Organizing Your Magazines!
October 28, 2009 by Nikki
I love to read magazines! I receive magazines on a monthly basis, topics ranging from organizing to home to money to scrapbooking…My son even gets a Lego Magazine! We have plenty of them around the house and with the help from slickdeals.net, often times we can get them at really great prices!
The downside to loving to read… is the paper clutter that accumulates in your home! This is often a problem I see with my clients as well as something I have to keep at bay in my own home!
Here is a 4 step plan on how to contain and best organize your magazines!
1. Decide where incoming, unread, current magazines are going to land when they arrive. Having one spot will eliminate any from getting lost and will save you time from searching for your most current issue! And remind you to take the time to read if you start to see this space filling up! This location could be a magazine holder in your office, your living room, or a basket somewhere. Just make sure this is the only item kept in this space. Keep your magazines separate from your other mail.
2. Decide where magazines are going to go if you are currently in the middle of reading one! This could be on a nightstand in a bedroom or a coffee table in a living room. Limit the number of magazines in this space. You don’t want it to look cluttered. Keep 2 to 3 at the most.
3. As you are reading, if there are articles you would like to save, clip and place in a file or a binder. Separate your articles by category. For example for all new recipes to try- place in a cooking binder or file, for decorating and organizing ideas, place in a home file or binder for future reference. You do not need to keep the whole magazine. Clip as you read! This way you will not forget where the article was.
If you do have certain magazines you like to save for whatever reason, organize by title, year, and month with magazine holders, (Container Store) placed on a shelf. Be realistic on how many years you need to save and for what reasons are you saving them for. So much information can now be found on the internet. Only keep the ones that really give you the most value! 
4. When you have completed the magazine – recycle! Have a bin or a basket for these to land. This way you know you are through with them. If you like, give them to other people to share or take them to your local library, doctors offices etc.
This is a system which works great for me… What works great for you? Do you have challenges with your magazines? What are they? I would love to hear your ideas and comments…
Happy Organizing! Happy Reading!
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Hi Nikki… These are all great tips. I’ve given up organizing magazines. For anyone looking to “save an article”, think about doing it electronically. I scan articles into Evernote, a free clipping program available at http://www.evernote.com. Evernote is accessible from my desktop, my netbook and my blackberry which means that my articles are also always accessible. I used evernote to get rid of the paper clutter in my live and I used it as a planning tool for my fairy tale wedding in May. You can read more about it here: http://organize-more-stress-less.squarespace.com/home/2009/8/12/my-wedding-organizing-secret.html