How to Declutter Important Documents

In today’s digital age, the accumulation of important documents can quickly turn into a cluttered mess. Finding the right balance between keeping necessary paperwork and discarding obsolete ones is essential for maintaining an organized space and ensuring you can easily access vital information when needed. This blog post will provide valuable insights on how to declutter important documents efficiently and offer guidance on which documents you should keep and which ones are safe to let go. So let’s dive in and reclaim control over your paperwork as we learn how to declutter important documents.

Welcome to my Year Long Thorough Declutter Series. We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Each day we do a daily task based on the room we are working on. Today, our task is to start decluttering your clutter in your home office. If you prefer watching videos, check out my youtube channel here. Today, we’ll look at how to declutter important documents in your home office.

The best way to develop a new habit is by slowly and daily application. We will begin a new daily declutter habit starting with the 2nd bathroom. In the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series, we will declutter 30 minutes a day, five days a week on weekdays. Sign up to receive daily encouragement and motivation.

Plus, you’ll learn your specific daily task to work toward completing the goal of a Year Long Thorough Declutter where you will declutter every space and learn how to start to purge your house. Are you ready to finally get organized? If so, will you join us? Leave a comment below to subscribe.

If you are new to the blog, welcome! I blog about cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. You can find my free printables to help you get organized in the drop down menu under the Printables category.Get my Free Personal Records Printable Checklist here. You can also get my free Medical Records Printable here to ensure you have a place to document medical conditions, medical records, immunization records, surgery records, medication tracker, etc.

Currently we are working on decluttering the Home Office. The daily task for today, May 25, 2023, is to begin decluttering your important documents. Remember, we are focusing on just the Home Office area, so don’t declutter your whole house. We will cover each room separately.

How to Declutter Important Documents

Identify and Organize: Before delving into the decluttering process, start by gathering all your important documents in one place. Sort them into categories such as financial, legal, medical, and personal. This step will provide a clear overview of what you possess and make it easier to evaluate which documents are essential.

Essential Documents to Keep: I would recommend keeping important documents in a fire-proof safe. Certain documents should always be retained for legal, financial, or personal reasons. These include:

a) Identification and Personal Records: Keep originals or certified copies of birth certificates, passports, Social Security cards, marriage certificates, and adoption papers.

b) Financial Documents: Retain tax returns, bank statements, investment records, loan documents, and property deeds.

c) Insurance Policies: Keep copies of health, auto, home, and life insurance policies.

d) Legal and Estate Planning: Preserve wills, trusts, power of attorney documents, and any court orders or agreements.

e) Medical Records: Maintain medical history, immunization records, and prescriptions.

Discard Safely: While it’s crucial to retain important documents, many papers can be safely disposed of to declutter your space. The following items can generally be discarded:

a) Expired Documents: Dispose of expired passports, driver’s licenses, and identification cards.

b) Outdated Financial Statements: Shred outdated bank statements, canceled checks, and credit card statements once you’ve verified that they are no longer needed for tax or legal purposes.

c) Non-essential Receipts: Discard non-tax-deductible receipts for everyday purchases like groceries and small expenses.

d) Old Manuals and Warranties: Unless relevant to current appliances or electronics, recycle outdated product manuals and warranties.

Digitalize and Back Up: In today’s digital world, reducing paper clutter by digitizing important documents is a practical solution. Scan and store digital copies of essential papers using secure cloud storage or external hard drives. Ensure regular backups to prevent loss or damage.

Which important documents should I always keep?

When it comes to important documents, it’s essential to keep certain records for legal, financial, or personal reasons. Here is a list of documents you should always consider keeping:

Identification and Personal Records:
- Birth certificates
- Passports
- Social Security cards
- Marriage certificates
- Adoption papers
- Military records
Financial Documents:
- Tax returns (Keep for at least seven years)
- Bank statements (Keep for one year, unless needed for tax or legal purposes)
- Investment records
- Loan documents
- Property deeds and titles
- Vehicle titles
Insurance Policies:
- Health insurance policies
- Auto insurance policies
- Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policies
- Life insurance policies
Legal and Estate Planning:
- Wills
- Trust documents
- Power of attorney documents
- Living wills or advance healthcare directives
- Any court orders or agreements
Medical Records:
- Medical history
- Immunization records
- Prescriptions and medication information
Education and Employment:
- Diplomas and educational transcripts
- Employment contracts
- Performance evaluations
- Professional certifications and licenses

It’s important to note that this is a general guideline, and you should consider consulting with legal or financial professionals to determine specific document retention requirements based on your jurisdiction and personal circumstances. Additionally, some documents may have digital counterparts that can be stored securely, reducing the need for physical copies while ensuring easy access when necessary.

Decluttering important documents from the comfort of your home can bring a sense of organization and peace to your living space. By categorizing, identifying essential documents, and safely discarding non-essential ones, you’ll regain control over your paperwork. Remember, digitizing documents can provide an extra layer of security and accessibility. By implementing these strategies, you’ll create a streamlined system that allows you to locate important information swiftly and efficiently, while maintaining a clutter-free environment.

Get my Free Personal Records Printable Checklist here. You can also get my free Medical Records Printable here to ensure you have a place to document medical conditions, medical records, immunization records, surgery records, medication tracker, etc.

I personally have a bad habit of placing items that need to be donated in the laundry room behind the door. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong. Delaying decisions means we still need to declutter.

Maybe you have a habit of delaying decisions, too. Let’s decide today where your decluttered items need to go. Do they need to be donated? Disposed of? Don’t delay that decision any longer. If they need to be donated, sort and put them in your vehicle. Then, make a note in your calendar to drop them off at your favorite charity.

As you are decluttering your items, I want you to try not to just move them to another room. You may be tempted to do that. However, resist the urge to keep everything. Decluttering means we actually part with these items. Otherwise, assign those items a permanent home where you can best utilize them.

How to Declutter Important Documents

1.Only spend time on your specific daily task.

2.Do not get side-tracked or distracted.

3.Work within a time of day that you have the most energy and stamina. This is one of the most useful declutter motivation tips. Listen to your body and work at decluttering when you feel the most alert and energized.

4.Avoid thinking too long about whether to keep or discard an item. This is one specific way for How to Be Ruthless When Decluttering.

5.Avoid cleaning during your declutter. The goal is to purge the dead weight. Getting rid of the clutter is your priority. Cleaning can be accomplished later. Read on for more declutter motivation tips and my room specific deep clean checklist, though, as you will begin cleaning after your declutter.

How to Declutter Important Documents

Supplies Needed:

1. boxes -preferably ones you can donate (Avoid plastic storage bins because you may be tempted to just store the items and not part with them.)

2. sturdy trash bags

3. marker/pen to label boxes

Decluttering Tip: Avoid using storage bins to declutter. Storage bins tend to tell your brain to “store” the items for later. That is just delaying decisions. If you aren’t getting rid of items when you declutter, you are not truly decluttering. This is why I recommend a trash bag, also. A trash bag tells your brain to “trash” the item.

Obviously, recycle if you have that option. The boxes you use should be ones you are willing to part with, so I recommend sturdy cardboard boxes. As to donations, there are many charities that will come pick up your items for you at your home.

I use one in particular where you can book an appointment for pick-up online. This is so convenient, as it saves you the hassle of hauling stuff away yourself. Scheduling that pick-up also motivates you to declutter by a certain date.

How to Declutter Important Documents

1. Start by eliminating trash first- use a sturdy trash bag

2. Sort items by category if needed so you can see what you have

3.Get rid of items that don’t work or that work poorly, expired items, anything you don’t love, anything that you’ll never use again

4. Box up the donations and trash/recycle the rest

5.Select a charity to donate your items and schedule the pick-up if that is an option

How Do You Declutter Your Entire House (and get it deep clean?): Need to deep clean?

First, My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.

Second, My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.

Third, My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.

Fourth, My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.

Fifth, My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.

You can get your printable Daily Housekeeping Routine and Deep Cleaning Your House Schedule here. This 15 page printable kit is delivered digitally to your email for you to print and personalize. What Does a Deep Clean Include? It includes a daily schedule, calendar pages, and deep cleaning checklists for every room and area of your home. Check out the link above to see a sample page of what you’ll get in my printable set designed to help you create your personal Homemaking Checklist.

Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.

New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:

Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.

Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.

Step 3: How do you remove clutter? How Do You Declutter Your Home?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.

Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.

Interested in becoming a full-time blogger like me? Check out my blogging series. At the top of every page on my blog, you’ll find a drop down menu. Just select the BLOGGING category.