Friction: You don’t feel like addressing today’s mail because there is so much of it.
Remove the Friction: Don’t think of the mail as a single mountain of challenges.  In fact, don’t even call it “mail.” Call it bills to pay, junk mail to toss, donations to consider, statements to file, etc.  Sort it accordingly.  Remove the pressure on yourself to address every piece and simply commit to sorting them. This should take less than two minutes. No friction.

Friction: You resist the sorting idea because it just leads to sorted piles on the dining table that eventually run into each other.
Remove the Friction: Never accept the dining table as storage.  Think of it as a runway for processing things like mail and, well, dinner.  Create designated areas for each category so there is always a reliable plan for moving the process forward.

Friction: You feel like you should probably shred some of the junk mail, but you’re not sure what to shred and you don’t have the time.
Remove the Friction: Know your comfort level and be consistent.  For example, if you’ve decided you are just concerned about credit card numbers and your social security number, don’t waste time pondering every letter with your address on it.  Also, don’t shred before you are done sorting.  It’s really important that you do the sorting FIRST and every day.  If you run out of time to shred, just keep a shred box.  You can then shred it while you watch TV, or you can delegate it or, if there’s a lot, you can have a service like Shred Station Express do it at a reasonable rate.

There should be nothing holding you back from sorting the mail daily, recycling, washing dishes, collecting laundry, and clearing your desk at night. Each of these processes should be so easy it feels like cheating.  If that’s not true, look at the part that’s slowing you down and ask yourself, what would it take to move the process forward.  The more often you have to do something the more effort you should invest in making it flow more fluidly.  The key is to find the friction points and remove them.

Tired of looking at all the junk on the surfaces and floor in your workspace? Of course most of it is actually work files that need better systems, but what about the real junk? If you haven’t created an easy system for your junk, how can you expect to create an easy system for your files? Whether it’s as complex as managing several simultaneous projects or as simple as tossing junk, all organizing systems rely on the same simple formula:

APPROPRIATE STRUCTURE + EASY HABIT = EFFECTIVE SYSTEM

If your trash-can is so small that it is filled up by lunch time then it is NOT an appropriate structure. Whatever your tossing habit is, it will be discouraged by the overflowing trash-can. You’ve got more important things to do than tamp down the trash, let alone run the contents downstairs to the dumpster in the middle of the day. Make sure there is always a generous room for growth in your structures.

Also, if you care about separating between trash, recycle, and shred, one trash-can’s not going to cut it. In the photo above, you can see the three bin system I keep below my work surfaces. Black is always trash, blue is always recycle, and box is always shred. Easy. It’s inviting to use this system, which makes it easier to use than not use. That’s when you know you’ve got a good system.

But it doesn’t quite stop there. You’ll notice the paper bag in the blue bin. A good system always takes the NEXT step into consideration. I KNOW that I have to take the contents down to the garage for recycling and I KNOW I’m going to want to multitask the trip, so I make the contents AS EASY AS POSSIBLE to grab with a free hand.

Actually it doesn’t stop there. Bear with me please. I know the handles will make for easy grabbing, but I also know they may get in the way of tossing papers. That’s why they’re folded down. I also know the paper bag may sit in the garage for a while and in the meantime paper still needs to get into the blue bin. For this reason I keep a second paper bag folded in the bottom of the bin.

Starting to sound a little obsessive? Wouldn’t be the first time. The point here is to REMOVE THE BARRIERS. All of them. I have created a structure for my disposal that ensures the easiest of habits. This combination of appropriate structure and easy habit ensures the most effective system. When you have an effective system you find yourself WANTING to use it.

When you master this combination with the simplest systems you can start to understand what is required for your more complex systems.

TODAY’S KEY TO UNLOCKING CLUTTER: Start by creating an EZ Pass for your junk.