Do you find yourself staring at the growing stack of magazines on your coffee table and don't move any of them to the recycle bin? Do you drive into your garage every day after work and silently tell yourself, "I can't deal with this mess today" ? Are you constantly fumbling around your medicine cabinet looking for your allergy medicine, a pair of tweezers that actually work, or the bottle of Advil?
Perhaps you're stuck.
I can help unstick you.
One of the reasons you may be stuck is that YOU HAVE TOO MUCH GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE.
"Well, duh!" you tell me.
If you don't have time (or energy) to do simple little jobs like recycling magazines or cleaning up your medicine cabinet, then YOU ARE TAKING ON TOO MANY COMMITMENTS. Your schedule is creating clutter in your home.
YOU and only you can make changes in your schedule so that you DO have time to recycle magazines, sort through a box of Christmas decorations in the garage, and clean out a shelf in your medicine cabinet.
For today, take one small step to getting unstuck: look at your calendar, and see what one event or commitment you can change or cancel that won't adversely affect your health, job, or family life.
Use that freed up time to make one small improvement to your living space. When you're done, take the time to admire and enjoy the clear and organized space you created, no matter how small it may be.
Blessings on you today!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
MINI CLOSET PURGE
Let's take a break from paper, and head to our clothes closet(s) and dressers.
Sweltering weather has descended upon the West, and even lil mis "I hate snow" (that's me) is cocooning inside my air conditioned home. It's a perfect day to go through summer clothes! Why not join me for a short and easy clothes purge:
1. Look through your t-shirts and throw away any that are stained, faded, or are wearing along the neckband.
2. Throw away any and all swimsuits that are stretched out, too tight, or ride up on you.
3. How many pairs of flip-flops does one person need? You decide on a number that works for you, then get rid of the rest.
4. Shorts and capris so opaque that your panty color shows through have got to go. So do any that are too tight. Your skin needs to breathe!
IF THERE IS SOMETHING IN YOUR SUMMER WARDROBE THAT
A. YOU WOULDN'T LOAN TO MARTHA STEWART IF SHE CAME TO VISIT, or
B. YOU HATE,
then
GET RID OF IT.
Right now. No worries. That stuff is just STUFF, not a beloved friend or child or pet.
Pitch it.
Happy July!
Sweltering weather has descended upon the West, and even lil mis "I hate snow" (that's me) is cocooning inside my air conditioned home. It's a perfect day to go through summer clothes! Why not join me for a short and easy clothes purge:
1. Look through your t-shirts and throw away any that are stained, faded, or are wearing along the neckband.
2. Throw away any and all swimsuits that are stretched out, too tight, or ride up on you.
3. How many pairs of flip-flops does one person need? You decide on a number that works for you, then get rid of the rest.
4. Shorts and capris so opaque that your panty color shows through have got to go. So do any that are too tight. Your skin needs to breathe!
IF THERE IS SOMETHING IN YOUR SUMMER WARDROBE THAT
A. YOU WOULDN'T LOAN TO MARTHA STEWART IF SHE CAME TO VISIT, or
B. YOU HATE,
then
GET RID OF IT.
Right now. No worries. That stuff is just STUFF, not a beloved friend or child or pet.
Pitch it.
Happy July!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
HOW TO FILE, THE OFFICIAL BTFS POST
So, now that you have caught up with your old papers and have a system in place to deal with incoming mail, let's move onto HOW to actually file the papers you wish to save.
First, understand that SOME (successful!) PEOPLE DO NOT FILE PAPERS. They go to school, grow up, find jobs, keeps jobs, get married, have kids, raise kids, send their kids to college, retire, and move into assisted living ALL without keeping file folders full of paper.
There are people out there like this.
You and I aren't among them. (But we could be if we really wanted to. We just choose not to.)
We like to keep papers. And since we do like to keep papers, here's how to keep them without going crazy:
Take those bulging folders full of "to file" papers that you gleaned by following the instructions in my previous posts. Take a stack of third-cut manilla file folders and a pen (skip the fancy label maker that Real Simple and Martha Stewart insist you must have: making perfectly uniform labels slows you down and creates much more work for you in the long run).
Pick up the first paper in the folder and ask yourself:
1. What is this?
2. Why am I keeping it?
3. Can I get this information on-line?
If you determine you STILL want to keep it, think of a title for the file folder that would make retrieving that paper easiest for YOU. Write that title on a file folder and stick the paper inside.
Repeat with every paper you have, filing like papers with like inside appropriately named folders.
For example:
You rip out articles from various magazines and newspapers about decorating ideas. Put all of them in one folder. If that folder starts bursting at the seams, THEN separate your articles into categories such as "kitchens, gardens, bedrooms, home office ideas" etc. Too many categories too soon with slow you down and is too nit-picky to maintain in our busy lives.
When your "to file" folders are empty and you have a stack of labeled files folders, file those file folders into hanging files and put them in a file drawer in broad categories. You can find inexpensive ones that aren't ugly at target.com or at any office supply store.
If this is too much work for you, and you still have a pulse and a job, then pat yourself on the back and say, "I am a successful person even WITHOUT filing all my papers! I don't need another system!" Now go outside and forget about this paper mess.
If you're still reading, you must like papers, but you may hate file folders. I have a few ideas that work for many people: use three-ring binders.
Three-hold punch those papers, or stick them inside sheet protectors, and make binders for your areas of interest, such as financial papers, medical papers, home upkeep and ownership papers, personal documents (social security cards, birth certificates, marriage license, diplomas, awards, special letters, etc.), etc. I use file folders for most everything, but I also have several binders of things I print off the internet and read for personal enjoyment (I am not a Kindle kind of person).
Do what works for you.
And if you only have a few papers you want and need to keep, here's a cute file that can hold everything necessary to life and liberty, and you can get it on amazon.com too. Maybe someday I'll reduce all my papers to just the amount that can fit into this tote, but I suspect not, since I still love my paper. But isn't this file tote cute?
Go here: http://tinyurl.com/2vlahya
First, understand that SOME (successful!) PEOPLE DO NOT FILE PAPERS. They go to school, grow up, find jobs, keeps jobs, get married, have kids, raise kids, send their kids to college, retire, and move into assisted living ALL without keeping file folders full of paper.
There are people out there like this.
You and I aren't among them. (But we could be if we really wanted to. We just choose not to.)
We like to keep papers. And since we do like to keep papers, here's how to keep them without going crazy:
Take those bulging folders full of "to file" papers that you gleaned by following the instructions in my previous posts. Take a stack of third-cut manilla file folders and a pen (skip the fancy label maker that Real Simple and Martha Stewart insist you must have: making perfectly uniform labels slows you down and creates much more work for you in the long run).
Pick up the first paper in the folder and ask yourself:
1. What is this?
2. Why am I keeping it?
3. Can I get this information on-line?
If you determine you STILL want to keep it, think of a title for the file folder that would make retrieving that paper easiest for YOU. Write that title on a file folder and stick the paper inside.
Repeat with every paper you have, filing like papers with like inside appropriately named folders.
For example:
You rip out articles from various magazines and newspapers about decorating ideas. Put all of them in one folder. If that folder starts bursting at the seams, THEN separate your articles into categories such as "kitchens, gardens, bedrooms, home office ideas" etc. Too many categories too soon with slow you down and is too nit-picky to maintain in our busy lives.
When your "to file" folders are empty and you have a stack of labeled files folders, file those file folders into hanging files and put them in a file drawer in broad categories. You can find inexpensive ones that aren't ugly at target.com or at any office supply store.
If this is too much work for you, and you still have a pulse and a job, then pat yourself on the back and say, "I am a successful person even WITHOUT filing all my papers! I don't need another system!" Now go outside and forget about this paper mess.
If you're still reading, you must like papers, but you may hate file folders. I have a few ideas that work for many people: use three-ring binders.
Three-hold punch those papers, or stick them inside sheet protectors, and make binders for your areas of interest, such as financial papers, medical papers, home upkeep and ownership papers, personal documents (social security cards, birth certificates, marriage license, diplomas, awards, special letters, etc.), etc. I use file folders for most everything, but I also have several binders of things I print off the internet and read for personal enjoyment (I am not a Kindle kind of person).
Do what works for you.
And if you only have a few papers you want and need to keep, here's a cute file that can hold everything necessary to life and liberty, and you can get it on amazon.com too. Maybe someday I'll reduce all my papers to just the amount that can fit into this tote, but I suspect not, since I still love my paper. But isn't this file tote cute?
Go here: http://tinyurl.com/2vlahya
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