Janice

Decluttering “Mind Games”

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Yesterday a large moving van went up my street. Every time I see someone moving I think about what it would be like to pack up all my belongings and move to a new home. I’ve lived in this house for over 17 years so it’s been a long time since I went through the moving process.

moving_truck

It always amazes me to see how much trash the person moving has put out for their last pick-up. Why did they wait until they moved to get rid of the broken bookcase or toys? Why do we hold onto things thinking we will fix or need them in our old homes but not in our new home?

Moving gets us in a frame of mind that helps us let go of the clutter. It’s a new start in a new home. We don’t want to bring the clutter with us.

We can use this frame of mind to help us get rid of the clutter in our current home even if we don’t have any plans to move. This is what I call “Decluttering Mind Games”.

We can approach our decluttering with the idea that we are moving soon. When we pretend we are moving we can get in the right frame of mind to let go of the emotional and sometimes irrational reasons we hold onto things.

Look at each item and ask yourself: Is it worth paying money to move this item to a new home? If not, then why am I keeping it?

If it’s not worth moving and you don’t have a legitimate reason to keep it, then let it go. Don’t wait until you really are moving. Too much clutter at that time will only make the move more stressful.

Another mind game to help you declutter is pretending a fire or disaster destroyed all your belongings. I wrote an article called: “How To Decluttering Using A Household Inventory List”. In the article you will learn how to declutter with the “potential disaster” frame of mind plus create an inventory list for insurance purposes. A win-win situation.

Do you play “mind games” to help you get rid of clutter? Please let me know what games you play in the comment section. Thanks.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Creating New Habits

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Have you moved forward on your New Year’s resolution to declutter and organize your home? It is said that very few people follow through with their resolutions. That’s probably because they don’t have a plan in place or even know where to start.

The first place to start is to recognize and acknowledge the bad habits that got you in this mess to begin with. Clutter and disorganization doesn’t happen overnight and all by itself. It happens over time due to bad habits on your part.

So if the root of the problem is bad habits then the solution would be to have good habits instead. Studies show that the best way to get rid of a bad habit is to substitute a good habit in it’s place.

An example of a bad habit that contributes to the clutter in your home would be bringing in the mail and dumping it on the kitchen counter to “go through it later”. Later may come in a couple of days or longer. By then the pile is toppling over and in the way. Now you feel overwhelmed by the pile and don’t know when you’ll find time to deal with it. In your mind it will take forever so you put it off for a few more days when you may have more time. This bad habit creates a vicious cycle.

Now a good habit to substitute for the bad one would be to deal with the mail on a daily basis. That doesn’t mean you will take care of paying the bills that day or reading the magazine before cooking dinner. What you want to do is set up a plan to organize the mail as soon as you bring it in the house.

You’ll want a file folder or basket on your desk for bills and items that need action taken right away. You’ll want another folder or basket for items that don’t need immediate action and can wait a few days for you to look at. You’ll also want a place to keep the reading material, maybe a basket by your favorite chair.

As soon as the mail comes in take a couple of minutes to separate it into piles according to the categories above. Have a fourth pile for trash that needs shredding. All other junk mail can be recycled or thrown away immediately. Take another minute or two to put the piles into their proper folders or baskets.

Do this 2-5 minute routine everyday and before long you will have substituted a good habit for the bad one. No more piles of mail cluttering up the counter!

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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National Clean Off Your Desk Day

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National “Clean Off You Desk Day” is observed the second Monday of January. If you desk is always a mess then today is a good time to start a new habit to keep you desk clean everyday of the year.

So how do you create this new habit? One babystep at a time!

A good way is to take a timer and set it for 5-10 minutes at the end of the day (if you work there all day) or at the end of your bill paying/paperwork time.

File away the papers you have completed. Put the unfinished papers in a folder with current paperwork tasks. Keep that folder on a shelf, basket, or in a file drawer at your desk. Your goal is to have the desk as cleaned off as possible for the next morning.

A cleared off desk first thing in the morning will help put you in a brighter mood instead of feeling overwhelmed. Because you put the unfinished tasks in a folder you know exactly where to start working. No more digging through piles of paper to find what needs to be done.

Habits take time to develop but with babysteps you can have that cleaned off desk almost everyday.

If your your desk is piled high with papers you’ll want to read the article on “How to Divide and Conquer Paper Clutter” first. It will help you organize those papers so you can put them where they belong.

If your whole office is a mess then consider organizing it in zones.  This is also a way to help keep the desk cleaned off. Having a permanent home for the different papers will make it easier to put them away.

The article, “How To Organize Your Home Office” will show you how to organize with zones.

 

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

CutClutterWithScissors Facebook Page

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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National Get Organized Month

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January is “National Get Organized Month” according to NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Starting out the new year by getting organized is a great idea. It will set up the rest of the year to be a more productive, fun, and happy year.

The hard part is taking the responsibility to get the whole family into the idea and get their help. Do you feel like you carry the whole weight of running the household?

We all live in the house so can’t everybody help by doing their part? Sometimes all we want is for somebody in the house to offer their help without us begging them for it. Other times we wonder if anybody in the house has a clue how much work we do to keep the house clean. But as usual nobody helps or even has a clue.

If the above paragraph sounds like your home, this is the year to change things. You’ll have to set the example and at some point the rest of the family will follow. You might want to have them read the following story. No one seems to be sure of the exact origin so the author is listed as “Unknown”. Many families will find themselves in this story.

“This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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An Organizing Journey

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I love January. I hate the cold weather but January means it’s a new year and another chance for a new beginning. That’s what New Year’s Resolutions are all about. A clean slate to try again to make our lives better. It’s another chance to get it right this time.

This year I plan on losing some weight. How many years have I made that resolution? Too many to count. But hope springs eternal and it’s a new year to try again.

Another resolution is to have my paperwork more organized and get rid of more paper clutter. I want to organize my photos in scrapbooks, both the physical ones and electronic ones. I bought the supplies a few years ago so maybe this will be the year to get it done. Like I said – hope springs eternal.

So what are your New Years Resolutions? If organizing your home is one of them then stick around for lots of tips to help you move forward.

If you haven’t received my free ebook loaded with tips then sign up in the blue box on the right side of this blog. You’ll receive the ebook and a free weekly newsletter filled with tips, website links, and other information to help you get decluttered and organized.

Remember, organizing is a journey, not a destination. Make 2010 a journey you will enjoy traveling on!

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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