Lots of people have trouble keeping up with the daily influx of mail that comes into their homes.  I often find stacks of it in clients’ homes and sometimes the mail goes back years.  While it’s common to have trouble with mail, it’s not an insurmountable issue and there are ways to improve the flow of mail in your home.

You can eliminate mail

The best way to deal with the onslaught of mail is to stop it from happening in the first place.  This isn’t an immediate fix but if you chip away at it, it’s the most effective.  Generally there are 3 types of mail: advertisements (junk), things that need action (bills), and informational (personal correspondence, notices).  Personal correspondence is something you probably want to continue receiving, so we’ll skip that.  For bills, you can slowly eliminate them (though not the obligation of paying, unfortunately) by enrolling in electronic bill delivery and automatic payments.  As each bill comes in, go to the company’s website and sign up for electronic access to your account, if you don’t already have it.  Then seek out your account settings to switch to electronic bill delivery and auto payments.  If you have trouble, call the phone number on the bill and ask for assistance with these 2 steps.  For those who are uncomfortable with setting up the auto pay through the company, you can head over to your bank’s website after enrolling in electronic statements to sign up for automatic bill pay directly through the bank.

You can toss it before it enters the home

The second best way to deal with mail is to not let it enter your home.  Be proactive by setting up a garbage or recycling receptacle right by the door through which your mail arrives.  Look through the stack and toss the irrelevant immediately and without a second thought.

You can deal with it right away

Of course, it’s inevitable that there’ll be some pieces of mail that have to be kept and dealt with.  If you have multiple family members who receive mail, set up inboxes in the form of a tray or wall pocket for each person.  For things that need to be addressed, such as bills to pay, do it right away.  If you have the funds to pay bills when they arrive, don’t put it off and instead rest easy knowing that it’s done and you won’t have to remember to do it later (or risk forgetting and incurring late fees).

Finally, if you have a stack (or stacks) of un-processed mail, chip away at it a little at a time.  Grab a handful and deal with just that amount each day until you’ve finished.  It’s a great task to do during commercials or while you have your morning coffee/tea.

Whether you have stacks of unopened mail or you just feel overwhelmed by the daily pressure of having to deal with it, the above tips can help.  Try some or all of these tips to reduce the burden of mail in your day-to-day life.