Declutter First, then Get Organized

Whether you walk into a store geared to home or office, if they are encouraging you to spring clean and get organized, chances are they are suggesting that you purchase some of their handy organizing tools and systems. 

This is quite the temptation.  "If I got this item, then I know I'd find all of my stuff and I'd finally be organized," we think wistfully.  My parents were caught up in this mentality.  "If I buy this tool box, I can keep my stuff together."  Yet, my father had three nearly empty tool boxes.  He probably bought them on sale.

My mother loved office supply boxes, which I have to admit are a perfect size - not so big that if you fill the box you can't lift it; not so small that nothing fits inside.  However, the boxes were meant to "hide" stuff and convey the appearance of organization.

Instead of a random clutter of objects, she had stacks and stacks of boxes.

Before you buy a single organizing tool, container, gadget, or system, declutter your stuff.  Don't buy the four-drawer file cabinet because you have so much paperwork to organize.  Go through those papers and decide what you need to keep and what you can toss.  After doing this at my parents' house, the paperwork that would have filled several four-drawer file cabinets (had I been inclined to purchase them) winnowed down into a single plastic file box that I can carry around.  The rest of the paperwork was no longer important.

When you start decluttering your paperwork, I'd suggest that you start with some file folders.  That's it.  Maybe a label maker, because I love the neat look of the printed labels.  Don't buy a box or file cabinet.  Plan on using what you already have. 

Declutter first, getting rid of the stuff you don't need to keep.  Then look at what you have and decide how you'll organize that.  Chances are it will be a fraction of what you thought you needed to organize