Mailing list removal

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Unsubscribe from as many mailing lists as possible. Doing so reduces both paper and electronic clutter, cuts down on daily decisions, saves time, and minimizes the effort needed to organize your mail.

Here’s a broad list of the kinds of mailing lists someone can unsubscribe from (both paper and digital):

mail boxPaper Mail (Postal Mail):

  • Catalogs (clothing, home goods, tools, hobbies, etc.)

  • Charity solicitations (fundraising letters, donation requests)

  • Political mailings (campaign flyers, party newsletters)

  • Credit card offers

  • Insurance offers

  • Magazine subscriptions

  • Store promotions and coupons

  • Local business mailers (restaurants, gyms, salons, real estate agents)

Email Mailings:

  • Retail/store newsletters

  • Promotional offers/discounts

  • Charity fundraising appeals

  • Political campaigns

  • Subscription services (newsletters, online magazines, podcasts)

  • Travel deals (airlines, hotels, booking sites)

  • Social media notifications (friend requests, updates, reminders)

mobile phoneText Messages / Calls:

  • Retail promotions (coupons, flash sales)

  • Political texts

  • Charity donation requests

  • Survey companies

  • Subscription alerts (shipping updates, appointment reminders you no longer want)

Some of these can be stopped by directly unsubscribing, others through services like DMAchoice.org (for U.S. paper junk mail), the National Do Not Mail List, the FTC Do Not Call Registry, or simply by contacting the sender.

Be an Equalizer

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In our consumer-driven society, it’s common to have more coming in than going out. Aim to equalize your belongings—become an “equalizer” by letting go of as much as you bring in. This simple habit helps reduce clutter and makes cleaning and organizing much easier.

Help letting go:

 

action clapboard

Out of sight, out of mind

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The phrase out of sight, out of mind is very common. We fear that if we put things away we’ll forget about them. So, we leave tools on the counter to remind us to fix a cabinet. Borrowed things pile up on the chair so we don’t forget to return them. Paper litters our desk as reminders to take some action.

Leaving it all out won’t lead to fixing, processing, or taking action. It leads to piles, mess, and disorder. We have to prompt ourselves to take action and then act. This can be done by following 3 steps.

  1. Decide to act by considering alternatives. Question if the action is worth taking. Is the cupboard worth fixing ourselves? If it is not worth it, hire a handyman. However if it is worth it, we need to commit to completing all the required action steps.
  2. Make a choice of when to take action and schedule it.
  3. Do it! Complete the action.

Sort mail immediately

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The best way to stay on top of the incoming mail is to sort it immediately. Sort it into the 4 categories listed below and have a specific spot for each category.

  1. Junk – recycle or toss it
  2. Shred – shred or put in box to be shredded later
  3. Action required – take action or write down what action needs to happen on a sticky note (and attach)
  4. Delegate to another family member to open and process

 

Use containers as your guide

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Allow the container to determine the limit of how many you can keep. You maintain control of what you keep and the container serves as a guide for the quantity of what you keep. For example: use your shoe rack to help you determine how many shoes to keep. By only keeping the amount that will comfortably fit on the shoe rack you’ll be able to organize your shoes quickly and easily.