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When you first decide to get a magazine subscription, it’s always a lot of fun. Suddenly you have tons of exciting stuff to read, more of it than you may even be able to get through. After a few months, you have a small pile of magazines, some which you may have read, others which you may still need to get around to. About a year or two down the road, though, that pile starts to look a little cluttered. Before you know it, things start getting out of hand. Soon those magazines are taking up an entire corner.

This week, make it your organizational challenge to get those old magazines, catalogs, and newspapers under control. It may take you a few sessions to get through them all, but here are some steps you can take to get things back in hand.

1. First, get everything in one place. If you have magazines scattered throughout your house, get them all in one part of one room so they are easy to look over.

2. Declutter the magazines. This is one of the most challenging steps. Some things may be easy to get rid of, like old newspapers. With catalogues, you also do not need to keep anything but the recent issue. With magazines, try to keep only issues you haven’t read or issues you found really fascinating. Don’t recycle old magazines—donate them to charity shops and libraries. Many people will be glad to take them off your hands and preserve them. What about magazines and catalogues that have a page or two with something that interests you? Consider cutting out those pages and keeping a scrapbook for them.

3. Decide which magazines to unsubscribe from, and make time to start actually reading the rest. That way you will not keep piling up a lot of new clutter.

4. Come up with an organizational system. A few plastic containers for paper will work great for keeping your magazines, newspapers and catalogues in order. You will need to come up with a filing system for these storage bins for paper. Label each of your plastic storage containers according to the type of content (magazines, catalogues, etc.), the specific publication, the topic (fashion, entertainment, etc.), and perhaps the year or decade. You may want to have a specific bin for publications you have not read yet. You can also decorate plastic totes for magazines to make them look pretty!

Getting your magazines organized will take some real focus and commitment, since it can be a big chore. But when you finally get rid of that heap of magazines in the corner of the room, you will be relieved. Your room and your life will feel a lot less cluttered, and you will no longer be deterred from actually reading your magazines by the intimidating size of the disorganized pile. Instead, you will instantly be able to find what you are looking for. You will enjoy your magazines more, and you will love your new magazine filing system!