The Elephant in the Room: A Chicago Home Organizer’s Paper Breakthrough Story
One of my Chicago home organizing clients had a dining room table that hadn’t seen a meal in years. Instead, it was buried under hundreds, perhaps even thousands of pieces of paper. Mail, bills, receipts, notes, catalogs, and greeting cards were stacked into chaotic heaps with no rhyme or reason. Some were important, many were outdated, and together they felt like a mountain she couldn’t climb.
Over several sessions we made real progress elsewhere in the home: storage rooms, drawers, closets. But every time we neared the table, she found something else to do. Week after week, the table stayed. That’s when I realized this wasn’t just clutter; it was the elephant in the room.
The Experiment: Tackling Paper Clutter Ten at a Time
I had a direct conversation with her about the table. She admitted: “I don’t want to do it. It’s too much. But I know I have to.”
So I suggested an experiment: “What if you get comfortable on the couch, and I bring you just ten items? All you’d have to do is decide Keep or Toss. That’s it. Then we’ll talk about it.”
She resisted. “But there’s so much! Ten is nothing.”
I nodded. “You’re right. Ten isn’t much compared to what’s there. But here are the options: we do ten items, or we do nothing at all. So… would you be willing to look at ten?”
After a pause, she reluctantly agreed.
I grabbed ten papers at random and presented them one by one. She quickly dispatched half into the trash bag, saved a few, and set one aside for action. When we finished, I asked, “So… how did that feel?”
She looked at me, genuinely surprised. “Actually… it was easy.”
“Good,” I said. “Would you be willing to do ten more?”
She said sure.
Building Momentum with a Filing System
So we repeated the process. Ten became twenty. Twenty became fifty. As the “save” pile grew, categories began to emerge. I pointed them out, she agreed, and we grabbed some manila folders. I labeled tabs with her chosen titles. We weren’t just sorting anymore, we had the beginnings of a filing system.
When we reached 60, I asked: “Do you want to just go for 100?” She balked: “One hundred? That’s too much.”
So I said: “That’s okay. You don’t have to do 100. Let’s just do ten.”
And we did. Ten more, then ten more. Before long, without even realizing it, she’d had sailed past 100.
All told, it took about 30 minutes. Thirty minutes of steady, supported work on something she had avoided for years.
A Shift in Energy
By the end of the session, my client was energized. She loved the idea of continuing this method and even added a fourth hour to our next appointment, so we’d have more time for paper. I promised I’d remind her of our agreement to continue tackling paper ten items at a time when I came back.
There’s still one piece of the paper puzzle we haven’t solved, and it’s the one that stumps nearly everyone: the items that still need some kind of resolution. The bill that has to be paid. The form that needs filling out. The paper that requires future action.
We haven’t solved that piece yet for her, but here’s the good news: those action papers are no longer buried in the chaos. They’re pulled out, visible, and ready for their next step.
For some people, a special spot helps. One client of mine uses a desk drawer. Personally, I keep mine right on my desk next to my paper planner. Everyone is different, and each person has to find what works for them. I’m confident we’ll figure it out for her too.
Why Every Paper Clutter Solution Is Unique
The reason I wanted to share this story is because it’s so illustrative of what professional organizing is really like. While some problems, like paper clutter, are nearly universal, the solutions are unique to each individual. I had never used the “ten-pieces-of-paper” method with anyone before, but it worked beautifully with this client.
That session was also a breakthrough for me. It’s a method I’ll keep in my back pocket moving forward, but it’s not the only one I’ll ever use. Everyone is different, and my job is to stay curious and creative in finding the approach that helps them finally face the things they’ve been avoiding.
That’s the heart of my work: cracking the code of resistance, discovering the unique method that works, and walking alongside my clients as they face their own elephants in the room. That’s the real reason people hire me, not just to tidy up, but to break through. And it’s deeply gratifying to succeed together.
Takeaway: Overcoming Paper Piles One Step at a Time
We all have an “elephant in the room,” the project, pile, or responsibility we avoid because it feels overwhelming. But the way forward isn’t a single giant push. It’s one experiment, one decision, one small step at a time. Sometimes, all it takes is ten.