Creating an Efficient Filing System

Keeping physical copies of paperwork organized can be overwhelming. Heaps of files can build up in no time, especially if your business operates using physical copies. But, if you can keep your filing system structured and organized, all of this paperwork can be dealt with using little time and effort. Here are some tips for making your filing system organized and efficient.

Keep Things Simple

Having a cluttered or confusing filing system will only discourage you from using it on a regular basis. Keep things simple and easy to understand, so it doesn’t end up a failed project. Assess what important documents you want to keep, and appropriately discard or shred any junk mail that you absolutely have no use for. Not only will it be easier for you to find what you’re searching for, but you will also have more room to save your important files.

Label Your Files

Part of creating a file system that works for you is to label your files in a way that you can easily understand. There are specially designed folders that have tabs to write a brief description of the folder’s contents. For example, if you’re someone who saves receipts, you might have a folder titled “Receipts.” You may want to include sub-folders inside your “Receipts” folder and title the sub-folders based on the year it was received or the store that it came from. It’s important to have a filing system that appeals to you so it encourages a habit of using it.

Invest in a Filing Cabinet

You need a place where you can keep your files safe and organized. A filing cabinet stores a lot of paperwork in a way that allows it to be accessed efficiently. Every folder is kept upright in the cabinet, so you can go through them and pull documents out of them without removing them from the filing system. This stops you from disturbing your entire filing system if you have to go hunting for a missing document. Filing cabinets also tend to be sturdy and secure, so hopefully they’ll keep your important paperwork safe from damage. Some even have locking drawers, in the case that privacy is an issue.

Create a Directory

Creating a rough list of the contents of a filing cabinet drawer or group of folders makes it much easier for you to find what you need. This list can either be handwritten or created on a computer and printed out.

Be Persistent

No matter what kind of filing system you put into place, it won’t do any good if things don’t stay organized. As you add new documents to your filing system, make sure they end up in their proper place. Avoid allowing loose papers to pile up and resist the temptation to simply stuff something where it will fit. Yes, it takes a bit of discipline, but with a bit of practice, you can keep your filing system clean and efficient.

With the right tools and planning, you can complete the daunting task of sorting out your paperwork in a snap. By using clearly labeled and documented folders to separate your documents, it makes it very easy to find a place for everything. Your filing cabinet will be streamlined and efficient in no time.

Organizing Your Mindset

One popular definition of mindset is "a disposition, attitude or mood." That being said, it makes sense that clearing your mind of mental clutter goes a long way in helping you get more organized. Let's face it - when you're not clear-headed, it's very difficult to practice organizational skills. Keep reading to find out more about organizing your mindset. There is no reason to put it off for another day.

Write Down Your Feelings

One of the best ways to clear your mind of mental clutter is to take the time to write down your feelings. You can either do this in a journal that you keep, or a piece of paper that you throw away once you're finished. Recent studies indicate that jotting down negative thoughts really does help to clear your mind and make you feel better.

Meditate

More and more stressed-out individuals are using meditation to clear the mental clutter. When life is hectic, do you ever feel as though you're having a non-stop conversation (with yourself) in your head? Meditation allows you to focus on a single thing, which in turn helps to corral your thoughts when they start to wonder.

Listen to Music While You Exercise

An Ohio State University study recently discovered that when someone exercises with music, it activates the area in the brain that deals with a higher level of mental function. Participants who had the advantage of listening to music did better on fluency tests than those who did not.

Take a Nap

Taking a nap, even a short one, goes a long way in clearing up mental fatigue. Believe it or not, taking a ten-minute nap helps to increase both productivity and alertness. Getting a good night's sleep is all the better. So, the next time you're feeling mentally overwhelmed, chances are that taking a short nap will help you to be more organized for the rest of the day.

Spend Time with a Pet

For most people, pets aren't just animals - they're beloved members of the family. Spending time with your favorite pet usually elevates your mood and makes it easier to get through the day. In the event that you don't have a pet, take a few minutes to watch one of the thousands of cute pet videos on the internet. You'll get a dose of cuteness without any strings attached.

Do you have a better idea in regard to some of the ways to organize your mindset? Great! Taking advantage of some of these tips should help you get more organized overall. You'll soon see that this is beneficial to both your work and personal lives. Even if you're currently the most disorganized person you know, it's not impossible to change... with a little help from your mindset. Why not get started today?

Enjoy a Happier Life as a Minimalist

We have seen how adopting a more minimalist lifestyle has helped some people to:

• Save some money
• Be more productive
• Help the environment
• Create a MUCH more beautiful home
• Support the lifestyle that really made them happy

All of the above are pretty impressive causes. And no matter what kind of person you are, simply reducing the clutter in your home and changing the way you think about your purchases may help you to be a more fulfilled person. Your ultimate goal of this lifestyle shift may actually be to make you happier. When you become more minimal, you may possibly become happier.

How Minimalism Leads to Happiness

There are at least two ways that minimalism can lead to happiness: direct and indirect. We’re going to look at how you can use minimalism to really transform your mindset and your approach to your belongings, but we will come to that in a moment. In the meantime, what we’re interested in is some of the direct consequences of minimalism and how that makes you happier. We’ve touched on these things already but to recap, going minimal may help you to:

Save Time

If you have far less clutter in your home, that means you have less tidying to do. You’ve introduced simple systems to help you keep the house clean and you are less demanding on yourself. All this means that you can now come home and actually relax in a calm and beautiful environment. It’s impossible to overstate just what a positive impact this can have on your life or how much of a change this makes.

Reduce Stress

Minimalism may help you to live a less expensive lifestyle. You may start coming home from work and not bringing extra stress home with you. That could make you a better friend, a better partner and a better parent.

What about job satisfaction you ask? Well, perhaps you need to stop looking at your work as a way to achieve your satisfaction. What about gaining satisfaction from your own projects instead? How about writing an amazing novel, getting into incredible shape, or going on amazing travels? What about setting up a highly rewarding side business? Or working online?

Meanwhile, you also have less work to do around the house and possibly fewer financial strains. The less you realize you need, the more relaxed and fun life becomes again!

Increase Freedom

Less stress and fewer physical ties means more freedom. When you have more space in your home, you have more freedom even just to move around in that space! Freedom is such a fundamental part of the human experience and absolutely essential to our happiness!

Going Deeper

But that happiness goes much deeper. Because what minimalism is really about is knowing that you have everything you need to be happy right here, right now. On the other hand, if you always feel you want more and if you’re always pushing toward that next thing, then you’ll find you never really stop to enjoy the things you already have.

Put a stop to this by developing a gratitude attitude. A good way to do this is to spend some time taking stock of everything you have and everything you’re grateful for, for just five minutes. This might mean writing those things down in a notepad, or it can mean running through them mentally. Try to think of different things each night. And there is so much to be grateful for.

You can be grateful for the fact you are hopefully in good health. You can be grateful for the fact that you have people who love you. And you can be grateful for the fact that you have a roof over your head. Another tip is to make sure you schedule time to enjoy the things you own and the space you have. Better yet, make sure that you are truly enjoying the things that you are doing as well.

You could have a list of things that you can do for an evening and this can be an eclectic range of things from going stargazing in your own garden, writing in your blog, watching your favorite movie, or doing a project at home with the kids. Whatever the case, try to be creative when writing this list and to think about all the different ways that you can use the space you already have to have fun.

Look at objects you have around you and try to think of the new and exciting ways you could have fun with them or do something worthwhile or fulfilling. Try to rediscover that child’s sense of wonder in your own home. But what’s more, is that you then need to take the time to really reflect on what you’re doing and how fortunate you are. This is called being ‘present’ or being ‘mindful’ and it is currently a very big topic in psychology.

It essentially means that instead of letting your mind wonder to work and to all the things you’re stressed about right now, you’re instead going to stop and reflect on what you’re doing and how much fun you’re having. When you’re sitting in your sunporch or outdoor deck, take a moment to think how great it is to be able to see the stars outside. 

Tonight, think about how comfortable you are in your bed and about how much you’re looking forward to eating that good breakfast tomorrow. Learn that it really doesn’t matter what you have. What matters is your perception of the things you have. What matters is your appreciation of those things. You create value in the way you engage with the world and your belongings and in doing this, you bring value into your own life. 

Working With A Professional Organizer

Not everyone has the time or the patience to keep their spaces as tidy as they would like. People are busy and do not always have the time to deal with clutter and over time it will begin to build up. If the task becomes overwhelming, there are people that one can turn to to help get the mess turned around. Professional organizers are out there and have the experience to get the clutter under control.

When an organizer arrives with you they will go over the area you want organized. Usually, together the two of you will devise a plan of how you want the space to be and what types of storage system will be needed. The organizer will make sure the storage system will do what you want to do and be functional in your life.

Once a plan has been established, all of the items in the space will be temporarily cleared out. With the room being cleared, it will be easier to start over and have a fresh start. Everything that was taken out of the room will be sorted through and will be divided into three different piles. Those piles will be keep, toss and donate. All of the toss and donate items will be done right away so there is no chance they will make it back into the room on second thoughts.

With the keep pile now created, the system that was earlier decided on for how to store all of the items is put into motion. This could be storing many of the items in bins, creating a shelving system or a combination of things. The items are then brought back into the room placing the most important and most used items in the front and the middle of the unit. The less used and less important items are placed in the lower and higher areas. 

After the room has been put back together, another assessment will be done. This is to be sure that the room has flow and is truly organized. The entire process from start to finish for your whole house can possibly take a few weeks or more depending on the depth of the unorganization.

A professional organizer needs to have great organizational skills. These people also need to have patience to deal with customers and to also make sure they are doing the best possible job they can. Most organizers begin by doing some work in the homes of family and friends and then branching out from there.

A trained professional organizer can be a great asset to someone who does not have the time to do it themselves and also to someone who just does not know where to start. With a little help, the house can be clutter free once again.

Make Room in Your Home for the Important Things

The key to all of this is to have a serious plan about what it is you want from your home and your life and how you can best design your décor and your set-up to make that possible. Too often, our homes get in the way of what we want to do and make it harder for us to be effective and productive.

In fact, our homes should be enablers and facilitators that make what we want to achieve that much easier. So where does this discrepancy come from? Why do so many of us fail to have congruence between what we want to achieve and the layout of our homes? The answer is simple: too many of us just don’t know what we want; not just from our décor but also from life in general.

And again, marketing and media in general are largely influential, as we are constantly being shown different ideals and different ways of living – and hinting that they are the very best way for us to enjoy our own lives. We can end up being pulled in absolutely every direction by a hundred different marketing messages and a hundred different desires. We never feel quite satisfied with anything meanwhile, because we’re constantly being told that something else is the key to happiness.

As they say: if you don’t stand for something, you may fall for anything! Instead, have a motive about what it is you really want to achieve in life and how you want to get there. If you can do this, then you may come away with a simple mission statement and you can then go about designing a house to help you accomplish that mission statement. Of course, this might turn out to be more than one thing. But the idea is to know who you are, what’s important to you and how you’re going to serve that goal.

Turning Your Home Into a Means to an End 

For example, let’s say that after a lot of reflection, you realize that the things that really matter to you are your family and your love of music. This makes for a very simple and straightforward décor. You will probably want to create a space where you and your family can spend time together – perhaps a media room where you can all relax on a big sofa and watch TV or perhaps a big dining room where you can enjoy big meals together. And you might also make a music room. Or just decorate your room with things that speak to your love of music.

Now, when making buying decisions or thinking about how to design your room, you should always stop and ask yourself if it will really help you to enjoy those things more, or if it will just get in the way of them. Will it really bring you happiness? Will it make more work for you, so you actually spend less time doing the things you love? Will it distract from what you already have, or diminish from it? With this mentality, you’ll no longer be swayed by marketing because no marketing will be directed at you precisely. You have your own vision of what your home should be and now nothing should be able to move you away from that.

How to Fight the Urge to Buy Unnecessary Clutter

Run through these mental questions whenever you’re considering a new purchase and think about how it is going to fit into your lifestyle on a daily basis. Where will it go? How will it look next to the last thing you purchased? At the same time, try to be savvy to the tricks that advertisers may use to try and get us to buy things we don’t need. In particular, always make sure that you take some time out before choosing to buy something.

The vast majority of purchases are made based on an emotional impulse and this is what can cause us to become impulsive. If you go away and think logically about what you need and what you don’t, you’ll often find you are a lot smarter with your purchases as a result. 

A List of Things to Do 

A helpful habit in the fight against needing to keep buying new things and a good way to practice the concepts discussed in this chapter, is to make a list of things that you want to do – using items you already have, or without needing to buy anything new. This might sound like something you shouldn’t need… Surely you already know the things you want to do! But the reality is that we often forget.

Most of us have lots of books on our bookshelf that we have yet to read, games we never finished playing and even films that we haven’t watched! And these days, you can download books for free, play games for free and more.

Then there are the activities we never seem to have time for that might be to do with our hobbies or just getting our lives straight. Maybe you’ve been meaning to go for a drive, maybe you’ve been meaning to build some furniture, or maybe you like the idea of trying to learn another language.

And yet, when you get a free hour you forget all these things and end up just lying in front of the TV. And when you see something else advertised, you suddenly want to buy it. Why are you buying a new book, game or DVD when there is so much that you already own that you have yet to use? Why are you saving money to buy a big swimming pool when you’ve never been out to your local park? Or checked out the free museum down the road?

Having a list of ideas for your evening’s entertainment can really change this. The next time you’re bored, you can simply check your list for ideas of things to do. The next time you are tempted to buy something new, check the list and realize that you have plenty to be excited about without spending more money or cluttering your home. Stay focused and make a home that helps you achieve your mission!

Decluttering and Organizing Your Clothing

When it comes to clothing, most of us have far more than we really need. If you take a good, honest look through your closet, you will find that you have much more than you use. In fact, most people wear only a small percentage of their clothing over and over, and neglect the rest.

Why You Should Declutter Clothing

Having too much of anything takes up not only physical space in your home, but mental space as well. When you are looking for something to wear, having too much clothing makes you feel like you are searching through endless piles of stuff and yet still cannot find something suitable. When you declutter, you will be able to quickly find outfits that you love. This will save you time, and keep your stress levels low.

How Does It Make You Feel and Look?

As you are sorting through your clothing, think about how the item makes you feel. Do you look at it and feel excited to wear it? When it is on your body, does it make you feel and appear attractive and ready to take on the world?

Clothing is much more than a cover. It is a part of who you are, and how you feel in it is the image of yourself that you are presenting to the world. You may decide to keep only the clothing that makes you feel confident, and causes you to be proud of who you are.

Are You Keeping It Out of Obligation?

Many of us are harbouring clothing out of guilt, given to us by well-meaning friends and family. Unless someone knows your taste 100% of the time, clothing generally does not make an appropriate gift. Too often we are given an item and then feel stuck with it for an undisclosed amount of time, and we never quite feel right getting rid of it.

Have You Worn It in the Past Year?

A rule of thumb is that anything not worn in the past year or more, you may possibly decide to sell or donate. The reason for the rule of a year is because certain items of clothing and accessories have particular yearly events that they are appropriate for, and you will likely want to keep some of those special items.

Also, many locations have seasons that are very distinct in temperature. You will have clothing that you don’t ever wear in summer, but faithfully make use of every winter… or vice versa. If you didn’t wear it in the past year’s appropriate season, it may be likely that this item is no longer needed, or that it no longer flatters who you have become.

Once you have made choices about what to get rid of, you may decide to discard any damaged items, sell a few select items and donate the rest to those in need. Organize what is left, and you will see what a difference it makes in your life when you have in your closet only what you need and love wearing. Enjoy your new organized closet and never search for hours for a lost item again.

Five Positive Benefits of Decluttering Your House

Clutter not only drags you down mentally, but it is also lead to wasting money. How exactly does clutter waste money, and how does getting rid of it help you possibly save money?

You Find Items You Forgot You Had

When you declutter, it can be like going shopping. As you clean, you will likely come across many objects that you forgot you had. You may need more pens and find close to ten. You just never know what you are going to find when you declutter. The rescued items can be organized from this point on, and used as needed.

You Don’t Have to Buy New Items Because You Lost the Old One

We’ve all been there. You have an item you need and you are sure you bought it already. You know that you have it somewhere, but you have so much clutter lying around that you may never find the item. You inevitably end up buying a new one, only to find the original several months down the road.

With piles and piles of seemingly random things being stored in your home, it can be near impossible to find what you are looking for when you need it the most. Decluttering can make your home more organized so that you never have to waste time looking for things you bought and misplaced, or buy a duplicate item.

It Encourages You to Buy Less

When you have spent a large amount of time decluttering your home, you realize what a time waster it is to have too many items. It can be the most effective way of convincing yourself to buy less. You could save some money if you take the simple step of curbing your spending patterns. Buy less, and your life may hopefully go in a more positive direction.

You May Even Think About Downsizing

The amount of real estate that clutter takes up is amazing. When you declutter, it makes you feel good and you will want to keep going. When you have gotten to a point where you are closer to being a minimalist, you will find that you truly do not need a lot of space to enjoy the home you live in. You may even possibly find yourself considering downsizing in order to save money and prepare for the future.

You Can Sell Old Items

Decluttering may leave you with not only a lot of junk, but also with many perfectly good items that you simply do not need. By selling these old items, you are not just saving money, but making some. This can be an added incentive to your decluttering efforts. Whether it be through a garage sale, word of mouth or an online ad, selling your old items can make some extra cash.

Decluttering is good for the mind, body and soul. It may also be good for the wallet. If you are hoping to save money and be more responsible with what you have, take these thoughts into consideration.