LPO Clutter Scavenger Hunt 1 – Junk Mail

Welcome to the first Laurel Plum Online Clutter Scavenger Hunt. If you missed the explanation post, take a minute to read about it here.

For the first challenge you are going to reduce the amount of paper brought into your house. One of the easiest way to reduce the clutter in your house is to reduce the amount of stuff that you bring into your house.  The problem is that in addition to the things you and your family bring home, there is a lot that is delivered without request. Yes, I’m talking about junk mail.

If you have any junk mail around the house, collect it and discard it now. Go room to room and then flip through the papers on your desk.

Now, take a minute to Opt Out of future mailings using the internet or Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT.

While you are at it, lets reduce the marketing telephone calls, too.  Using the internet opt out here or call 1-888-382-1222 from each phone you want to register. Including your cell phones.

For E-mail

When it comes to reducing the amount of junk mail or spam in your e-mail box, there are two things I recommend.  First, never select the opt out notice in the spam itself.  If you do, you only confirm to the solicitor that your e-mail is in fact a valid e-mail address.

The other thing I highly recommend is for you to set up a separate e-mail account to use specifically for any internet activity. Set up several if you want.  I have one that I use to subscribe to coupons and discount offers.  I have another I set up several years ago for subscribing to e-zines and newsletters from sites I liked.  I can use my personal account during the week without being over run with garbage, then peruse the other accounts on the weekends. Determine what types of accounts will work for you.

Look at the contract with your e-mail provider.  They often provide a given number of e-mail addresses for your account for free to make sure that each person in your household can have their own account.  Is there one available that you haven’t set up?  If you do not have this option available, there are many free e-mail options online.  Google’s G mail is easy to set up.  Try to look to see what types of sorting filters your program offers and learn how to use them.  This will help even more.

Your Story

Just for fun, for each challenge let me know what is the weirdest thing you find.  As always, I would love to hear when any challenge makes a difference for you big or small.

Before you start, grab a camera. Take before and after pictures. Keeping a pictorial journal for your decluttering accomplishments can be a big boost later on those days when you feel you are not making a difference.

Further Considerations

Once you lighten your incoming mail a bit, you may want to take a look at Managing Your Daily Mail. It will walk you through setting up a simple system to begin to reduce some of the paper you have floating around your home.