The “dog ate my homework” excuse doesn’t work in adulthood. But paper clutter sure does multiply, effectively making it easier to lose track of where important papers are in the home. Bringing workshops, solutions, and hopefully a locked shredding bin to Warren is the Warren Health Equity Zone via the East Bay Community Action Program. 

Kristen Read, director of Warren Health Equity Zone, along with Elsa Schloemer, the program coordinator for Bristol and Warren Health Equity Zones, recently held two workshops called “Conquering Paper Clutter.” The first event was held on March 13 at the George Hail Free Library, and the second one was held on March 20 at the Warren Senior Center. 

The timing for these events coincided with both spring cleaning and tax season for a reason. Read said, “We had this event around tax season on purpose because we know people often worry about getting rid of old tax returns.” Read also noted fraud as a concern, offering her plans for the future of the senior center. With enthusiasm in her voice, she shared, “The goal is to bring in a locked shredding bin for the community to use at the senior center.” 

According to Read, the Rhode Island Department of Health funds the Warren Health Equity Zone, which is then supported by the East Bay Community Action Program. Read explained, “We help support people with things like food security, housing, and safety.” Because of this work, Read often sees how being more organized can play a role in accessing these kinds of resources for people in need. She shared, “We help income-eligible people apply for resources and sometimes they need help filling out the paperwork, and that’s when we see the issues with their paperwork not being organized.” 

Read went on to explain how paper clutter can sometimes lead to a bigger problem associated with “hoarding.” She explained, “Invisible hoarding is a problem that often starts slowly and gets worse over time, as people don’t know what to get rid of or how to properly dispose of certain things, like important paperwork.” This problem of “invisible hoarding” became known to Read years ago when she had a conversation with the fire chief, who shared what kind of support could be useful to the community, stating, “We need support around hoarding.” 

Getting ‘paper prepared’ 

Lisa Griffith, a productivity coach, certified professional organizer, speaker, and trainer, was invited to speak with the community about organizing their paper clutter in a way that makes sense, both at home and in the office. Using slides and some relatable stories, she was able to communicate the issue in a lighthearted but serious tone. She began by talking about a situation that most people have encountered at some point in their lives. She said, “Many people have experienced walking into a room and not remembering why, and then asking, “What did I come in here for?” 

This situation was the perfect transition into her next point about sticky notes. Using sticky notes sounds like a great way to avoid the ‘What did I come in here for?’ situation, but according to Griffith, one sticky note leads to another and then another, and somehow, they get lost and then the reason for the sticky note gets lost along with it.  

She went on to discuss the problem with paper clutter, telling another story about an argument between a mother and daughter over some missing checks. Months after having the argument, the checks were found underneath a pile of papers. Griffith calls these piles of paper where things get buried “forget-me piles.” 

Her tips on avoiding these mishaps include reducing what comes in, making a decision on what to keep, establishing a system, and filing it away.

These free events offered numerous tips on how to organize paper clutter in the home and office, as well as tips for what to get rid of and what to keep. File folders were given away as a parting gift, and the hope is that a shredder will be added to the Warren Senior Center someday to help the community feel safer in disposing of important papers like tax returns. The overall goal, according to Read, is to help people form good habits before the paper clutter problem grows so large that it becomes overwhelming and turns into a much bigger issue — “invisible hoarding.”