Peter Walsh's 3 Rules for Getting Organized This Summer

...Becomes a Bright and Serviceable Mail Center

Walsh designs a "mail center": three stacked letter trays on the counter into which mail will be sorted immediately upon entering the house. One tray is for open bills and other matters needing attention, one is for things requiring Corey's input, and one (the top and most easily accessible) is for notes and reminders from the kids' school. Invitations to upcoming social events, meanwhile, get an upright magazine file. When Tobin explains that she often abandons new mail to make lunch or grab a phone that's ringing off the hook, Walsh says, "Later is the best friend of clutter." In other words, "You can't always let the urgent take precedence over the important."