Tuesday, January 21, 2014
2 Honest-To-Goodness Ways To Get Rid Of Clutter
By Marilyn Bohn
When I think of my 82 year old grandma I think of her tiny yet beautiful garden with its straight rows of veggies. My cousins and I used to "sneak" (Now that I am older I suspect she was watching us from her kitchen window) into the lettuce patch and pick the luscious greens. We would take them into the house and after washing the leaves would smother them in mayonnaise and eat them with relish and delight. My grandma would fake scold us forgetting in her garden and we would laugh and giggle.
Another thing I remember her doing was twiddling her thumbs.I was reminded of this mannerism the other day when I was visiting with a friend and she was doing the same thing. It caught me off guard that someone who is not old was twiddling her thumbs.
Do you ever say to yourself "I sat around all day twiddling my thumbs"? It might be nice if we had that luxury but I know we are all busy and our time is at a premium with everything we have to do. One of the things I see a lot of in magazines at the newsstands are articles on getting rid of clutter and clutter clearing.
Just like thumb twiddling doesn't get us anywhere just being busy doesn't mean we are accomplishing getting rid of clutter. There are many easy things we can do every day that will help us to clutter clear in our homes and space.
1. Make lists
· Write your lists in a place where you can find them again. I don't recommend using sticky notes as they can pile up, get lost and buried. Write them in your daily planner. (If you don't have a planner get one and use it-either an electronic one or a paper one). I use a paper one because I like the tactile feeling of writing things in it and checking them off.
· Create a master list where you write everything that comes into your head that you want to do. Things as simple as sewing on a button, calling someone, exercising, working on a craft, or getting rid of clutter in a specific area in your home.
· Create a daily to do list. Prioritize this list by putting a number by each item in the order of the most important things to get done first down to things you want to get done but can be moved to another day if they aren't done that day. Caution: Don't always move 'get rid of clutter' to the next day.
2. Plan for tomorrow today
Years ago I was trained in the one minute manager system.The only thing I remember from that training which I have used for years and has proved to be very valuable is this: prepare for tomorrow the night before. When I worked in an office I would use the last 10 minutes of the day to straighten my desk and check my planner to see what was planned for the next day.
At home I do the same thing, at the end of every day I tidy up which is a way to get rid of clutter that has maybe accumulated during the day. Doing it daily prevents clutter from piling up. Piles always take a lot longer to get rid of.
Mornings are much easier and simpler when the cell phone has been recharged the night before and anything leaving the house has been placed by the door. (Things such as back packs, brief cases etc.) Also checking purses for lunch money or check to see if things needed to make lunches are on hand to make mornings run smoother.
These two simple tips: to make lists and plan ahead make getting rid of clutter easier as not always being in a big hurry and "scattered"help keep us focused and accomplishing our goals.
Marilyn is a creative organizer who has been organizing for over 20 years. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and is working towards becoming a Certified Professional Organizer. Professionally she has been organizing homes and offices for two years. She holds a bachelors degree in Social Work. She has reared five daughters and currently lives in Utah.
Go to her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find free organizing tips and interesting blogs and helpful articles on organizing.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marilyn_Bohn
Reduce Stress and Be More on Top of Things With One Change to Your to-Do List
By Michele S Christensen
Even I was a bit skeptical at that headline and I wrote it! However, it is true I promise! The one thing I'll tell you about is really simple too. It has to do with assigning priorities in your to-do list.
I recently switched over to an online to-do list manager called Remember The Milk. One of the many great features is that you can assign priorities to your to-do items with choices of 1, 2, 3 or none (priority 1 shows on top of your list if you set it that way). I hadn't been using priorities in my two most recent systems and didn't want to get too complicated so I stuck with just using priority 1 or no priority. My rule for deciding whether to prioritize something was either it had a fixed deadline with a high penalty for missing (e.g. paying a bill or sending my newsletter) or it was just something important to me (sweeping up the dog hair from the floors). What started to happen was that in my two levels of priority, many things got put in priority 1. So many items were in priority 1 that I began to fall behind and had to start triaging even my high-priority items. This is where stress comes in - it's very stressful to look at a big list of priority 1 items, know you can't get to all of them and have to start deciding which to do and which to leave undone for now. It's also a big waste to spend time and energy deciding what to do because you haven't maintained your to-do lists in a way that supports you getting things done.
What I did, and this is the big secret today, is to change my criteria for priority 1 into only things that carry a substantial penalty for not being done on time. To support this, I added a middle layer of priority for things that don't have to be done by a specific day but I that I don't want to leave indefinitely either. Sweeping up the dog hair falls in here - it doesn't have to be done today, but I can't let it go for too long and maintain a sanitary living space. In contrast, sending my newsletter is a priority 1 because it reflects badly on me and disappoints people who have placed trust in me to send it late. The big temptation is to load too many things into priority 1, which takes me back to the original problem. It's been helpful to have a rule to determine if something really belongs in priority 1.
The big stress relief comes from looking at my to-do list and seeing just 2-5 items that are priority 1 for today. It's a small universe, it feels do-able, and lets me know in a glance what has to be done today. Everything else is optional. Having things laid out this way is great for really busy days - I can crank through the "must do's" and even there's dozens of things that don't get done I know without a second glance I've done what has to be done today.
You can apply this with almost any system you use. Every electronic to-do list manager I've ever used allows you to assign priorities and you could even do this with paper so I encourage you to give it a try. It's done wonders for me, and less stress equals more and better quality work.
Do you have any to-do list tricks you use? Tell me about them in the comments.
If you're thinking of starting a creative solopreneur business or already have one, you can learn exactly what skills you need to make your business a success in my free e-course "5 Essential Skills for Solopreneur Success," Visit http://www.michelechristensen.com to sign up and you'll also get a free subscription to my Solopreneur Strategy Newsletter.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michele_S_Christensen
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