It's easy to weed out the duplicates or ones you took to remind you to pick up more orange juice at the store, but try to limit the amount you have per event. This is also the perfect time to pare down and delete photos that aren't the most important. That way your photos will stay listed in the order in which they were taken. For example, if your camera names an image IMG_1234.JPG, rename it IMG_1234_Sarah_Graduation.JPG. If you’re giving descriptive file names to images, you can keep the camera’s automatic naming. Within those folders, put the photos in sub-folders named for the event or subject. Keep your digital photos chronological, sorted into folders named for the month and year. You may be thinking: 'What if I don't have a scanner?' Well, you have a smart phone that probably takes great photos. Then you can reassign the sheets of paper to the Shred stack. Give the computer files descriptive names, and file them in clearly marked folders on your computer and/or in cloud storage. File: Separate this pile into papers you want to hold onto physically (put those in a file cabinet) and papers where only the information is important, not the sheet of paper itself.Household: Put these items (receipts, coupons, manuals, anything you to keep your household running) in a drawer with dividers.

To-Do: Keep this in a designated tray in plain sight.Tackle the onslaught of loose papers by sorting them into five stacks: File tax returns, financial statements, and other important documents in hanging folders in a plastic bin and stash it somewhere out of the way - way out of the way, especially if you also have digital copies from your accountant, financial advisor, or fund manager (just make sure those digital files are backed up).

How to organize your life on paper