Minimalist Move Day 68: The Mountain of Boxes of Papers
It’s Minimalist Move day 68, and I’m on to the enormous step of digitizing paper. The one thing that lasted through all of our previous trash / give away / donate rounds during the minimalist move is the mountain of boxes of papers.
Tax records, receipts, kids’ artwork, scrapbook mementos, prize ribbons from the state fair… you get the idea. I gathered up all the paper and put it in banker boxes, neatly stacked into a mountain in my office for this fine photo:
It may not look like much in the photo, but keep in mind that there is over 300 pounds worth of just paper in these boxes, paper that we will have to pay to ship. Not only that, but most of these papers we don’t even want! The good news is that almost everything can be digitized by scanning or taking digital photos of the items.
There are still these items remaining: 11 banker boxes of papers, 1 storage bin of memorabilia, 2 sorting bins of papers, and 1 decorative box full of photos (portraits mostly). The huge box of photos were already scanned and thrown away (a project that took me 2 days), so they’re not shown in the photo above.
Today, I’m starting the digitize step and my perfect-world estimate is that I can finish it today. Realistically, I know it may take 4-6 days to complete the scanning and sorting.
Minimalist Paperwork & Photos Goals
I would like to have no more than 1 box of papers and photos left.
I am okay with having 2 boxes left.
Anything more than 2 boxes terrifies me.
This step takes longer than many other things because every piece of paper has to be handled, scanned or photographed, and then discarded. The throw away phase is time consuming too, because some papers can go in the trash, while others have to be separated out for shredding because of financial, tax, or personal information on them.
Wish me luck in this process and I’ll give you a full update (including before and after pictures) when the paper has been digitized!
Can you get started on your minimalist journey with a mini digitizing project today? How about scanning all of last year’s kid artwork and then letting it go gently to the trash can? Let me know how you do in the comments!
3 Comments
Áshley
First time visiting your blog and I have found so many wonderful tips and helpful insights. Love it!
Sunny C
Hey Danelle;
I hope that you All are doing well. I wished to tell you about my own experiences with my Artwork. When I was in School, the vast majority of my Artwork was kept by the Teacher, and I was not allowed to keep it for myself!!!!
The few things that I was able to keep my Parents Treasured, as I was “talented” My Parents had my Paintings framed, and to this day they hang in their Family room.
I would suggest keeping any really good pieces, take photos of the rest, and if any Grandparents are interested give them some fine one of a kind Art, by one of their favorite people!
One of my Friends does this with her Children’s Artworks. Each Child has a box for Artwork that they wish to save. When the box is full, the Child decides what to keep and what to toss. From what I understand, it works out well for them. Maybe it could be of a help to you. 🙂
Lovee
This digitizing activity really pushes me to do the work and tidy up my things. I love how I can still keep all the memorabilia without really stacking up all the papers and waste. Thanks!