I try to shred everything with personal ID information on it but it takes patience. It might take less with an industrial shredder but I don't have one.
Even the sheer amount of paper that seems important, or possibly important, can be quite daunting. I used to get both angry and depressed whenever my wife wanted to dust. So many papers to go through, so many items that had to be decided on and filed! And all had to be done NOW if she was going to be able to get her work done without being held up by me. Harold Taylor's advice helped me very much:
Don't agonize. When trying to clear a desk surface, clear it into a box in great chunks. The surface will be cleared quickly. The papers can be gone through later.
It is true that in How to Get Control of your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein, the author advises simply emptying a desk drawer of papers into a box and storing it. If you don't ever need to paw through the box, after a month or two, throw it all out, box and contents, too.
I have never been much of a neatnik, thinking that working on a project or a duty was more productive than cleaning, straightening or filing. I am still much that way, but I have discovered that a really bare desk, coffee table and kitchen table are quite stimulating and pleasing. Really cleared, they calm my soul and give me energy and confidence.
I have also discovered that while some objects and some files mean a great deal to me, they typically are not all that valuable or irreplaceable. In fact, I may feel bad if I lose them or destroy them or throw them out, but after a short bad feeling about a "loss", I don't ever think of them or need them again. That knowledge helps me not be too concerned about keeping all the knickknacks, photos, letters, etc. I don't want to spend too much time storing them, culling them or cuddling them. Those activities don't appeal to me as a good use of my time here.
