420 - The Weight of Paper in America

I want to talk with you about the Weight of Paper in American Households. I began talking about paper in 2012, when I shared a DIY version of the Sunday Basket® that transformed my paper organization at home. At that point, I had been using my own Sunday Basket® for ten years. I began using this paper organization system when I had two kids under two years old, and I needed a way to get my actionable to-do’s actually accomplished. I needed a way to manage the mail, the kitchen counter piles, and the kids paperwork. Looking at random papers all over the house kept me reactive, and I wanted to be more proactive and effective when managing my home.  I learned to delay the things that initially seemed urgent and important to one day a week. By developing the system of giving these things regular attention on Sunday, I was able to have more weekday time to run my direct sales business, be a stay at home mom, and manage our house too.  This system results in an immediate change, and over time (usually about six weeks) the habit of addressing all of your paper weekly will give you back five hours every week. There was a long time when people believed they didn’t have or need paper, and there has been an expectation of a paperless society.  In early 2021, Organize 365 sponsored research about the State of the Household in the 21st Century. As part of that survey, I wanted to learn more about how different generations were dealing with their paper. In today’s podcast, I share the outcomes of the research we did on the weight of paper in the American home. For the purpose of this study, the Sunday Basket® refers to a safe holding place for all of your actionable papers, ongoing household projects, kitchen counter piles, and to-do items.  Here are the main findings I want to share with you today:  Both men and women agreed the Sunday Basket® would be a useful solution for five different kinds of paper clutter: mental piles, kitchen counter piles, unfinished project papers, unorganized reference papers, and important papers.  The same research subjects also agreed that the four main binders offered by Organize 365 would be a useful solution for finding their important reference papers.    84% of Americans believe that organization is a learnable skill!   It is so exciting to have the statistical, quantitative research done to back what I have known for years. As a result of this research, I have more information to give you better resources to help YOU get organized!