a good way to keep up professional standards. If you're more worried about protecting your travel documents or family memories, getting a small home safe for your living room or bedroom could be the better choice. Or why not go for both? Some people might consider home safes something to hide away, but with Mycube's commitment to style, you have nothing to hide. Put all these organizational strategies together, and you'll surely win your fight against the swarms of paper. Better yet, you'll gain peace of mind - the special kind that comes from knowing exactly where your most important belongings are, and that they're safe as can be.