DrDeClutterBlog.com

When your TO DO list just doesn’t change, and keeps getting longer, it creates stress, right?

“Procrastination is the foundation of all disasters.”
~ Pandora Poikilos

TO DO LIST

• What’s still on your “love my life, love my house” TO DO list this month?
• How long has it been on your list?
• Do your projects feel overwhelming?

Feeling overwhelmed can make us stall out and stop moving ahead on projects. Does that happen to you? If so, these strategies will get your focused and moving into the doing, getting your checklists checked off for good, sooner than later.

1. TIME

If we focus only on the BIG JOB we can feel exhausted before even starting. It’s just too much! So, see the job instead as a series of small, incremental pieces or “projects”. Then figure out how much TIME it will take to get started and to complete each smaller task or project. TIME BLOCK each one separately making them doable.

2. SCHEDULE

Schedule these TIME BLOCKS into your daily calendar/schedule, making each as important as a doctor’s appointment – no cancelling or missing it. They are that important too! Getting your TO DOs TO DONE can actually help keep you out of the doctor’s office by keeping your stress level down.

How? Because, when you move ahead on projects that make you feel good, your body and brain respond with floods of endorphins and other good chemical reactions that lower your stress, support good health and boost your self-esteem too. When you don’t do the TO DOs – and usually feel guilty, mad at and bad about yourself – your body reacts in a negative flood of stress chemicals that are bad for you, your health and your self-esteem.

“The essence of self-discipline is to do the important thing rather than the urgent thing.”
~ Barry Werner

3. PLAN

Make a long term PLAN to TIME BLOCK and SCHEDULE in your TO DOs and PROJECTS every day for the big picture and to get your checklist checked off for good!

Because, as it’s been said for decades, “We don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan.”

Without a PLAN or vision for the outcomes and results we truly want, we bog down and get stuck, which can swirl into stress, anxiety and depression; a very bad spiral in which to live and waste our precious lives. Wouldn’t you agree?

But, a long term PLAN without short term doable tasks and projects that can be completed and realized quickly just will not hold our attention for long.

PLAN IN FUN, TOO!

Don’t wait until you get all of your TO DOs TO DONE in order to have fun! PLAN your fun into the schedule and enjoy both!

HOW I CAN HELP YOU

Whether I, “Dr. DeClutter”, make a “house call” and help you dig in, or we have a Priority Coaching call to figure out how to get you started and move forward on your plan, I’m here for you.

• Hire me. I travel to help you too, see here.
• Get your 20-minute free tele-consult by emailing kim@drdeclutter.com to schedule.
• Visit my bookstore and find lots of great ebooks with hundreds of great ideas to help you step into action immediately.

How many emails do you have in your email inbox?

How many can you really read in this lifetime?!

Maybe it’s time to take a deep breath and press the DELETE ALL button, declutter your inbox, and start over.

Cluttered, overloaded inboxes waste time and sacrifice productivity. Use these 7 simple ways to declutter your inbox and get time and space back quickly.

1. Set up Priority Inbox.

If you use Gmail, you may be missing out on an amazing feature called Priority Inbox. Priority Inbox puts new emails in two different places within your inbox – one for ones it considers important, and another for ones it considers unimportant, based on the sender and subject line. So, eventhough you might have 90+ new emails when you fire up your computer in the morning, you can immediately see the 12 that need your attention, rather than getting lost in a sea of “daily deal” offers and cat slideshows until lunch.

Check your email provider options and see if it has something like this.

2. Create filters.

Many email providers allow you to set up filters for certain types of emails. You can use these filters to do lots of things – apply a certain label to an email, delete it, send it immediately to a certain folder and more. For the emails that you get a lot of that aren’t urgent, set up filters for them to skip your inbox and go straight into a certain folder to look at later. Then, once a day, go into that folder and see what’s new. I use this for topics I research often and get great ideas to help my blog readers.

3. Create and name folders.

This is like using the auto-filter system, but you create the folder and then click and drag, or click and move the email to your specified folder.

4. Use Boomerang For Gmail.

Boomerang is a free plug-in for Firefox and Chrome with Gmail that allows you to do things like schedule an email to send in the future, bring an email back to your inbox at a certain time (like your flight itinerary the day before your trip) or return an email back to your inbox if you have not received a reply to it after X days. Rather than leaving an email in your inbox just to remind yourself to follow up on it or have it to easily access for later, use Boomerang to clear it out for now and have it come back when you actually need it.

5. Unsubscribe from 90 percent of the lists you’re on.

While you probably just delete most of these unwanted emails every day — like snail-junk-mail that you keep recycling but don’t actually get off their mailing list — they clog your inbox, keep coming back, waste your time checking them off and then pushing delete, and make it hard for you to see the emails that actually matter.

Ways to unsubscribe:

a) If your email system will sort under the FROM column (Gmail will not unfortunately), click on FROM and they will line up A-Z. Find the ones you want to unsubscribe from and click open only one of them. Find the unsubscribe, usually at the bottom, click and complete. Then, go back into your email and delete all from that same sender. Done!

b) Or, for a span of about a week or so, every time you get an email you do not want to receive take the time to open it, scroll down, and unsubscribe from the list. It will require a little more time upfront but it will pay off in the long run when the number of emails you receive on a daily basis goes way, way down.

c) Use the Swizzle. You can also use a service like the Swizzle to help you unsubscribe from a ton of lists all at once or to opt to receive daily digests from certain lists instead of individual emails.

6. Use your calendar rather than your inbox.

People often leave emails in their inbox to remind them to do something – to make a call, start a project, or to follow up with someone. Instead of taking up valuable inbox space with emails you have already read, schedule these to-dos in your calendar to remind yourself. If you’ve been meaning to call to make an appointment somewhere but the place doesn’t open until Tuesday, create an event in your calendar for Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. as a reminder, rather than leaving the related email in your inbox (which you might not even see on Tuesday anyway because you have another dozen to 100 that came in since then and it’s just too overwhelming).

7. Delete them all and start over!

The co-founder of Twitter says that he has “email bankruptcy every 30 days.” He deletes them all and starts over. He said that he gets thousands of emails a month and doesn’t have an assistant or anyone to help, and wants to keep it that way and personal. So, he dumps them all and says, “If someone really wants to contact me, they’ll email me again, or, try Twitter!”

Like decluttering anything, when you finally do it, it really does feel great.

2 BONUS E-DECLUTTER IDEAS:

Like material clutter, every time you opt into a new one new ezine, you have to unsubscribe from one.

Or, just like “you can’t buy anymore because there’s no room, no place to put more,” think of your inbox the same way. You can’t “bring any more home” unless you declutter first!

Personal Note:

Of course, I hope you enjoy my newsletter enough to not delete it or unsubscribe! But, it’s okay if you do too, I understand.

Find more information on decluttering home and office/paper and more in my information packed ebook

Burn Your House Down! And 99 other ways to create an organized life.

Are you a Red Hatter?!

If you want to know what’s going on in the Red Hatter’s world, you must subscribe to Miss Kitty’s Journal to keep in the know! It’s a lovely, glossy magazine that shares so many ways Red Hat Lovers can travel, get together, learn, laugh and love life even more.

MY ARTICLE

My article in this edition’s “The Success of Everyday Living” section is, ” How To Declutter, Downsize And Let Go Of Your Stuff.” This is important information at any age, but especially after 50.

Enjoy this Spring/Summer Edition ladies!

It’s that time! Spring break!

Where  are you going? What are you doing? What’s the plan?

Whether you’re going somewhere or sleeping, have a plan so that you enjoy every minute.

There are many ways to plan and experience your spring break this year. The overall best way is to have fun, be safe and create stories and memories that you won’t regret or are embarrassed about later! They’ll be all over TV and the Internet soon enough.

Here are some tips and links that will help you help yourself to a great fun time!

1:  Plan ahead.

Don’t “assume” you’ll get a ticket, a room, or whatever you dream of having when you “get there” and if you get there.

2: Tell a friend, family members where you are going.

Being a free spirit is lovely, and can get you into trouble too. Make sure someone has your travel plan. Take travel warnings seriously. “Stay on the trail”, and take a friend with you.

3:  Take care of your body.

-  Drink lots of water if you’re going to be in the sun or racing down ski slopes all day.

-  Wear sunscreen and sunglasses.

-  Limit alcohol.  Your future employers may skip right by you if they see social media pictures of you drunk and crazy. It’s not worth it. I don’t need to go into all of the other reasons not to drink, get drunk and set yourself up for problems, right?

4.  Sex? Protect yourself.

You know the lecture, right? Condoms, etc. etc. etc. Your life and future and dreams are the core of who you are. One moment of “passion” can kill it all. Be smart. There’s always more passion!

5.  Credit cards, money, license, passport, tickets, maps  - protect yourself.

Make a copy of these items so if lost you have proof and the numbers. Copy both sides when numbers may be different on each side.  Plan ahead to keep them somewhere safe.

6. Don’t overspend.

Plan your budget and stick to it. If you need an extra reminder and stop-gap help click here to get my free Money Pocket Sanity Tool.

7. Call/text home.

Don’t get into the “I’m freeee! I can do anything I want!” Call or text home, to friends, etc. Not so much that it stifles your fun, but enough to let others who love and care for you know that you’re okay and they don’t have to worry one more night about you.

8. Be 100% responsible.

Don’t set yourself up to have problems and then blame others for it. Be 100% responsible for yourself and your experience. Make the choices you need to make to stay with or leave your “friends” or groups of people if they are headed down a dark road and everything in you says to get out now. Get out now!

9. HAVE FUN!

Enjoy every minute! Try new foods and experiences. Don’t be shy, say hi and meet new people.

Are you getting enough sleep?

Today is Napping Day, an unofficial holiday created in 1999 by now-retired Boston University professor William Anthony and his wife, Camille, to help people adjust to Daylight Savings Time.

How much do you need?

You need plenty of undisturbed sleep to rebuild your body/biology, refresh your mind, quiet your chaotic thoughts and emotional roller coaster from the day, and re-energize.

Newborns: 12 -18 hours

Infants  (3 – 11 months): 14-15 hours

Toddlers  ( 1-3 years): 12-14 hours

Preschoolers (3-5 years): 11-13 hours

School age (5-10 years): 10-11 hours

Tweens and teens (10-17 years): 8.5 – 9.25 hours

Adults: 7-9 hours

NAPPING DAY - Nice article here to remind yourself to get your zzz’s!

WHITE NOISE - Use white noise to help you sleep soundly. I have for over 30 years.

Here’s a great example:  Pure White Noise

Do you make lists? I do. I LOVE lists! Okay, and you can tell me… do you ever do something that’s not on your list and then write it down just so you can cross it off? I do! I LOVE lists! Doesn’t crossing an item off as “complete” feel great! High five! YEA, LISTS! (Okay, now you know, it doesn’t take much to make me happy!!)

So, the depressing thing about lists is to look at items that are large projects, which extend over weeks and months. It can feel overwhelming. “Where do I start?!”

THE KEY to successfully dealing with large or long projects is to “chunk” them down. That’s right; divide them into doable “chunks.”

Breaking these projects down into smaller manageable steps of 30 minutes, 1 or 2 hours each, like your other smaller projects, will get you done in “chunks” at a time. Then, get your pen out!! – YES, you’ll get to scratch off one “chunk” at a time and get that same great feeling of completion and satisfaction as with small projects. High five!! Ahhhh, I LOVE lists! Have I said that?!

Now, you can look at your TO-DO LIST and just see doable, objective projects that can be “seen as finished” more easily. And, when you can “see” a project finished, it is much easier to start on and stay with “to” the finish.

TIP: Use a timer.  If you set your timer for 15-30 increments, it helps to not feel like your in a room or area “for-ev-er!”

Now, start chunking!

Timers come in all kinds of colors and shapes.

Resisting “what is” is exhausting. Wouldn’t you agree?

We can’t change a lot of things that happen every second. Like the weather, other people, the government, other countries, our squirrely thoughts and emotions and so much more. But boy, do we ever try!

And, to what end?

What are the real results of all of our resisting life? No good, but a lot of stress, frustration, anger, depression, angst, blame and other negative emotions and activity.

“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness.”

~ Eckhart Tolle

STOP RESISTING

Changing a few things in our thinking can make a world of difference and make life much easier to enjoy.

For some people it will mean telling their ego that they don’t have to be right, and no one need be wrong.

For others, it will be letting go of the past.

And, for others, it will be about grieving what was or will never be.

LETTING GO & ACCEPTANCE

It can take everything you’ve got to let go of things that you judge are wrong or bad and want them to change. But, 99.999% won’t.

“Of course there is no formula for success except, perhaps,

an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.”

~ Arthur Rubinstein

Our best bet is to learn to flow with and not fight life. Flow with what is right in this moment; your life, health, finances, relationships, job, neighbors, plans, goals, etc., etc.

Flow.

Otherwise, you are at war with things that most likely will not be different, no matter how much resistance to the change or outcomes you give it. And, no matter how “right” you are.

So, unless you are Gandhi, who’s “passive” resistance changed a country and affected the world, here are a few more suggestions for change, to stop resisting and flow.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

    1.  Change only your thoughts and thinking about what is.

    2.  Change only your choices and decisions about what you are doing today and each day to come.

    3.  Question everything, but don’t resist it.

    4.  Vote with your feet! Get out of situations that are truly harmful to you or others.

    5.  Revision your life as easy, flowing, in harmony and enjoyable.

    6.  Choose to be around people who are happy and flow in life.

“You don’t get to vote on what is. Have you noticed?”

~ Byron Katie

Suggested Reading: Click on cover to find out more.

   DO YOU NEED SOME EXTRA HELP LETTING GO?

   PRIORITY COACHING

I can work with you by telephone to help you shift and change your blocks and areas of resistance that are interfering with your joy, or even ruining your life. Contact me at kim@drdeclutter.com for a FREE 20-MINUTE CONSULTATION

“Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
is a ring on the door.

Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look out to see who’s there.”
~ Rumi  (1207-1273)

Born Mevlana Jalal’uddin Rumi, this 13th century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, Sufi Master and theologian is known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi. Rumi is a descriptive name meaning “the Roman” since he lived most parts of his life in Anatolia which had been part of the Roman Empire until the Seljuq conquest two centuries earlier.

I have read and loved Rumi’s writings and inspired thoughts for decades.

WHAT IS YOUR DAILY PRACTICE?

What is it that you want to change, get or be better at?

What do you want to master? There are many things we can master and want to learn, be, do and have. We might want to learn to play a musical instrument, or read faster. Perhaps we want to learn how to use a computer better or run a marathon. Maybe we want to learn sales skills or a sport. They all take practice. Daily practice to learn, get better at and to master.

We always hear that “practice makes perfect.” True. That means daily and ongoing practice, habitual routines, thoughts and patterns of anything, good or bad, makes perfect what it is you are practicing.

So, whatever you do today, and “are” today, that is good or bad (not supportive or beneficial to you or others) is something you’ve literally been “practicing” for years. You ARE a master at it! Even if it’s procrastination, indecision, doubt and fear.

TURN IT AROUND

So, becoming mindful of what it is you want to be, do and have differently means that you need to set your intention, mind and plan toward a positive daily practice.

1. Define what you want

2. Define the thoughts and actions it takes to have it, create it, perfect it in your life.

3. Begin the thoughts and actions now. Practice them every day.

If you don’t start your daily practice now, then when? Time does not wait for us.

RUMI’S COMPLETE POEM

The poetic lines above are from a larger poem. See here.

GET PRIORITY COACH SUPPORT

If you need help staying focused and accountable for what you really want in your practice, I can help you.

Email me at kim@drdeclutter.com to schedule a 20-minute FREE Priority Coaching Consultation to discuss where you get stuck, get waylaid, trance out and fall back into old habits and patterns and never get your goals accomplished or practice started and continued.

As a professional organizer, January is an exciting month for me! I love organizing and because getting organized is one of the top New Year’s Resolutions people make year after year, I’m all about supporting you to do that! Jump in today with vim and vigor!

Here are just a few tips to get you started (see the rest of my blog articles for tons more!)

1. We use only 20% of our stuff 80% of the time.  So, start letting go of more of the 80% you never use and will never use.

2.  Everything needs to “live” somewhere in your home.

3.  Everything then needs to have a “home” in your home, or it is “homeless” and gets lost! A “home” is a place where you always put it when you’re finished and can find it when you need it. And, where other’s can find it too when you tell them where it is.

4.  Ask yourself the following questions to determine what you should keep and what you can let go of, toss or donate, etc:

• Do I like it? Do I love it? Does it love me back? Does it bring me joy?
• Do I need it?
• Will I use it? How will I use it?
• Do I have something like it already? Do I need another?
• Do I have room for it?
• Where will it live? Where will its “home” be?

A GOOD WAY TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO ORGANIZE

My book title, Burn Your House Down is going to give this one away . . . but, think about what you would want if you had to evacuate your house with only two hours to gather your things. This exercise will really help you identify what is important to you and what is just taking up space.

Jump into January with your organizing cap on! Enjoy your home and help it to love you back.

I’M EXCITED TO HELP YOU PRIORITIZE AND KEEP MOVING AHEAD

As a Priority Coach, I am offering you a 20-minute FREE telephone consult with me to help you define what it is that you need to get you on track and stay on track this year for your desires, dreams and goals.

Email me at kim@drdeclutter.com to discuss scheduling your session.

While growing up in my parent’s home my mom was adamant that we kids thanked people for gifts, as in “Thank you notes.” I’m really big on sending thank you’s. I love sending them and receiving them! Mom did a great job of training us up right on this one for sure! Well, at least I learned it!!

Thank you notes are important for any reason, but for this post I’m focusing on the holidays.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A THANK YOU NOTE IN OUR HIGH-TECH CULTURE?

There a lots of ways to say thank you.

1. Make a phone call.

2. Email.

3. Text.

4. Facebook DM.

5. Tweet.

6. But, really, this is the way I’m talking about – mail, real paper and envelope and stamp in “snail” mail.

Why real mail?

Our tech-savvy world is all interesting, necessary and etc., but standing still, taking real time, effort and thought and truly being grateful is getting lost quickly in our digital age.

Real cards in the mail mean a lot to people. They really stick with us as opposed to a fleeting email or text that is lost in the e-stack of others, read so quickly that, like Teflon, it slides right off our mind, emotions and memory.

Have you sent thank you’s to people for your Christmas gifts yet? Don’t wait until February, do it this month while it’s still fresh in your mind.

Click on card above to order if you don’t have any!

9 REASONS TO SEND THANK YOU NOTES

1. You are grateful, appreciative and thankful for the gift, gesture, event or whatever, right? Show your gratitude.

2.  We all love to be acknowledged for what they are doing well.

3.  By sending a thank-you note, you show others common courtesy and respect.

4.  A thank-you note lets you say lots of other good stuff too that you might still want to share, a nice completion to Christmas before the new year rolls in and over us too quickly and it’s all forgotten.

5. Because, love is a verb.  A thank you note means that you took your time and attention and “loved” this person and what they did.

6.  Sending a “real” thank you note is a learned skill for most people that is all about social skills, communication skills as well as life, business and relationship skill building. (Teach your kids now!)

7. You will get good back 180 for doing this. What we give, we receive 100 fold in ways that may surprise you.

8. Because it feels so good! And, when we feel good and share love back, we are helping our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual selves.

9. It keeps us grounded and human in our fast-paced, distracted, detached world.

Writing thank-you notes shouldn’t be hard, but will take a bit of your time. Find or make the time and love others back with a real thank you today. My mom will be proud!

Here are more generic examples. Click to buy now if you don’t have time to shop! Use all year long for all notes of appreciation!