Janice

Groundhog Day

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It’s Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil, the official groundhog, has seen his shadow. Six more weeks of winter. I’m tired of looking at snow, brown grass, leafless trees, and gray skies. Six more weeks seems like a long time. Let’s hope Phil is wrong.

If you want to find out more about Groundhog day or see pictures from today’s celebration then check out this site. http://www.groundhog.org/

As I was researching info for my monthly newsletter (if you’re not signed up to receive it then please do so on the right sidebar) I found out that February is a month of observances for health awareness. Since we supposedly have six more weeks of winter and four of those are in February then it may be a good time to make some of those annual check-ups with your health providers.

This Friday is “National Wear Red Day“. Wear red to support women’s heart disease awareness. It’s the number one killer of women in the United States. There are lots of ways to reduce the risk of heart disease for yourself or your loved ones. Now is a good time to start.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Coupon Clutter

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I wrote a tip newsletter today about coupon clutter. I am posting it here so you can see the system that I use. If you have another system or suggestions please let me know in the comment section.

Do you have an envelope or drawer full of coupons for groceries, restaurants, and other merchandise? Can you find the coupon you want when you need it? Coupons can save you a lot of money but only if you use them.

Coupons will become clutter very quickly unless you have a system set up to organize them. Here is a simple system I use. I have three different colored pocket folders and a small portable coupon caddy.

1. In the first folder I keep the current week’s grocery ads and local store ads I may want to shop at that week.

2. In the second folder I keep restaurant coupons and menus for our favorite places.

3. In the third folder I keep all the other coupons for the local stores such as Macy’s, Lowes, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. These are not the weekly ads but coupons I have received in the mail with longer expiration dates.

4. I file the grocery item coupons in the coupon caddy as soon as I cut them out. I relabeled the pockets to fit my needs.

To keep the coupons and ads current I purge the old ones from the first folder (grocery ads) on a weekly basis. The other folders and the coupon caddy usually get purged of expired coupons about once a month or when they start getting too full.

The above system is easy to use and maintain. Take a few minutes to set it up and save money with those coupons instead of letting them become clutter.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Mental Clutter

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Early this week I had a bad cold. I’m in the sixth week of radiation treatment for breast cancer and I’m beginning to feel the fatigue I was told would happen. Because of these two things I had a hard time focusing on writing my weekly newsletter and this blog.

Even though logic tells me the above excuses are legitimate the negative thoughts began creeping into my brain. You know the kind; thoughts about how you always procrastinate, you’ll never learn to be organized, you’re a failure. These are the kind of thoughts that make you feel down about yourself. Lose your confidence. Lose your enthusiasm. These are mental clutter!

I recognized these thoughts as such and worked at decluttering them from my brain. I talked about it in my weekly newsletter. (If you aren’t receiving my free newsletters then please sign up on the sidebar.)

Here are the four steps I use to clear out the mental clutter.

1. Recognize when mental clutter is starting to accumulate.
2. Acknowledge that these negative thoughts are only clutter and not the truth.
3. Visualize the thoughts as physical clutter and clear them out of your mind.
4. Repeat the process as often as necessary.

If you have other ways to clear out the mental clutter please post a comment. I know I would appreciate any tips you have and I’m sure my readers would also.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Paper Clutter to the Recycling Bin

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Do you have a file folder filled with cut out articles and/or recipes tucked away in a drawer or box? When was the last time you looked into this file folder?

Last night I continued my paper decluttering project for January. The files in my file drawer were getting so tight I could hardly fit another piece of paper in them. It was time to purge! After dinner I pulled out a couple of file folders from the back of the drawer. I sat down on the couch and while watching TV went through them.

The first file had a bunch of catalogs from a book club I no longer belong to. They weren’t too old but needed to be filed in the recycling bin. The other file folder had some recipes and articles I had cut out from magazines. After going through the recipes I only found one I wanted to try. The articles all seemed a little outdated. Since they were torn out of magazines some of the pages had the date of the issue on them. Do you think articles from 1992 are a little old?

That’s right. I have kept this file folder for over 16 years and didn’t bother to look at it. I guess those articles really weren’t so important to keep. I wonder how many other outdated articles are hiding in file folders. I think I will be pulling one folder out each night and decluttering them.

It felt real good last night to put those old papers into the recycling bin.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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“Clean Off Your Desk Day”

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Today is “Clean off Your Desk Day“. It is always easier to work at a clean desk than one that is cluttered up with papers, pens, coffee mugs, water bottles, and lots of other misc. items. As I am typing this I can see I have a little work to do with my desk. I will set a timer for 15 minutes and clean it up.

With January being “National Get Organized Month” I have decided it was time to go through my bookcases and declutter some books and notebooks. I don’t have any more room on the shelves so books and papers are starting to stack up on the floor. Time to reorganize.

I decided to add a new bookcase. I had room to move a small, three shelf one to another area and put a new five shelf one in its old place. This will give me more room to put the books and notebooks. Sometimes we have to change things to make them work more efficiently for us.

Once I get the new bookshelf built (hopefully by tonight) I will put everything on the shelves. It won’t be organized just yet but I will take care of that later. I will go through one shelf at a time and get rid of any books I don’t need. This way will be better than trying to tackle the whole mess at once. It’s too easy to get overwhelmed.

Time to go clean off my desk!

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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