How to Tackle a Backlog

Looking anxious, Diane* brought me over to a hidden spot between her dining table and credenza and gestured to several large tote bags. They were packed full of mail, paperwork, and notes collected over several months, perhaps even years.

“I feel so ashamed that I’ve let it pile up this much,” she admitted. “Maybe I should just shred it all!”

“Sure,” I said encouragingly, “but I don’t think that’s what you want to do, is it?”

Diane admitted that, tempting as it sounded just to get rid of all the papers, that’s not the way she wanted to handle the backlog. It was too haphazard a solution and she knew there were things in there that she needed to deal with and possibly even important papers she needed to save, such as legal documents and tax records.

But the opposite approach — go through everything with a fine-toothed comb — seemed an insurmountable task.

When you’re facing a backlog — whether it’s papers, clothing, toys, mementos, or whatever — you need a framework to help you see past the mountain.

The ORGANIZED APPROACH is to identify categories, make pre-decisions, and set up systems.

1. Identify Categories
What types of things are in that backlog pile? With Diane’s papers, it was bills, notes, receipts, and documents. If it’s a clothes pile, it might be sweatshirts, workout gear, t-shirts, jeans, etc.

The categories will become apparent once you begin sorting. When you put things into their categories, you can see how much you have of any one type. I did this with my teenage daughter’s clothes and she discovered she had over 40 sweatshirts! Even she admitted that seemed like too many.

Once things are in their categories, you can compare like with like and it’s easier to see which to keep and which to reduce.

2. Make Pre-Decisions
If you have to make a new decision every time you pick up an item, you’ll quickly hit decision fatigue and feel overwhelmed. Instead, pre-decide what to do with different types of items.

After all, as O.G. organizer Barbara Hemphill said, “Clutter is postponed decisions.”

While digging through a backlog and identifying the categories, start coming up with pre-decisions.

Diane’s pre-decisions were to

• Recycle all solicitations (ads or charity)
• Look over then shred medical EOBs
• File only two years’ worth of bank statements and bills.

Now, when she looks at a paper, she instantly knows what to do with it. Not only did this help her tackle the backlog fairly quickly, it will also help her avoid future pile-ups.

3. Set Up Systems
What are you going to do with the excess that you’re eliminating? When new things come in, how are you going to process them? Where will you put them?

For Diane, we cleared out her file bin, set up new files, and designated a space for her to process incoming papers. For papers that need to be destroyed, we found a store near her home that offers shredding services. Diane now uses one of the tote bags to collect papers that need to be shredded and, when it’s full, she takes it to be shredded.

Don't let the overwhelm of a backlog paralyze you. By following the ORGANIZED APPROACH — Identifying Categories, Making Pre-Decisions, and Setting Up Systems — you can transform chaos into control.

​*Name changed to protect the disorganized.