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✨destroy✨ PAPER CLUTTER for Good! » 10 Helpful Tips to Declutter Paper FAST in 2021 (Minimalism)

A to Zen Life

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When it comes to paper clutter what to keep versus what to get rid of is one of the biggest questions so I created The F.A.S.T.R. method to help you declutter paper quickly and easily in your home! I was a PAPER HOARDER and had tons of sentimental paper clutter and I know that if I could overcome that, YOU CAN TOO. No more piles of paper; this simple paper clutter system will teach you how to declutter paper, what to keep and what to get rid of, how to PROPERLY dispose of paper clutter, etc.

I hope you enjoy this final episode in the Messy to Minimal series on our minimalist family channel.

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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro to paper clutter
00:45 - Episode 6: Messy to Minimal recap
01:40 - Tip 1: Time to clutter ratio
02:50 - Tip 2: Prepare in advance
03:50 - Paper shredder recommendation
04:45 - Paper organization systems
05:00 - Tip 3: Reduce the flow of paper
06:05 - Tip 4: Gathering paper to sort
07:25 - Tip 5: The F.A.S.T.R. Method
07:55 - Let's talk sentimental paper
10:20 - Tip 6: File
11:50 - Tip 7: Action
12:40 - Tip 8: Shred
13:30 - Tip 9: Trash vs Recycle
15:25 - Tip 10: The One Touch Rule
16:15 - Final notes

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ABOUT A TO ZEN LIFE
I was an emotional hoarder who couldn’t let go. My husband grew up poor in rural China. Now we are a happy & debt-free minimalist family living our dream life in Europe.

Minimalism changed my life - now I want to help YOU unclutter your happiness!

OUR STORY: https://atozenlife.com/about-a-to-zen...

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NOTE: This description may contain affiliate links; these links allow you to find the items mentioned in this video at no additional cost to yourself. While this channel may earn a small amount when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links.

#minimalism #familyminimalism #declutter

20 Comments

@AtoZenLife Creator 5 years ago Pinned

The sixth and final episode of this series! I hope you get some helpful tips to declutter paper in your home! Don't forget to LIKE THIS VIDEO & subscribe to join our family. :) Full playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuvKKRbMBrm9b-iXPda-WzldtSYloOpfK

@smurfettesmurf4357 3 years ago

Tip 1. Time to Clutter Ratio.
Tip 2. Prepare in advance (shredder etc)
Tip 3. Reduce incoming paper clutter.
Tip 4. Gathering the paper to sort.
Tip 5. Sort into 5 categories F.A.S.T.R File, Action, Shred, trash, Recycle.
Tip 6. File important & "Identity" papers (sentimental keepers, too)
Tip 7. Take Action
Tip 8. Shred
Tip 9. What to Trash vs recycle
Tip 10. Use the once touch rule - apply it to every piece of paper that enters your home.

@KimHmrs 5 years ago

The whole "higher education costing an arm and a leg" is so strange to me as a European/Belgian. I have a masters degree in architecture and it costs my family maybe a 500 euros a year. After I graduated I threw away some many class-notes without feeling guilty.

You will be really grateful that you've moved to Germany, when your kids go to college there.

@YazouYazi 5 years ago

We have a lot of things in common, I really like that you talked about the college papers story and what it meant to you. I have kept these papers because they reminded of the struggle, the debt and how far I have come. I am now letting them go with gratitude. Thank you for sharing your story.

@mrsducky3428 5 years ago (edited)

When my dad died, mom wouldn't let us help her go through his stuff, she made us move it all to a shed. When she died 17 years later, we had to go through all of that stuff plus all of hers. Furniture, tools, clothes, those were easy decisions. Paper was a demon. There was a box of newsletters from dad's union days, no brainer. EXCEPT, as I tossed the one magazine across the room into the recycle, a photo of my dad and most of his siblings at a wedding fell out. A photo that I had never seen, nor had any of my cousins. It is the ONLY photo I have of that many of his siblings together, as they were raised in foster care.
Then in another box of papers, we found my dad's DD214 discharge papers from when he served in the military in WWII. Now here it is, 12 years later, and I'm still storing those boxes of papers, knowing each and every piece of paper in that box needs to be examined.

@acrobaticanna 5 years ago (edited)

I use crates to store my kid's school art work. The crates live in the garage. At the end of every school year the kids go through the crates to see what they have from previous years and throw out anything they no longer want. And add the art work brought home from school that they value from the previous year. Works well as they get to see it annually. And learn to go through an discard their own items regularly.

@SprucedandGussied 3 years ago

Wow, the timing of this video is incredible. I've recently been forced to declutter a lot of stuff, and while it was painful at the beginning, its getting easier. But there was one day when we got in the storage shed and I had tubs of my University books. notebooks, essays, and was pretty upset about having to get rid of most of them. But then I realized I hadn't looked at them in like 15 years and realized that I probably wouldnt be able to keep them forever, and would probably not lool at them in the future, so i begrudgingly got rid of a lot of them. I still have more to declutter, but im hoping it wont be so hard this time, knowing that others actually struggled with this very same thing. Thank you so much!

@wonderingamazon4973 5 years ago (edited)

This is such a helpful video! As far as cards, I have found that it is more meaningful to send a letter instead. My mom actually wrote me a letter instead of a birthday card and I felt very loved. I have begun to do this for others and I find it makes the holiday a bit happier and more meaningful. Plus, it makes it easier to recycle!

@AA-zq1sx 4 years ago

Wow, that story about your dad and college papers was so powerful!! But now that you're aware of the emotional tie I'm sure you can see how incredibly proud of you he is/would be, and a photo of him on your wall next to a framed college degree would serve those feelings much better than boxes and boxes of class notes and schedules :) I don't even know you and I feel incredibly proud of your college accomplishment, so I can only imagine how proud your folks feel, wherever they are. Much love and thankyou for sharing and helping us all get more functional, organized, and let go of stuff-baggage! <3

@pennygodfrey2341 3 years ago

You remind me so much of me...I cry all the time about all sorts of things. My children think I'm mad 😂

@merchepaar 5 years ago

I'm currently on my declutter journey and paper is hard for me as I used to hoard tons of school papers and also text books. But I'm on the right way so it makes me feel proud because I've reduced them to the half and still working on it. Sorry if my English is not correct, Spanish is my mother tongue 😅 I'm going to subscribe to your channel as soon as I send this message. 😊 My kindest regards from Spain 🇪🇦 Btw... 🛏

@quoththeraven13 5 years ago

I'm late today, but I really liked this F.A.S.T.R. Method idea. Easy to remember. Here is the bed: 🛌

@3llenzinha 5 years ago

Where I live, we just burn the paper.

@creatingwhimsy5536 5 years ago

Can we devote an entire video to decluttering sentimental paper? I still have cards received from when I was born and various birthdays, I am definitely to the point of decluttering, where it’s all the sentimental and emotional stuff 🙁 I have been decluttering for about two years and you definitely have to build a decluttering muscle! But this stuff is the hardest stuff!

@eternalsunshine1828 4 years ago (edited)

Thank you for this video ❤️
I was a hoarder since childhood,luckily my mom is a minimalist and she used to declutter our things in the childhood days.But when I got into adulthood I was struggling to declutter.As an organized person I didn't realise that I was holding onto clutter for no reason and it was just 'organised clutter'.It's been 3 years I've been into minimalistic lifestyle.But to me the great struggle is in decluttering books and papers especially the college books.I could relate to almost everything you said about it here.And thank you I'm going to declutter my college books today itself.

Love from Kerala, India 💜

@Ekatariina 4 years ago (edited)

Loved this! All of my important papers are in a fireproof waterproof document bag from Amazon ❤️❤️ I'll be going through online stuff from my phone and laptop soon--thank you for the reminder!

@applesandshananas1127 5 years ago

Wow! I almost didn't watch this one because I told myself "I don't have any paper clutter," and then throughout this video I thought of sooooo many papers I need to declutter 🙈🛏

@luna7453 4 years ago

oh Marissa.. you created in me a deep click today.. about the study subject.. my father came young by migration and did not have chance to go to school at all.. and wished me to do good at school to allow me to have more confortable job than him too.. so what you shared did resonate so much and deep in my heart.. felt very emotional listening to your words... I accumulated a lot of jobs to payed my studies too.. and changing career path now.. I realised that I can do this change and having choice now, thanks to the study I did in fact, even if not working more into that field, but it is indirectly an evidence link continuation... and so, I feel a lot what you expressed.. and felt nearly to cry too.. as it is letting go this emotion with these too.. so thank you.. as sometimes we do not realised what things can represent and what you expressed created me a deep click... thank you for your channel full of humanity !!

@jeanettehowell8906 3 years ago

💕💕💕unable to lid my gigantic plastic bin💕💕💕

@madonnahagedorn5649 4 years ago

I save instruction manuals. I have appliance manuals so I have quick access to phone numbers, replacement parts codes, purchase dates, and troubleshooting advice that saves on calling out a service person. I keep them organized and discard after I purchase a new appliance.