If you're not a "paper person," you might be surprised to know how many people in these modern times still receive statements and hold on to paper for various reasons. In the case of the photo here, my client is 90, but I've created systems just like this for people in their 20s. Sometimes, it's actually a crucial step in a journey towards digitizing more.

So many of you reacted to my post on the pain of putting together my wedding photo album with an “Amen!” The problem is that folks tend to equate “organized photos” with “perfectly polished photo album,” so they stall on doing anything in-between. There is SO much that can be done in-between these two points!

This time of year many of us are reminded of how disorganized our greeting cards are, and this is a twofold problem: blank cards AND the cards we’ve received. When I first meet a new client with these problems, the cards they’ve kept might be thrown in a box at best, or at worst, scattered throughout the home, mixed in with current and important documents.

I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to do a video on a system that I have created dozens of times over the years.

The BIGGEST problem many of my clients have is that of incoming mail. Most of the mail they keep is bills and statements.

It can feel anticlimactic that the physical remains of a decades-long career sometimes fit neatly in a stack of boxes. Some of my clients have multiple boxes that they brought home on their last day of work, even if that last day was many, many years ago.

You may wish you had the carte blanc services of a family member who is a professional organizer, but my poor mom can’t enjoy a glass of wine with me without me starting to dig around and organize something. “Kacy, get your hands outta there!” is commonly heard at my parents’ home (and has been since I was a kid!).