Tis the season....to get organized!

During the past few weeks, I've been hearing different conversations from people saying, "I want to get organized this year". My advice to them is, "you can"! You just need to take some time to make a plan for how to do this. For instance, if you're swamped in paperwork, here's a a possible "game" plan for you:

(1) Set the timer for 30 minutes
(2) Sort thru the first pile and make three "new piles": (1) to file (2) to shred and (3) take action.
(3) I recommend putting a date on the corner of the "take action" pile so that you can prioritize when you need to accomplish the task at hand. If it's paying a bill, allow a 1 week window so that you won't incur late charges.
(4) Once you have your piles, decide what you want to do first. If it's filing, get out your folders, pens, labels and go to town. If you already have a system in place, than filing will be as easy as 1-2-3.
(5) Follow the same plan for the 2nd and 3rd piles.
(6) If your timer goes off while you're still sorting, set it for another 30 minutes. Setting a timer helps one to say focused and on task. If you want to try for longer periods of time, go for it!
(7) By the end of 2 hrs, you should be well on your way to being more organized!

Happy New Year!

Declutter your wallet

I recently got pulled over for making an illegal U-turn (whoops!) and discovered that my insurance card was out-of-date. Thankfully, the police officer was very nice and only gave me a warning. Since this happened, I decided that it was high-time to declutter my wallet. This is the perfect 10-15 minute goal to tackle and here's what I recommend.

(1) Take out all your receipts, lose coupons, etc and put them in 1-3 piles

(2) Go thru the coupon pile and weed out any coupons that are no longer valid

(3) Go thru the receipt pile and attach them to your bank statement for future reconciliation purposes

(4) Take out any unused store/credit cards to free up space & lighten your load

(5) Take out money and sort from largest to smallest bills

(6) Take out loose change and put in a piggy bank or put in jar to take to the bank or CoinStar machine

Doing this simple task will cut down on unnecessary clutter and help you to retain only current information. While you're at it, check your driver's license to see when it needs to be renewed. That reminds me, I have to put that on my To Do list too!

After you complete this task, reward yourself!

Happy Decluttering!

Cabin Fever...

If you're like me, Cabin Fever can set in during the winter months. It's either too cold to go out and/or you don't feel like piling on all the layers of clothing. Well, do I have the solution for you! This is the time of year that you can stay in & tackle that project that you've been delaying/putting off. For instance, you have a stack of paper hanging out that you need to go through. Set the timer for 30 minutes and go through the stack. Make 3 piles: (1)Action (2) Recycle and/or Shred (3) File. Do yourself a favor and take another 30 minutes to tackle 1 of the 3 piles you just made. Let's say you choose #2. Bring the shredder into a comfortable area and shred to your hearts content. You will be able to see immediate results in an hours time. I also recommend that you take a photo of your "project" before you begin. For us "visual" people, actually seeing the stack removed from it's starting place spells SUCCESS! I will be rooting right along with you as you tackle these winter projects. You CAN do it!