• No matter how big your stacks of paper, you can organize itstack of magazines image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com
  
  Whether it is work-related files, bills and receipts or your child's precious artwork, paper seems to have a way of multiplying rapidly. While it may be next to impossible to end or even impede all of the paper that comes across your desk or through your front door, learning to organize it can help you control it.
  
  

Go Digital

• One way to organize paper is to minimize the amount you actually keep. Use a computer scanner to scan and upload all sorts of papers, from tax forms to your firstborn's kindergarten report card. You can save the files to a disk, on a server or on a secure website that provides online file storage. For especially important or sensitive forms and documents, it is advisable to save them in two locations such as a set of CDs. Stash the disks in a fireproof box or safe to protect vital and sentimental papers.
  
  

Deal With It Immediately

• You will be able to get a better handle on organizing your papers if you contend with them as soon as they land on your desk, in your mailbox or on your kitchen table. When papers pile up, you are more likely to feel overwhelmed and unable to get a grip on things. Anything that is not absolutely necessary should go right into the trash or recycle bin--think junk mail or printouts of memos you already received in email form. If you receive a paper to which someone else should tend, delegate it right away. For those items that need to be filed, carve out 10 minutes each day for filing.
  
  

Send It Off-site

• If you have stacks of paper that you know you need to save but you simply do not have a good place to keep them all, consider renting storage off-site. There are many record storage services who will come to your home or office and pick up your boxed files and documents. Look for a storage service that is compliant with privacy and security regulations, especially if your business demands it. File storage services can usually pull and deliver your files to you quickly should you require them.