How do YOU do your shredding?
The “What do YOU do?” series gives you a glimpse into my life as a messy, creative person and invites you to share your organizing insights and ideas. Jump in – you’re an expert on your own experience.
It’s happened enough times that it’s become a joke: It’s not Office Spa Day unless someone breaks a shredder.
All that vigorous cleaning and the poor shredders don’t stand a chance!
Why shred in the first place?
Besides the fact that I live in the identity-theft capital of the U.S.? It’s just smart.
What is currently working well for me:
We own a shredder. That’s a good start. Technically, it belongs to Inspired Spouse, but I do occasionally use it. Yup.
(I’m fishing… can you tell?)
What I’m currently working on:
Everything else. I know I should shred things like account numbers and checks and stuff, but I tend to err on the risky side, I’m afraid.
The shredder lives in Inspired Spouse’s office, not mine. So I have to (ungh!) get up from my desk to use it. I’d rather recycle.
How do YOU do your shredding?
Please share your pearls of wisdom. Help is needed in the Inspired House! : )
Share your insights and ideas! Your comments on your own process are welcome. House rules: Give advice to me or others only when it’s specifically requested. This makes exploring safe and learning possible for every reader.
Organized under Creating order. Labeled as clutter, declutter, identity-theft, Office Spa Day, shredding.
142 days ago,
Marissa said:
I absolutely HAVE to keep the shredder near my desk. Any other location (and I’ve tried several) results in infrequent use and a buildup of to-be-shredded papers.
I also HAVE to make myself shred papers right away. I’ve tried keeping a to-shred folder, but it invariably grows to unwieldy proportions, which makes me not want to deal with it, which makes it sit there longer and get even larger… ack! Cycle!
If I follow those two rules, I do pretty well with shredding. If I vary… I kind of don’t do so well.
There is something cathartic about shredding, though. It’s a little bit good for the soul, I think!
142 days ago,
Sarah Tieck said:
I’m a big fan of the secure shredder at the bank. We save up shreddables to take over there … and, there is a pile of “shredder food” atop the shredder and my husband and I take turns feeding it to the paper-hungry beast.
142 days ago,
Chris said:
bought a heavy duty shredder and it lives at arms length (plus a short roller chair surf) from my desk. Couldn’t live without it! And every few months I take the shreds and put them in my compost pile. Good things grow from my piles of paper — what could be better?
142 days ago,
Mark W. "Extra Crispy" Schumann said:
Oh, I definitely shred. If it has an account number on it, or if it’s proprietary client data, it gets shredded. I usually let the “to shred” pile accumulate until one of the kids is really bored.
Shred, and then recycle.
Mark W. “Extra Crispy” Schumann´s last blog ..Programming with Access? Know this about JOIN.
142 days ago,
Darcy said:
Our community just had a shredding day, but we missed it by being out of town that day. I recently had my sweetie bring up his heavy duty ear protection he uses for woodworking up from the basement so I can shred a huge stack of stuff and not be tortured by the noise. If anyone has a super quiet shredder, I’d love to know about it.
Darcy´s last blog ..Book: Jacquard’s Web
142 days ago,
jennifer said:
Several people so far have made reference to proximity of the shredder. I think that’s key.
@Marissa – I’m down with your “shredding catharsis” theory.
I also agree with your observation about the benefit of doing it now vs. saving up the pile. Cool!
@Sarah – Ooh! The bank! I forgot about them! They shred my old checkbooks for me, too. Thanks for mentioning it! (Love “shredder food”!)
@Chris – What kind of shredder is it? And is it quiet like Darcy requests? Compost… Hmm. I think you might be on to something!
OMYGOSH! Extra Crispy is here!! Hiya, Mark!! Ohhh, and I love your child labor idea. “Cut that out right now or I’m going to *give* you something to do!” I’ll bet it’s fun for them, though. Ahh, childhood.
Great to see you here!
@Darcy – Headphones. Gotta have ‘em – especially if you’ve got a saved-up pile! Go, hubs!