The Paper Solution

What to Shred, What to Save, and How to Stop It from Taking Over Your Life

By: Lisa Woodruff

Narrated by: Lisa Woodruff

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

From the "Marie Kondo of paper" comes a simple and accessible guide to paper management.

Americans are drowning in paper. We keep stacks of it on the kitchen counter, stash it in drawers, and store file cabinets full of documents that we never even look at. Studies show that fully 85 percent of the paper in our lives can be tossed - but which 85 percent? And how do we organize and manage the 15 percent that remains?

With The Paper Solution, founder of Organize365 Lisa Woodruff delivers a proven, step-by-step guide for what to shred, what to save, and how to sort what's left behind. With her method, you'll learn: 

• What documents you must absolutely hold on to
• Which papers you can dispose of today
• How to ditch your bulky filing cabinets and make your vital documents accessible and portable

And at the heart of it all is the Sunday Basket: a box that sits on your counter and corrals those stray bills, forms, coupons, and scraps into an easy-to-use paper-management system. The Sunday Basket will become your new weekly habit - one that leads to less paper, less stress, and more time to spend on the things (and people) that matter most. 

Includes a PDF containing an appendix of worksheets from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2020 Lisa Woodruff (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"If you like the idea of binders to stay organized, the new book The Paper Solution has a lot of good information about organizing paperwork." (The New York Times)

"If the phrase 'paper-organizing retreat' makes you breathe a little heavier, [The Paper Solution is] the book for you." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Yes, even in the digital age, paper remains the bane of most people's existence.  Whether sorting through your own, or or someone else's backlog, Lisa Woodruff's book will cheerfully guide you in  how to confidently eliminate 85% of the paper in your life,  while retaining the 15% you really need! What a gift!" (Julie Morgenstern, New York Times best-selling author of Organizing from the Inside Out and Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life)

Worth it! Simple but Structured.

This book is definitely worth the listen if you are looking for a system to control the paper coming into your home, and who isn’t? It’s repetitive at times but, the system sounds simple, For those of us that need confirmation of what our common sense is telling us, this book does just that in step by step instructions and it doesn’t not have to break the bank. You probably have all the basic products used in your home already! It would be wonderful if we can tackle it as we get it, but,at least for me, that is not real life. I plan on implementing Lisa’s system because it sounds manageable. Lisa explains her reasons and backs it up with client examples perfectly so much so that I saw myself in every one. One more thing...I’m in the 50+ generation. It can be extremely hard and disconcerting to break from the habits you were taught from your parents on how to “adult”. Lisa gently explains why those habits are somewhat obsolete and can be detrimental to some extent in this day and age.
Even if you do not completely convert to Lisa’s system, her book has enough content for you to take the information given and make improvements to your system of household bookkeeping. I recommend the listen!
The four stars rating (not 5) is because of the repetitive nature and you have to take plenty of notes if you don’t have the physical book to refer to. I loved it!

A must read to revolutionize Household paperwork

My husband and I listened to the entire Audible version while driving to and from our vacation
Lisa identifies bad habits regarding traditional paper record keeping. She then gives explicit guidance on how to improve paperwork storage. We decided to order her Organize 365 Sunday Basket and Binders . I plan to share this with my young adult sons so that they do not adopt our old ways. Thank you, Lisa!

Genius approach

Lisa’s approach to organizing paper is spot on. After listening to the book and implementing the Sunday Basket system I have got all my paper under control. The book is entertaining and keeps you motivated. Great to listen to while you are sorting paper.

Life changer

I have been listening to Lisa’s podcast for about 3 years now and couldn’t wait to buy this book. I absolutely love it and bought 6 copies to share with my nieces for Christmas. I have read it started organizing my paper Lisa’s way and although I’m not finished yet I know her system is going to work for me. I highly recommend this book and her podcasts.

Eye Opening! Mind blowing! 🤯

I LOVED listening to this book. The author is very genuine, down to earth and just really helps make you think deep about the paper clutter in your life and truly has REAL solutions you can start incorporating to finally be rid of the “paper tsunami”! and get the clutter under control instead of the clutter having control of you. Growing up I remember my dad would end up just throwing everything on the kitchen table piling it higher and higher and we would never end up even using the other half of the table most of the time except on holidays where we were told to put ALL the clutter in paper bags and stash it in a closet somewhere. I did NOT want my husband and I to get to that point.. but I also knew that I needed a REAL organizing solution for all the papers that daily comes through the house, bills, important notices that you don’t know what to do with, receipts, tax docs, junk mail, manuals, magazines.. the list goes on and on. I’m a millennial so personally paper organization does NOT come naturally lol.

So listening to the whole book REALLY gave me some perspective and confidence that I CAN get my paper clutter under control with a little dedication and perseverance to help form new and better healthier habits that will last me a lifetime. No longer will I have small piles of mail everywhere, but one central location on the kitchen island to keep reminders, daily to dos and important docs that need to be taken care of that week AND MORE ALL in the “Sunday Basket”. No more will I have no place for previous tax returns, receipts, repairs..it will all go in a safe slash pockets all neatly in one of 4 organized binders.

This is truly SUCH a revolutionary paper system. EVERY SINGLE PERSON should read this book and apply these lessons to their daily lives. To help bring more peace to their home, minimize stress and be able to seriously live life more!

Not worried, frantic and sweating running around to every corner of the house searching for an important document like blood work or
important forms that need to be handed in THAT day and saying “WHERE DID I LAST PUT THAT PAPER??” NOPE.. they ALL have a place now each and every paper.. after you do the “PURGE” of course.

Trust me when I say by the end of this book, you will be well on your journey to a more calm, in control and better healthier, less stressed, happier, more organized you. You’ll even have more time for You! lol

Read this book.. Get it NOW.. you will NOT regret it.😊 After listening to this audio I know I am DEFINITELY getting the book as well to reference over and over again for my paper organizing journey ahead!

So helpful!

I am the least organized and think life should be lived free!! So applying Woodruff’s system seemed unlikely. But was I ever wrong! This book has been life changing. In many scenarios, I substituted the word “paper” with “my crap” and it’s helped so much to get me started with purging and organizing.

I would love more info on pictures (school papers and photos briefly touched on), otherwise, probably the most helpful decluttering information I’ve read/heard.

Simple & Innovative!

I really enjoyed this book! I'm generally a fairly organized person already, but the info in this book will help me take my system to the next level for sure. I loved the idea of the "Sunday Basket" because I didn't realize how much time I spend each day going through junk mail, etc. Very glad I purchased this book; I'll probably give it another listen every few years for a refresher. Loved the simplicity of it and loved the additional PDF resources! Highly recommend!

U must listen!

I will be listening a second time!

motivational, guilt-free plan to organize multiple generations of paperwork.

Must Read! The topic comes to life with Lisa’s reading!

What may seem like a dry topic comes to life with Lisa’s most pleasant reading. We bought the hard copy too for easy reference. Answers and a starting place to make life with paper so much easier is why this book is so great!

Super helpful!

This is such a helpful roadmap to tackling paper clutter, not simply in order to to have a neater home, but also to have peace of mind that you can find important documents whenever needed.