Eliminate Clutter from Your Life (Concl.)

De-Clutter Your Desk and Work Space
Whether you work from a home office or a tiny cubicle, there’s no way you can be totally productive in a space that doesn’t function for you. “I have never actually met anybody who is extremely successful who works in absolute chaos,” says Ellis.

Sure, everyone has a junk drawer or a messy desk on occasion, but if your clutter is taking over, it’s time to scale back.

When Nwogugu tackled her home office with a very organized friend, they compiled three separate stashes: what to keep, what to shred (sensitive information), and what to just throw away.

Follow a similar routine working from desk to files to shelves. Clear everything off and sort into appropriate stacks. Use file folders, three-ring notebooks, or magazine sorters to hold important papers. And immediately pitch what you don't need. Get creative with containers. Coffee mugs and decorative boxes hold everything from paper clips and tacks to business cards and pens.

Look toward vertical wall space as a new storage solution. “We tend to make piles,” says Ellis. But piles are hard to address and papers within them become hidden. You can’t pay a bill or return an important message if it’s hidden at the bottom of a stack on your desk.

Instead, option wall space. Set bills in a hanging bin, keys on a hook, magazines in wall hangers. Now you can see and reach items easily.

Clean Out Clothing Skeletons in Your Cluttered Closet
If closets are your nemesis and yours could rival Vogue’s accessory closet, you’ll need to spend some time getting down and dirty. The first step to cleaning a closet is to take everything out. Then you can see what you have. Often you’ll need to purchase storage boxes or organizing bins, shoe holders, or shelving. Don’t forget plastic garbage bags for trash and donations. Have a few bins or boxes for items that don’t really belong in the closet but will be moved elsewhere. Be realistic. Do you really need or want each item?

Ellis’ mantra is, “If you haven’t seen it, needed it, or worn it in one year, get rid of it.”

Nwogugu’s friend had three questions when they came to every piece of clothing: Does it fit? Have you worn it in the last 12 months? Is there some sentimental value strong enough to keep it? If the answers are no, toss it in one of three options -- in a bag for charity, to sell at a garage sale or on eBay, or for the trash heap.

Nwogugu went through the same procedure for her husband’s clothes and shoes as well as her children’s. “By the time we were done with clothing, we had over 15 hefty trash bags of stuff for Salvation Army.”

Organization Tips for Your Clutter-Free Action Plan
Here are more steps to help you clear clutter from your life:

Organize in bite-size bits:If the thought of getting organized completely overwhelms you, set a timer for just 15 minutes a day. Knowing you won't spend hours working on an organizational project might make working in small nuggets easier to manage.

Mainstream email: Instead of checking email with each ding of the inbox, read your emails on a regular basis only twice a day. When you open an email, answer it immediately and don't save it for later.

Handle snail mail only once: Create a special time and place to read your snail mail regularly. During the appointed time, open the mail and immediately take action on it. File it with bills, shred it, toss it in the trash, etc. Commit to touching each piece of mail immediately and only once.

Avoid horizontal piles: When possible, avoid putting paper in horizontal stacks in your home or office. Save time and frustration by categorizing and finding a home for paper as soon as it comes through the door.

Purge regularly: This applies to every room in the house but don’t forget the kitchen and bathroom. Check expiration dates regularly on medicines, vitamins, supplements, and cosmetics. Stick to the “when in doubt, throw it out” rule. If you can’t remember when you purchased it, let it go.

The first day after Nwogugu de-cluttered she walked around her apartment, remembering why she loved it. She no longer felt the need to escape. She looked forward to writing. "All around, I feel much better,” she says.

Courtesy: WebMD.com Newsletter

Eliminate clutter from Your Life

Organize and simplify your life for better emotional health.
By Jennifer Nelson, WebMD FeatureReviewed by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD

Simi Nwogugu of Brooklyn, New York, felt that her life was filled with clutter. Her drawers were filled with old notes and books from business school and years of paid bills. Toys that her sons had outgrown still littered the house. In fact, she felt so mentally cluttered that she couldn’t do the one thing she wanted: write.

To get out from under the clutter, the founder of HOD Consulting rented an expensive New York City office. Problem was, the clutter followed her. Finally, she stopped trying to escape clutter and began to organize it.

“I know where everything is and it is so much more pleasing to work from home. Most of all, I am writing again,” she says. Even her aching back and shoulders feel better.

When you can’t find things, you can feel frustrated, angry, and unproductive, says Kelli Ellis, an Orange County, Calif., design psychologist who’s appeared on TLC’s Clean Sweep television show. “You see that person who has papers flying out of files, or you see their handbag, and you say, 'I know exactly what your car looks like or what your home office looks like.'” Clutter spills over into every aspect of life.

Clutter, both mental and physical, can do a number on our productivity and eat away at our time. Think of all the minutes we waste looking for items that aren’t where they should be. Plus the sheer stress of a cluttered life means we may miss deadlines, work longer hours, and lose important stuff. Clutter equals stress. Where to start simplifying?

The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Clutter
Between a zillion to-dos, work and family life, errant worries, and obligations, it’s no wonder you have a cluttered mind. Start by learning to let go.

“To be truly happy, sometimes you must eliminate unhealthy people and situations from your life,” says Alex Lluch, author of Secrets to Love Life and Be Happy. For instance, if you feel stuck in a dead-end job, resolve to make a change.

Or if there’s someone in your life who constantly brings you down with a negative attitude, find a way to disentangle yourself. “It may take some courage to eliminate this stuff from your life, but you will feel much more fulfilled once you are able to concentrate on the people and things that do make you happy.”

Lluch advocates clean sweeping your thoughts with a hot bath, a meditation practice, a long walk, a phone call to a friend -- whatever works for you. Spend at least 15 minutes a day in a pursuit that allows you to decompress, clear your mind, and rid your thoughts of the mental chitchat that clouds your creativity, passion, and productivity.

(To be continued)

Mac's top 20 Quotes ...

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain".
~Vivian Greene

"Sometimes our candle goes out, but is blown into flame by an encounter with another human being".
~Albert Schweitzer

"When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace.
~J. Lubbock".

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently".
~Henry Ford

"Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard".
~Unknown

"To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun"?~Katharine Graham

"Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting golden delicious".
~Bill Meyer

"You can have anything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want".
~Zig Ziglar

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be".
~Abraham Lincoln

"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle".
~Benjamin Franklin

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give".
~Winston Churchill

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us".
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit".
~Aristotle

"You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take".
~Wayne Gretsky

"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first".
~Frederick B. Wilcox

"A journey of a thousand miles begins within a single step".
~Chinese Proverb

"The key is not to prioritize what's on the schedule, but to schedule your priorities".
~Stephen Covey

"All things are difficult before they are easy".
~John Norley

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there".
~Will Rogers

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for..."
-Joseph Addison

"By ignoring the fact, you condone the act."
-Jacques Girard

Cortesy: Mac Anderson, Founder: www.simpletruths.com

Potent Quotes On Demand

HAPPY 2010 and New Decade, All! :o)

To get off a new series of memorable and pragmatic quotes seems to be so appropriate that, without further adieu, I shall be sharing the following with you to start You off with a Powerful Bang! All my Best to You and Yours!

Jacques
-----

"It is dangerous to go into eternity with possibilities that oneself has prevented from becoming realities. A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it. "
- Soren Kierkegaard, Philosopher

"There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity."
- Tom Peters, Author

"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed."
- Cavett Robert

"Deliberation is the work of many men. Action, of one alone."
- Charles de Gaulle, statesman

"If you want to get the best out of a person you must look for the best that is in him."
- Bernard Haldane

"We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated."
- Maya Angelou, poet

"Self-esteem is like a difficult-to-cultivate flower. It requires frequent nurturing that occurs when you keep your word and follow through on your promises."
- Derrick Bell

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
- Johann von Goethe

"For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."
- Rudyard Kipling

"The first one gets the oyster, the second gets the shell."
- Andrew Carnegie, industrialist

"Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth."
- Katherine Mansfield, author

"After investigating a problem in all directions, ideas come unexpectedly, without effort, like an inspiration."
- H.L. von Helmholtz

"We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once."
- Calvin Coolidge, 30th U.S. President

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory."
- Mahatma Gandhi, Statesman

"To me success can only be achieved through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success represents 1% of your work that results from the 99% that is called failure."
- Soichiro Honda, car executive

"If you play to win, as I do, the game never ends."
- Stan Mikita, hockey player

"Business is like a wheelbarrow - it stands still until someone pushes it."
- Unknown

"If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet