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Organizing Information |
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How Clutter Chases Money Away
Have you ever heard that having a cluttered home can cause money to run away from you? I know, I know...it sounds like airy-fairy mumbo jumbo, but think about it for a moment... Has your desk ever been so cluttered that you forgot to pay a bill and incurred a late fee? Has your cluttered purse caused you to forget to enter in a debit card purchase and you then overdrew your account? Have you ever injured yourself in your own home when you tripped over "stuff" cluttering up walkways? Have you ever bought something that you already owned, simply because you couldn't find the item in question? Have you ever found overdue late library books or movie rentals under your messy car seats? Are you getting my point here? To save yourself time AND money, implement some of these tips: *Every evening when you turn off the computer, spend just 2 minutes clearing off your desk or workspace. When it becomes a habit you will do it without thinking and it then takes seconds. *Once a week (or more often depending on your habits!) take a minute to clear out your purse. Pick a day to do this and do it every week. *Enter your purchases in your checkbook immediately before the receipt has a chance to disappear! *Open your mail standing over a trash can. That way you can immediately toss the junk mail instead of laying it aside. *Once a day (before bed is a great time) take just 2 minutes to walk through the house with a trash bag in your hand, and throw away paper trash, magazines, junky plastic toys that seem to multiply overnight, etc. *Before you log off your computer at the end of a workday, take a moment to delete any favorite places or organize them into folders. Do the same with email. (Better yet, set up your email program to automatically file certain emails into folders as they download.) This will save you time when you need to find things later on. *The day before you go grocery shopping, clean out your fridge. It's emptier now so this is easy to do, and you can grab all the leftover bits to make "Refrigerator Stew" instead of letting those items go to waste. And my personal favorite: *Never own more than one laundry basket. The more you own, the more you fill up with clean, unfolded laundry! And just for fun, here's the airy-fairy stuff: Having a cluttered home or office can make you feel tired and overwhelmed, because you have an emotional attachment to everything you own. It's as if a tiny string is connecting every possession to your subconscious mind. Do you have kids? Have you ever noticed how your child behaves when s/he has too many choices? How about when they've been given a ton of gifts? Do they not get irritable and frenzied? They can't decide "what to do" with so much stuff around that they pitch it all and play with the box...it's simple! I organized my kid's room the other day (I go on a tear and do this periodically), putting all the toys into categories, organizing them into containers, throwing a lot away, puttting some things away for later, and lo and behold! They NEVER played in there before, and now they're in their room all the time playing peacefully. It's the same with us! A cluttered home means you will have less energy for your business or other work. I hope these ideas help you save time and money. Carrie Lauth publishes a free "no fluff" weekly newsletter for work at home Moms new to marketing on the Internet. Get your copy plus subscriber goodies at http://www.business-moms-expo.com/newsletter.html
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Comment by Gary Chaison