Survey #247—Full Response from Em
| Please select the statement that BEST describes your paper backlog. | I have a massive backlog of paper sorting and filing, and I can’t see any end in sight. |
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| Please select the statement that BEST describes your ongoing relationship with incoming paper. | I sort and manage each day’s incoming mail and other papers as they arrive in my home. |
| Describe the types or categories of paper clutter that you find the most challenging to sort, purge, and organize. | Paper that proves my history is a big problem. Online records are purged too soon to suit me and there are many papers that I have needed years later. Many papers I keep because they are reminders of what I have accomplished and experienced. My biggest pile of paper is what I found by accident, then being told by police detectives to sort through it for them for clues that could help solve a mystery. It's three banker boxes full. |
| Please complete one or more of the following statements: “I struggle with paper clutter because ___.” “I would have an easier time managing paper if only ___.” “The accumulation of paper in my home makes me feel ___.” | I struggle with paper clutter because I fear losing my history. I did not have a camera for most of my life, so papers are all I have to remind me of many events. I also struggle with paper clutter because I see craft potential for so much of it. I would have an easier time managing paper if only someone would sit beside me and reassuringly tell me, one by one until I get the hang of it, which papers can be thrown in the trash, which ones must be shredded, and how to manage the ones that should be kept. Although I don't subscribe to magazines, throw away ads, and pay bills when they enter the house, I still have paper clutter because, clearly, I don't know how to manage it. I depend on paper bills because I am afraid I will miss a payment if I don't get a physical reminder. The accumulation of paper in my home makes me feel inept. |
| Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). If we think that your question—and our answer—might be useful or instructive to The Clutter Fairy Weekly audience, we’ll share them in an upcoming episode. | The little book I keep with my emergency kit stores my computer passwords, but being asked to change my passwords so frequently has made a mess of it. How do you store your passwords? |
| Future topics | Do you have suggestions for the people whose memories are dependent on touch more than by seeing an object or a picture of it? |
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