I had a client who would challenge me by frequently wanting to change time management systems. When I came to his office he would want to apply all of the new things he had read about since we last met, and he wanted to spend all of our time together redoing his calendar and tasks and applying infinitesimally tiny tweaks to the methods we had set up before.
What I ultimately confronted him with: This is a very clever way to avoid work.There really are thousands of different ways to capture your information, cue yourself to do your tasks, file your action papers and projects, and arrange your electronic information. But ultimately, it still comes down to YOU, GETTING THINGS DONE. None of it matters unless there is actual productivity as a result of your systems!
And, if your tweaking creates marginal productivity gains, are they enough to merit the time you'll spend implementing them? Always look at the ROI before you undertake any organizing project, whether it's a time management system or a closet. If you don't get back more from your investment than you put in, it's probably not worth spending the time to do it.
Sometimes people get "tired of" their time management system, such as the type of calendar they are using, and they want to switch. That's fine. But obsessing about the very best methods on a constant basis is not going to get your work done. Make sure you're producing, not just processing!
Do you recognize this sly procrastination method in your work? Share in the comments! And for my take on time management, the 5 C's (Capture, Commit, Cue, Complete, Correct), click here to read the somewhat unorthodox series I wrote on that. Have a great weekend!
I don't mean politically organized... I mean literally, personally, getting organized for better health care! Now that we have health care reform legislation passed here in the United States, it's a great time to talk about this, whether you agree with the actual politics or not. (And please, let's refrain from discussing ALL THAT in the comments...) Here are a few strategies to make you healthier and less stressed:
Medications and supplements: If you take a regular regimen of pills and capsules, it's not very efficient each morning to open every single bottle and think through the entire routine again. There are inexpensive organizing products available at any pharmacy or discount store that make it very easy to sort all of your pills for a week or more at a time, even if you take them three times a day! Choose a day (Sunday is good) and sort all of the pills into these containers for the week so you can just grab them and go. There are even purse-sized containers for those midday doses. Click here to watch the video I did for News 8 Austin on organizing medications a couple of years ago, which includes much more information. The checklist they mention was taken down, but you can click here to get it now instead.
Those pesky insurance claims: If it's a regular task of yours, create a system for handling your medical claim filings. Suggested folders are: Forms, To File, Pending (for the ones you've filed and are waiting for payment), and Completed. Annually you can archive the completed filings to another location in your filing system by year, if you want to keep them. Please ask your attorney or accountant on matters of file retention for your personal situation.
Your medical history information: There are so many ways to keep your health information organized-- on paper, online, or on your own computer's hard drive. You'll want to choose the system that works best for the way you normally work and think, and you'll also want to consider when and where you'll need the information.
For those who prefer paper, GetButtonedUp has Medical.doc, a very nice binder that organizes it all, and my friend Dorothy Breininger has the BioBinder Senior Organizer that includes legal and financial information for seniors as well.
For storing information online, Dorothy also offers the Delphi VIM- Vital Information Manager, which is a paperless way to store your important health and identification information online, so that it's secure and accessible from anywhere. I have a special savings code for this, by the way-- it's normally $96 per year, but if you use the code G0025-0011 (those are zeroes) you can get it for $60 instead. You can put LOTS of information on there for all kinds of emergencies.
If you just want to keep a simple file on your own computer, you can open an Excel document and create columns for Date, Event, Reason, Doctor, Result, and Notes. You can make a separate worksheet for each family member with these same columns, and your whole family's information will be in one place. The key for any of these systems is to create a habit of inputting the information as it happens.
What challenges do you have with organizing your health care-related information and items? Share in the comments!
Wouldn't it be great if you could turn your clutter into some good old-fashioned green cash? According to an eBay/Nielsen survey, the average American household has about $3000 worth of valuable items waiting to be cashed in! Here are three ways to capitalize on fashion mistakes, impulse purchases, and things that have outlasted their usefulness.
I made a quick video about this, which you can see by clicking here (unless you are on a Kindle... you'll need to go to a computer to view).
1. Get cash quickly on Craigslist or eBay.Craigslist is the modern answer to the classifieds in your local newspaper, and it’s free in most cases and is very easy to use. eBay is great too, and is especially helpful if your item is a collectible that may go for a higher price if offered to a larger market. Here are a few things that net a particularly nice return:
Name-brand children’s clothing: This clothing really holds its worth, particularly considering how fast kids outgrow it.
Kitchen equipment: Stand mixers and other high-quality, small kitchen appliances are valuable to the eBay community. That is great news, as I have seen many a kitchen with too many gadgets they don't use! My favorite example of a superfluous kitchen gadget? A "Hello Kitty" waffle maker. Yes, really.
Exercise equipment: Your treadmill no longer needs to burden itself holding up your clothing before it gets washed or hung in your closet! Let it go to a good home where someone will appreciate its true gifts. (See previous post on the Top Five Jumbo Space Hogs for more of these!)
Used china: Evidently the better strategy is to sell these by the piece, so that people can replace individual pieces in their collections, vs. selling the set as one lot together.
If you don't have time or know-how to sell items on eBay or Craigslist, you can always get help from one of your kids or hire a savvy neighborhood teenager to do the listing and selling for you-- this is a great way for them to use those natural tech-skills and make a little pocket money too. You can tell them they get a percentage of what they sell, and you can consult with them on the specifics of the item description. (Do make sure this person is someone you trust.)
2. Maximize your tax deductions when you donate items. Most people grossly underestimate the value of the household goods they are donating to charity. Did you know that a donated pair of adult athletic shoes in excellent condition is valued at $15, and a woman’s pant suit is valued at $33? Instead of writing down a rough estimate for the whole box of stuff, take just a few moments to get the information about the values from www.itsdeductible.com, a free resource online that is like the “Blue Book” for household goods. You will be very surprised how much you can save on your taxes! To help you add up the savings, you can use our “Donate for Dollars” donation tracking sheet, a free printable form available at www.clutterdiet.com/freetips (look on left side of page for printables list).
3. Let someone else sell your stuff for you. Consignment stores are thriving in this economy, as people realize how smart it is to get cash for their stuff and buy used items instead of new. There are specialty consignment stores for sports equipment, or children’s clothing, or women’s or men’s clothing. Some stores specialize in selling on eBay, which would be another great alternative if you are uncomfortable trying to list items yourself. You might earn, for example, 50% of the sales price of the item, simply by leaving your used clothing, furniture or jewelry at one of these establishments. You will want to call first to find out each store’s policies (don’t just “show up” with your stuff), and if you bring in clothing it needs to be clean and wrinkle-free and ready to sell.
Many people have trouble motivating themselves to get organized, so now you can think about dollar signs when you see those piles of clutter and let money motivate you into action!You could sell enough to make an extra payment on your mortgage or pay off debt on a credit card. If you need help or more ideas, visit our site at www.clutterdiet.com, where we provide affordable access to a team of professional organizers to answer all of your personal questions and get you unstuck!
It's a familiar song in many households... "I thought you were going to clean up the dishes!" "Well, I thought YOU were supposed to do it!" Does this sound familiar?
If you are a regular reader, you'll probably know that I talk about organizing in terms of Prevention, Reduction, and Maintenance-- just like weight loss. Having a plan for Maintenance is essential to "keeping the weight off," and the tasks involved must not only be identified, but the OWNERSHIP of those tasks must also be clear.
For example, if you do a project to organize your laundry room, the tasks to maintain your good work would be:
Rotating in hangers from the closet to hang up clothing from the dryer,
Taking out the recycling,
Putting away the clean clothing,
Periodically straightening the shelves,
Purchasing new cleaning products when they run out, and so on.
The key is deciding which person is going to do those tasks-- otherwise, they will not get done! Here are the three necessary factors required to make this all happen:
Ownership: Knowing to whom this task belongs
Commitment: Agreement and understanding that this needs to get done and why
Follow-Through: Actually doing it and understanding the consequences of not doing it
Our members have our video tutorial on Household Systems and Routines, with which they build a plan of maintenance tasks that include specifying ownership for each task in the accompanying workbook. (Our book offers this plan and workbook as well!) Of course, you can create systems that allow you to take turns per week or per night for many regular maintenance tasks, which also keeps it fair and adds variety.
What could you do today to clarify ownership and make someone accountable for tasks left undone (including maybe yourself)? It could be about your spouse or your kids, your office break room or your bathroom... But if you don't change the habits that got you there in the first place, your beautiful organizing project results will revert right back where they started, making you a "yo-yo organizer." Do you relate? Share in the comments!
I am a Kindle fanatic, let's just get that out there. I am also an avid reader from way back...I taught myself how to juggle and do calligraphy from reading books when I was a kid. I LOVE BOOKS. So like many fellow bookworms, I did not expect to love the Kindle because it didn't have that "book feel" that you'd want to "curl up with." Well, never mind about that! It just doesn't matter. Once you are used to it, you might actually prefer it like I do!
Here are nine ways I use my Kindle to reduce clutter in my life, be more efficient, and even keep off the pounds...
Obvious one out of the way first... buying books on the Kindle means I do not have physical books taking up space on a shelf or table. I have at this point saved well over 3 feet of shelf space buying books this way. I love books, but they are bulky and are hard to discard once you have collected them!
The "staying slim" part... I use my early morning treadmill time as my main reading time, and the Kindle is easy and light enough to hold with one hand and turn pages with the one thumb. I can enlarge the font size so that even though I am moving quickly, I can easily read what is in front of me. And because it's moving with me, it's not like having a magazine propped up on the console that I am bobbing up and down in front of and fussing with pages.
I read the news during this treadmill time, so I quickly control how I get my news and what I want to skip over, etc. I used to watch TV news on the treadmill and was at the mercy of commercials and the timing of what news they wanted to cover at any given moment. You can subscribe to various newspapers and news blogs and they are delivered fresh when you turn on your device. (Bonus: No newspaper clutter!)
I read my favorite blogs on the Kindle. (Pssst: This blog has been the #1 Home & Garden blog on the Kindle since Sept. 2008! And today, it's even #12 OVERALL! Thank you so much!) It costs $0.99 - 1.99 per month per subscription, depending upon which blogs you want to subscribe to... but if time is scarce, it's wonderful to have that content delivered to what I think of as my "centralized reading device." I don't really want to sit in front of my computer reading everything.
I read long documents on the Kindle too. You can e-mail documents as attachments to your Kindle's special e-mail address (look in "Manage Your Kindle" on Amazon's site to find it), and they will show up your Kindle! PDFs, Word documents, and other formats translate really well. I especially love reading eBooks this way-- there are lots of downloadable PDFs that you'd otherwise need to print out to read comfortably. There is a small charge for this (I believe it's 15 cents per document to send them), but that is very worth it to me (probably save that much in paper and printer ink alone). Full instructions for this process are in section 8.3 of the Kindle user guide.
I read web articles this way also. Constantly throughout my workday I get wind of articles that would be really fun to read but would interrupt my workday to stop and read them. There is a fantastic free service called "Instapaper," at www.instapaper.com, where you create an account, put in your special Kindle e-mail address and set it up, and get a button for your toolbar that says "Read Later." When you find an article on the web, press the "Read Later" button, and the article gets sent to your Kindle for reading when you're ready. This is my new favorite thing!! I am so excited about this service. (This also is subject to the 15 cent Amazon charge per emailed item)
I travel with the Kindle and it reduces clutter in my carry-on bag. I am such a bookworm I used to travel with multiple heavy books and magazines to read on the plane or train, and I now have lightened my load considerably! (Bonus: I always have a dictionary with me too.)
I save time buying books wirelessly, because I don't have to drive over to the bookstore to purchase something I want to read. And if I am traveling, I don't have to spend time hunting down a bookstore in an unfamiliar city. The Kindle works on the cellular network, so you can download a book from almost anywhere.
I get text clippings of my notes and highlights right on my computer. While I am reading, I use the Kindle's little "mouse" control to make highlights on passages and write notes to myself about what I think on the small keyboard. I can plug in my Kindle with the USB cable and grab all of the text from these notes and passages from the "My Clippings" file. Since they are already in text format and "paste-able," I can use this information much more quickly and easily. Instructions for this are in section 8.2 of the Kindle user guide.
I did not expect to like the Kindle as much as I do! Hopefully you see why now. I think of it as an "iPod for books." I recently treated myself to a really cool "Gelaskin" applique for mine, for fun but also to protect the surface when I read it at the nail salon and can tend to get nail salon gunk on it. :)
What do you think about the Kindle? What are your favorite tips for using it to save time and reduce clutter in your life? Share in the comments! (Kindle photo above from Amazon.com)
I was just writing responses in our member message boards today (our expert team provides unlimited consultation to our members 7 days a week, in case I haven't told you!). One of our members is saving a wheelchair that used to be her mother's, just in case she might need it herself someday. It got me thinking about a concept I have not really articulated fully, so here I am writing about it to get it out there.
OUR STUFF SPEAKS TO US.
The objects and environments we choose to surround ourselves with are constantly and subtly giving messages to our subconscious mind about how we feel about ourselves and our future. If you have a closet full of clothes that are too small, every morning when you look at those clothes you are getting the negative message that you are too fat. If you have a workspace that is beautiful, with lots of color and flowers and handsome furniture, you are getting the message that you like your work and coming here is a good thing. If you are keeping a wheelchair you absolutely don't need, that you must see frequently and work around as you go about your daily life, you are getting the message that you'll probably need that wheelchair. That can't be good.
Why keep something that is going to bring constant negative messages into your life? If you are keeping things around you that represent bad memories, bad jobs, negative people, and limiting beliefs about yourself, you are directly contributing to your life being and feeling less joyful, less hopeful, and LESS, in general. Don't let stuff steal your joy with its subtle whispering over time!
Commit to your environment fully supporting you in having an OUTSTANDING LIFE.
Here are a few posts from before that really reminded me of this point too:
I love the concept of "low-hanging fruit," the things that are easiest to do that bring fast, significant rewards. Identifying large clutter that you can easily remove is a great way to reclaim your space. Here are five of the biggest "space hogs" that we see in clients' homes that are so easy to resolve... do you recognize any in your own home?
Exercise equipment: Purchased with the best of intentions, these devices often end up as guilt-inducing clothes racks. Unless you really use it regularly, sell it on Craigslist or to a sports consignment store and get your bedroom back! Use the money to get a gym membership where they have much more equipment. It's much better to buy equipment like this as a reward once you've proven to yourself that you can stick to a program for a certain period of time. (You also might want to try "workwalking" if you really want to keep your treadmill-- see this previous post.)
Bulky specialty appliances: Deep fryers, professional grade slicers, bread machines, and buffet serving dishes take up a lot of space and are used so rarely that it almost always would be better to borrow or rent the equipment rather than store it yourself. Are you really frying that much? When is the last time you baked some bread? (Thanks to @TannaC on Twitter for giving me a laugh about bread machines that made me think of including this in my post!)
Large children's toys: Anybody have a Little Tikes kitchen set or a Thomas train table? How about all of those "ride-able" toys in your garage? These large toys are great for a while when the child is really involved with them, but often they fade into oblivion as the child matures and they are onto other interests. They become part of the scenery and it is easy to overlook them... or you are tempted to save them for a future child or relative. Remember that they are often easy to find in children's consignment stores... and if you must keep them, try to put them in your attic or other less accessible storage (we call this a "D" space in our Clutter Diet® program) and get them out of the way of your daily living.
China and other collections: When is the last time you got out your formal china settings for a large meal? Most people never use it. And many people don't have any kind of sentimental attachment to the plates they picked out for their wedding registry when they were much younger and had different taste in design. If you want to sell it, the conventional wisdom is that you get a better return selling china by the piece on eBay rather than selling as a set. You can also sell a set to a local consignment store. Of course, maybe you do use it, and maybe it does have sentimental meaning to you, and that is okay and wonderful. But if you realize it's taking up space, maybe with its own piece of furniture to store it all, it might not make sense. And that goes for other collections that may have have outlived your fascination with them.
Spare furniture: You got a new sofa, and your old one is "perfectly good." Wouldn't it be great to save that sofa for your son who will be going to college in a few years? Great, if you have space to store it, but if you don't, it is a very bulky thing to keep around for something you are not sure if you will need. Whatever you do, don't get a storage unit for that stuff... remember that at some point (and it doesn't take long), the rental cost of the unit exceeds the replacement cost of the items inside, especially if those items are "used."
Are items like these taking up a spare bedroom that you would be happier using as an office or creative space? Are you stepping over this kind of stuff and forcing storage of things around them that you do actually use frequently? Think about how you'd like to use your precious space to make your life better TODAY, instead of keeping things you are guessing about possibly needing for the future. Share your jumbo space hog stories in the comments!
Yep, it's National Procrastination Week! Does that mean we need to put off celebrating it until next week? (Sorry it's Tuesday and I am just now telling you about it.)
Here is my challenge to you this week: Do something you have been dreading!
Think back to a time when you have overcome your dread and tackled a big project. Maybe it was organizing your garage, maybe your closet, maybe even going through a big pile of paper on your desk. How did you feel when you got that horrible dreaded task out of your way? Like a million bucks! Like celebrating!
The root of all disorganization is truly delayed decisions and actions. Look around you—every bit of clutter on your kitchen countertop, your desk, or your coffee table is something that has not been decided yet or something that has not been done yet. In other words, procrastination is the cause of almost all clutter.
These procrastinated projects actually drain you of your energy. Spiritual teacher John-Roger says, “If you leave incomplete projects to abound, they ‘sting’ the unconscious and drag on you. You may be unaware of the cause, but the effect will be your walking around feeling heavy, with the low-energy blues. Even after you sleep like the dead for ten hours, you’ll still think you need a great deal of sleep. It’s called the karma of incompletions.”
I believe that organizing itself is not difficult if you understand some basic concepts. Almost every single dieting book really boils down to "Eat Less, Move More." And almost every single organizing book boils down to "Keep and Do Less, Live More." These are not difficult ideas, but what makes success difficult for people is the psychology around doing it. There are articles here on the blog that will help motivate you, and you can also join our Clutter Diet® program if you want even more accountability and support.
The most powerful way to overcome procrastination, in my opinion, is to get an Accountability Partner (you can call it a “Motivation Partner” if that feels better to you). Make commitments to each other to get these dreaded tasks done and report back. Make a contest out of it if you like! You’ll be surprised how much this support will get you moving.
I leave you today with a trio of quotes from the tremendous Eleanor Roosevelt:
“What one has to do usually can be done.”
“What you don't do can be a destructive force.”
“You must do the things you think you cannot do.”
Good luck with your projects, and if you need help, remember we have a team of Certified Professional Organizers® answering your unlimited questions 7 days a week in our Clutter Diet member area—check it out if you get stuck. Let us know how you're doing in the comments!
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