What do you wear when you’re at home?

Whether you’re working, doing chores, or chilling out, the clothes you wear can affect your mood, motivation and even feelings of self-respect.

If you find yourself struggling with procrastination, low productivity or lack of motivation, your at-home wardrobe could be to blame.

• Do you pull on any old thing because you’re ‘just at home’?
• Do you say to yourself, ‘No one can see me, so why bother?’
• If someone knocks at the door, do you stay very quiet and hope they’ll leave, because you’re too embarrassed to answer the door in what you have on?
• Do you keep clothes that look bad, are stained, tatty or ill-fitting, or just don’t suit you – because they’re ‘still good’?

If you answered Yes to any of these questions, then it’s time for a closet intervention.

You don’t have to wear your best clothes at home. If I’ve been out I usually get changed when I get home – that way my special clothes stay looking great for longer.

But your at-home clothes shouldn’t be barrel-scraping either. That will only make you feel less than your best. And huge, baggy outfits invite overeating, in my experience. (Do you find this too?)

Instead, have a few outfits that are comfortable and attractive for wearing at home.

I work from home and spend long periods of time at my computer, but I also go to the gym four to six times a week. I want to be comfortable, but I also want to feel productive and motivated, and I also want to be able to head to the gym without the added resistance and potential excuse of having to change. So for working at home I wear dance or active wear – it’s very comfortable for sitting cross-legged and typing and it also works well at the gym.

And for chilling out at home when I’m not working, I have jeans, tanks and hoodies that are perfect for embarrassment-free door answering.

Good outfits for you will depend on what you do at home and what types of clothes make you feel happy and motivated. You can safely rule out anything ancient, tatty, ill-fitting, not-you, or uncomfortable. In fact, go pull these offenders out of your closet now.

Actors often say they inhabit a character when they get into costume. What ‘character’ are you playing when you’re at home?

BTW…

While we’re talking outfits, I recently wrote the post: Have A Go-To Outfit For Business Meetings for Women’s Network Australia. You might like that too.

Image by totally pixelated

Related posts:

1. Get Organized Mission #11: Create Your Wardrobe Wishlist
2. Personal Style Clinic: 7 Dos & Don’ts For Upgrading Your Look
3. 30-Day Organize-athon | Day 11: Organize Your Shoes

Here are some strategies to start the year off well.

3 Powerful Strategies For A Fabulous New Year

Although the start of a new year is a fairly arbitrary thing, it offers a priceless psychological gift – motivation!

Don’t waste this gift! Take advantage of the January 1 effect to get started the way you want the year to continue.

If you’re like most people, you’re hoping this is the year you get rid of clutter, lose weight, get organized, get healthier, achieve your goals…

To increase the chances that the new year is a fabulous year for you, apply the following strategies. Each one is surprisingly powerful, and can make a huge difference to the way you feel and function throughout the New Year. Read more…

Successful New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Things You Must Know To Achieve Goals and Change Habits

A study of people attempting to change diet and exercise habits, it took between 18 and 245 days for the new behavior to feel automatic.

The duration varied by person and habit, but the average was 66 days.

So 66 days is a good indicator when planning your own goal, habit change or new year’s resolution.

That means you need to allow at least a couple of months to get used to exercising… Read more…

New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Ways to Get Organized

Have you set new year’s resolutions to get better organized?

Here are three strategies for starting off the year on the right track – and boosting your chances of keeping those resolutions beyond January.

1. Scrap the storage

If you’ve got stuff squirreled away in storage, the attic or the garage, then this is the time to get rid if it. You probably don’t even know what’s there, do you?

Schedule a day to clear out your storage unit, attic or garage and take everything to the charity store or tip… Read more…

5 Steps To Making This Your Most Productive & Organized Year Ever

The way you use your diary makes all the difference to the way the year unfolds for you. Many things will be beyond your control, but how you spend your time, to a large extent, will be your choice.

Start thinking of time as your life resource. Learn to use your diary to manage time in ways that bring meaning, fulfilment and happiness to you, and to the people in your life.

Here are 5 steps for using a diary to make this your most productive and organized year ever. Read more…

Goals Goals Goals!

And here’s even more on achieving your goals and keeping your resolutions.

I hope the new year brings you meaning, happiness, love, and success in the things you hold dear.

See you in 2012 my friends!

Related posts:

1. New Year’s Resolutions: Posts & Resources
2. How To Change Habits: My 3-Cubed Formula
3. Successful New Year’s Resolutions: 3 Things You Must Know To Achieve Goals and Change Habits

These specials are now finished. To hear about our latest specials, join us on Facebook and subscribe to the monthly Get Organized newsletter (with FREE 72-page Organize Your Life & Goals interactive workbook).

Over the past few months we’ve added a bunch of new products to our value packs without increasing the prices – including:

• Organize-In-5 2012 Diary
• Goals & Priorities Diary
• Complete Guide To SMART Goals
• 30-Day Organize-athon Pack
• 52 Weight Loss Missions.

(This Comparison Grid shows which packs contain which products.)

However, we’ll increase the prices in the new year to reflect all the extra programs now included.

But not yet!

Right now, not only have the packs exploded in value because of all the extra stuff piled in there, but the Premium Pack, Complete Suite and Ultimate Pack are on sale.

That means, for example, that you can save over 70% with the Complete Suite. Or get programs that would cost $649 if purchased individually for only $199 – 68% off! – in the Ultimate Pack.

You’ll have a range of tools for organizing different parts of your life, and you can dip into the various programs following your mood, motivation and curiosity.

These special prices are available for a short time only.

PS Want the Organize-In-5 2012 Diary, (normally $39) for only $4.95? Here’s how.

Related posts:

1. BRAND NEW Organize-In-5 Diary – Only $4.95 (87% Off)
2. Get Organized Cost-Effectively – New-Year Prices End Sunday
3. Student Planners Galore! [Product Release Info]

If you’ve been wondering about the NEW 52 Weight Loss Missions program, then you can now download two FREE missions – no sign-up needed.

Download your sample here.

52 Weight Loss Missions Kindle e-Book and iPad App Now Available

The 52 Weight Loss Missions Action Pack contains the 200-page e-book as well as an interactive Diet & Exercise Diary, Workbook, Weekly Email Series, MP3 Audiobook and other cool tools and bonuses.

But for on-the-go access to the main content of the e-book, you can also now get the iPad app and the Kindle e-Book.

In fact, you may have seen on Facebook that 52 Weight Loss Missions was #20 in Best Sellers in Healthy Living on the Amazon Kindle store. How exciting is that!

Learn more here.

Related posts:

1. Getting Organized is Easier & More Fun than Ever – With the NEW 52 Organizing Missions iPad App
2. 52 Weight Loss Missions Logo Survey – Results & Winners!
3. BRAND NEW ‘52 Weight Loss Missions’ Logo Survey [I’d love your feedback! And there are cool prizes.]

This offer has closed. To hear about our latest specials, join us on Facebook and subscribe to the monthly Get Organized newsletter (with FREE 72-page Organize Your Life & Goals interactive workbook).

Update: The Facebook phone app doesn’t allow you to view the code. You need to view the code from a computer.

Getting Organized Has Never Been Easier – Now You Can Do It In Just 5 Minutes a Day…

The Organize-In-5 2012 Diary gives you a 5-minute organization task for every day of the year – except Saturdays, when you get a 5-minute relaxation task.
We even provide a timer!

You’ll tackle home, work, closet, computer, health, finances, time management, relationships and family.

The Organize-In-5 2012 Diary is the time-poor, busy person’s solution to an organized life.

How To Get the Discount Code

The Diary is now available in the Get Organized Wizard store for $39. But you can get it for just $4.95 – that’s 87% off! You simply have to like us on Facebook.

If you already like us, then you’ll automatically see the coupon code required to receive this super-special discount.

If you haven’t liked us yet, then like the Get Organized Wizard page and the discount code will be revealed, as well as instructions for getting your Organize-In-5 2012 Diary at this uber-cool price.

This special price is available for a short time only.

NOTE: The Organize-In-5 2012 Diary has just been added to our Packs. So if you’ve purchased the Premium Pack, Complete Suite, Ultimate Pack or The WORKS! Pack in the past 12 months, then you can log in to your account and download your copy!

Learn more about extra-value prices for a limited time.

Related posts:

1. Goals & Priorities Diary Free Offer | FAQs
2. Goals & Priorities Diary 2011: Get Your Free Copy!
3. 30-Day Organize-athon Pack: Get Your Free Copy!

Note: This post originally appeared as a Featured Article in the Get Organized newsletter.

We all have goals that seem out of reach.

Things we’ve wanted for a long time. Plans that never seem to come to fruition. Desires that we can’t fulfill, no matter how hard we try.

Some of the things people chase, sometimes for years or even decades, include:

• Following a career dream
• Writing a novel
• Getting free of clutter
• Losing weight
• Finding or improving a relationship.

If the desire is there, what stops us from getting something we want so much?

And what can we do to turn things around, so we can fulfil our dreams?

Here are three things that can flick the switch and help you to finally get what you’ve wanted for so long.

1. Know Why You Really Want It
(It Mightn’t Be The Reason You Think)

Take a good look at your reason for wanting the thing you want – your reason may be sabotaging you.

For example, let’s say you’ve always wanted to write a novel.

‘I want to be famous’, you say. ‘Like JK Rowling’.

So every time you think about writing your novel you feel pressured to write something popular and adventure-filled.

But what if popular and adventure-filled isn’t you? What if your real reason for wanting to write is to express a unique, interesting and funny voice that you feel inside? Then that voice will get strangled every time you try to write.

It’s worth taking a moment to write down the reasons you want your heart’s desire.

If a reason brings up resistance, then it may not be genuine. Perhaps it’s a reason you think you should have, or perhaps it’s someone else’s goal for you.

But if the reason stirs excitement, then congratulations – you’ve unlocked your true motivation.

Now you can use this real reason to drive yourself forward.

2. Have A Powerful Process

Unlocking genuine motivation is crucial – it’s difficult, if not impossible, to achieve a challenging goal without it.

But it’s not enough. All the motivation in the world won’t get you there if you have a sucky plan.

Let’s say you’ve always wanted to be an archaeologist/tree surgeon/stand-up comedian. Then you need more than a constant craving to realize your ambition.

You need a well-thought-out program of steps to complete, tasks to tick off, and knowledge to gain. That’s how you’ll bridge the gap from where you are now to where you want to be.

Depending on your heart’s desire, putting together a powerful program could be as simple as thinking through all the steps and writing yourself a plan.

You could take it up a notch by brainstorming with a friend, or reading books on your ideal career to boltser your strategy, or buying a book or program that provides a ready-made plan for you.

If you’ve had the same goal forever, then check how you score on this step. A clear map could be the missing element in your journey to success.

3. Change The Path of Least Resistance

One of the strongest, most intractable obstacles to achieving anything you want is habit.

You can have a pure, strong motivation as well as a fierce strategy for achieving your wishes. But if you’re stuck in habits that keep dragging you back to old ways, then it can feel like you’re doomed to frustration and failure.

For instance, let’s say you desperately want to lose weight, you know why, and you have a sound plan. But you keep giving in to late-night snacking. It’s such an established habit that you can’t imagine ever overcoming it.

So there’s one more strategy to add to our arsenal of true motivation and a powerful plan: it’s to change the path of least resistance.

You can think of the path of least resistance as a well-worn track through dense undergrowth – it takes tremendous energy and effort to go any other way. And most of us are too tired, busy and distracted to spare energy and effort for fighting foliage.

This is the toughest step in achieving a challenging goal. It takes insight, self-analysis, experimentation and persistence.

A good place to start is to look at your patterns – what underlies the habits that sabotage you? Are you snacking at night because you haven’t eaten enough through the day? Because you haven’t eaten the right kind of food? Because you’re looking for a reward after a tough day?

Once you see the reason for a habit that undermines you, you can trade willpower for smarter strategies. And unlike willpower, smart strategies can change the path of least resistance – they can forge a new track that doesn’t require bashing your way through bracken.

Perhaps you can eat a more satisfying dinner. Or more protein. Or have another reward (a scented bath? an hour of novel-reading?) prepared for tough days.

The idea is to identify what behaviours you naturally fall into, and then to look at ways to substitute other behaviors that still meet your underlying drives.

When you change the path of least resistance, you don’t have to fight yourself so hard. Instead, you align your desires and behaviour.

So now we know. This time, things will be different. Let’s get started.

Summary

If you’ve struggled to achieve your goal in the past, here’s how to make this time different:

1. Know Why You Really Want It
2. Have A Powerful Process
3. Change The Path of Least Resistance.

[Image by jepoirrier]

Related posts:

1. Smart Goals: 5 Steps To Smart Goal Setting (With Free Goal Planner Template)
2. Making A Good Impression: 7 Keys To A More Professional Image
3. Goal Setting 101: How To Use SMART Goals to Change a Habit

See you again soon!

Related posts:

1. Season’s Greetings from Get Organized Wizard
2. Happy Holidays From Get Organized Wizard!
3. Season’s Greetings (& a Little Gift) From Get Organized Wizard

Wow!! What a fabulous response to the 52 Weight Loss Missions logo survey!

We’ve had around 650 votes – many of them wonderfully detailed and insightful. Thank you so much for the time and thought you’ve put into helping me choose a logo for my new product. I’m so grateful!

I’m also ridiculously excited about this product. It’s the culmination of everything about losing weight I’ve learned in my psych degree, life coaching training, and happiness thesis research – not to mention months of research and years (um, decades?) of my own experience with diet, exercise and mindset.

The Winning 52 Weight Loss Missions Logo

Now I feel even happier that I’ve got a logo that resonates with so many of you. And the winner, by a long, long way, is: Logo 1! (The pie chart above shows the breakdown of responses.)

I also took on board comments about the 52WLM girl’s nose. So here she is, new and improved after her um, nose job!

If you liked one of the other logos, I hope you like this version better.

The logo was created by Kim Schwede, who is also responsible for the 52 individual mission icons you see here. I absolutely love her work! She’s beautifully captured the sense of fun I’ve tried to bring to a usually humorless challenge.

The 52 Weight Loss Missions Prize Winners

It was terribly hard to choose among all the wonderful comments, but I asked the Get Organized Wizard Team to help, and we’ve selected:

• Paula
• Sharon Katzevman.

We’ll be in touch soon with details of how you guys can download your 52 Weight Loss Missions Action Pack. Just in time for a great start to a svelte 2012!

And to everyone – thank you again for your fantastic feedback!

Related posts:

1. BRAND NEW ‘52 Weight Loss Missions’ Logo Survey [I’d love your feedback! And there are cool prizes.]
2. 52 Weight Loss Missions: FREE Sample, Plus Kindle e-Book & iPad App Now Available
3. Announcing The Design Your Life Logo & Winners

Last September I turned 44. I was deeply relieved, as my year of being 43 was my. worst. ever.

But for all the rich suckiness that those 12 months contained, there was lots to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving seems like an apt occasion for reflecting on the good that comes out of the bad.

So here are my little thank-you notes.

Dear Fatty Bits

Thank you for sticking around so persistently for so many years.

If you had not been genetically, habitually, and psychologically entrenched in my life, I would never have had to work so hard and learn so much to break free of you.

Thanks to you I’ve worked out, in a deep and sustainable way, how to stay thin in a world of chocolate.

Dear Inane Movies

I’m absurdly grateful to you for taking over the film world so that great screenwriters feel good about moving to TV.

If it weren’t for your dross dominating the big screen, the small screen might not have been able to attract so much talent.

Because of your vacuousness, DVD box sets are now awesome and plentiful. You rock.

Dear Bad Times

Thank you for peppering everyone’s life.

It’s because of you that relief feels so sweet, that good times are so enjoyable.

If not for you, I doubt I would go looking for a better way to do something, or a different way to look at a situation. And because I keep finding these new ways, my life keeps getting better.

I know you’ll be back, and I’m not looking forward to it. But I am thankful for the changes you eventually bring.

Dear Stephen King

I’ve never read your fiction, but my feeling of malaise lead me to finally pick up On Writing, your 10-year-old memoir on, um, writing.

This book changed my life.

I read about your writing approach and it freed me to ‘trust the soup’ and be more creative and productive than I’d been before.

Thank you for the soup.

Dear Daddy

I can’t imagine how a girl could have had a better father than you.

I miss you all the time, but I’m grateful to have back the good memories in place of the anxiety and frustration that overshadowed your last years.

I can’t believe you’re gone. I don’t think I ever will.

I wouldn’t be who I am if not for you.

What’s In Your Thank-You Note?

I’d love to know what you’re thankful for this year – especially if it’s come out of something not so good.

Counting your blessings makes you happier, so it’s worth thinking about. Please share!

[Image by woodleywonderworks]

Related posts:

1. Giving Thanks: 5 Little Notes Of Gratitude
2. How to be Happier: A Scientifically Proven Strategy that Costs Nada
3. How To Change Habits: My 3-Cubed Formula

There are people who love the process of cleaning, decluttering and organizing.

These are the Monica Gellers of the world. They’ll happily spend Saturday afternoon filing or cleaning the kitchen, and they might even write organizing books suggesting you do the same.

Then there are people who love the outcome of cleaning, decluttering and organizing. They crave order and delight in systems, but don’t enjoy the work it takes to get there.

(There are also people who have no interest in the process or outcome of decluttering, but I suspect they’re off reading the Chaos is Amazeballs newsletter.)

I’m definitely in the second category. In fact one of the reasons I have a website, products and blog devoted to personal organization is that I’ve become adept at finding ways to live an ordered life without having to do a lot of organizing work.

If you’re in the second category too, then this article is for you.

See, I recently did a massive declutter of my home and office space – I even gave it a name: Declutter-Fest Project 2011.

I’m not going to lie to you – it was not what I’d call fun. But the results are totally, unequivocally worth it. Every day I feel happier, calmer and more motivated.

So I thought I’d share with you the four strategies I found most useful in getting myself through the icky process to the wonderful outcome.

1. Have A Strong Why

It sounds obvious, but without a good reason for starting a declutter project, you won’t have the energy or motivation to see it though.

In my case, the previous 12 months had been kind of sucky, and I was coming up to my 44^th birthday. I wanted to use a major declutter as a symbolic process, a leaving behind of the past and old energy and bad associations. This was very compelling for me. I strongly wanted to start my 45^th year fresh and focused.

For you, the Strong Why could be anything that drives you, for instance:

• Leaving behind the past
• Discarding negative memories
• Starting afresh
• Being a role model for your kids, family or friends
• Marking a new life or career direction
• A symbolic clearing of old energy before you begin a big goal – like losing weight, starting a business, or refreshing a relationship.

Before you begin a declutter project, think about what it represents to you. Having a cleaner house is a great outcome, but you can find more motivation if you dig a little deeper.

2. Have A Simple How

One of the biggest obstacles to a sizeable declutter project is the sense of overwhelm that engulfs you before you can say, Where do I start?

The best solution to this overwhelm that I’ve found is to make a list, a simple plan for what you have to do.

I made a list of rooms, then main areas within each room. You can see my plan, which I wrote on my office whiteboard, in the image at the start of this article.

In writing your plan, break down your space into logical sub-spaces, then list these.

If you don’t want to make your own list, you can use a ready-made program like 52 Home Organizing Missions or 30-Day Organize-athon.

Having a Simple How plan alone will reduce the sense of overwhelm. You may even find yourself excited to get going on one of the sub-spaces in your plan. Small, achievable goals can be super-motivating!

3. Do It Fast

I wanted to complete my entire house and office declutter in one speedy, big block, because:

• I don’t enjoy the process and wanted to get it over with as fast as possible
• I didn’t know if I had the drive to come back to it once I’d taken a break.

So I allocated five days for my declutter project, and that’s pretty much all I did for those five days. (I was happy to skip gym classes – decluttering burns calories! – and to make up work time on available weekends.)

Knowing I had only five days kept me motivated to persevere when I got tired and helped me to make quick decisions. I really didn’t want to leave the project half-finished! The ticking clock also kept a lid on perfectionism.

Allocate as much time as you can to your declutter project – an afternoon, day, weekend, week – and free yourself of other commitments for this period. Then divide the available time over the tasks on your list and get rid of clutter!

It can also help to use a declutter mantra to keep yourself moving – I like: Move fast. Don’t overthink. Let it go.

If you do your declutter project in one big block of time, then the momentum will carry you through, and you’ll need far less energy and motivation than you’d need if you had to start and stop.

4. Check Off Your Successes As Your Go

When you look at my whiteboard list, do you wish you could cross off those items? Well, I did too!

The lure of checkboxes is powerful. I also put a line through completed areas, which made the list doubly motivating. Each day I would tick off and put a line through finished tasks, and post an updated picture of my whiteboard on Facebook.

Give yourself the pleasure of checking off and/or crossing off each mini-area as you complete it.

Most of us are kids at heart, and these little reinforcers work wonders.

Summary

If you want to run your own declutter project, here are my top strategies:

1. Have a strong why
2. Have a simple how
3. Do it fast
4. Check off your successes as you go.

I’d love to see your before and after photos – or just the after ones if you prefer – on Facebook. And let me know if my suggestions helped!

Related posts:

1. Get Organized With This Declutter Mantra
2. Declutter Your Life – Get More Energy
3. Declutter Your Life and Home

52 Weight Loss Missions: A Radically Different Approach

For most of us who struggle with weight loss, the problem isn’t what we don’t know, it’s what we don’t do.

This is where 52 Weight Loss Missions is unique. The program:

• Includes 52 action-based missions
• Focuses on actions that are smart and strategic
• Covers diet, exercise and mindset
• Helps you change the path of least resistance so eating, moving and thinking right get easier
• Draws on psychology and life coaching to help you win the mental battles
  
• Uses a range of cool tools to keep you committed and accountable
• Offers hundreds of practical ideas and strategies
• Is succinct and easy-to-read – 100% fluff-free
• Rewards you for taking action.

Which Logo Do You Like, And Why?

I have three potential logos for this new product – and I’d really appreciate your feedback on which one you like best, and why.

(By the way, the logos might seem a bit girly because my research tells me it’s mainly us girls who struggle with this stuff. But the program content is gender-neutral. And if you guys want one, Ill do a dude version just for you. )

Logo 1

Logo 2

Logo 3

Cool Prizes

I’ll pick two commenters to receive a copy of the 52 Weight Loss Missions Action Pack as a prize. The Action Pack includes 52 Weight Loss Missions plus a range of interactive materials including a Workbook, Journal, and Planning Tools.

Want To Know More?

If you want to know more about 52 Weight Loss Missions:

• Subscribe to the Get Organized Wizard blog
• Sign up for the Get Organized Wizard monthly newsletter.

I’ll let you know about special introductory offers and I’ll also announce the winners in both places.

Thank You!

I really appreciate your feedback. And good luck!

Leave a comment on this post to tell me which logo you like best, and why.

Related posts:

1. 52 Weight Loss Missions Logo Survey – Results & Winners!
2. 52 Weight Loss Missions: FREE Sample, Plus Kindle e-Book & iPad App Now Available
3. NEW ‘Design Your Life’ Logo Survey: I’d love your feedback! [There’s a fab prize…]

Procrastination is one of those perennial problems. It seems everyone suffers from it at least some of the time, and there’s no one solution that always works.

But there are a few solutions that are pretty reliable at breaking you out of the procrastination rut. In fact, I think these are about the best procrastination busters there are.

Procrastination Buster #1: Do Anything

Often we procrastinate because we want to avoid something difficult or overwhelming. A challenging phone call, a nerve-wracking presentation, a project that’s huge and confusing. If it’s a choice between facing the too-hard thing and checking Facebook, then it’s no surprise the blue F wins every time.

Instead, a good way to step way from the browser and get back to work is to do something other than the hard thing. Work on a simpler project, make an easier call, choose something from your to-do list that doesn’t make you want to run screaming from your desk.

‘But wait!’, you exclaim, ‘If I’m going to do anything, I really should do [insert hard thing]’.

Well, that’s precisely the kind of thinking that activates your procrastination response. It’s like saying, ‘Here, eat this entire cabbage or some chocolate’. I mean, seriously.

By making it easier to stay at your desk – by offering yourself something a bit healthy and a bit yummy – you put yourself in a much stronger position to work up to the hard thing.

• You start to break the procrastination habit. You’re at your desk working, instead of Facebooking or texting a friend. This affects your self-concept, even in the short term. You see yourself as productive.
• You gain confidence. As you tackle tasks, you feel surer of yourself. Those big challenges start to feel less onerous. You did this, you can do that.
• You gain momentum. It becomes easier to do the next thing, and the next. After a little while, continuing becomes easier than stopping.

So, next time you find yourself fighting your procrastination demons, try picking something less torturous from your task list. Don’t over-think it. Just pick something and start. Do anything.

It’s a super-effective way to build procrastination immunity.

Next time: Procrastination Buster#2.

[Image by Viktor Hertz.]

Related posts:

1. How to Use Procrastination to Get More Done
2. From Procrastination To Action
3. Bust Your Procrastination Demons [Mission #25]

Do you feel like clutter is taking over your life, and sapping your once-great determination to get organized and be tidy?

It might seem inevitable that clutter should overtake your space over time – but it’s not! There are things you can do – simple, but life-changing things – that can insulate you from clutter creep.

Here are 7 easy ways to arrest the overflow of stuff and keep your life clutter-free.

1. Make Cleaning Up Part Of The Task

What this means is that you expand the definition of a ‘task’ to include the pesky tidying-up part.

Um, what now?

You heard me right! You can no longer think of cleaning up as a separate activity to be done later – it’s part of the task, and the task isn’t complete until you’ve done whatever is needed to restore order to the space.

Thinking this way can be a major paradigm shift – and clutter shifter.

Whatever you use, take out, or cook with; whatever the kids watch or play with; it all gets put away as part of that activity.

Imagine how that would look in your life.

2. Become An OCI-OGO-er

OCI-OGO stands for One Comes In – One Goes Out.

Every time something new comes into your home, car, handbag, bookcase, briefcase, shoe collection, closet, tchotchke menagerie, or life – something old goes out.

This is a beautiful concept, allowing you to continually enjoy new things, but without any increase in life disorganization or clutter. The net amount of stuff in your life never grows. No more clutter entropy!

Now doesn’t OCI-OGO sound like a lovely way to live? Decide to become an OCI-OGO-er today.

3. Stop Shopping As A Past-time

Buy what you need, have what you love. Enjoy beautiful, fun, useful stuff.

But!

Don’t go looking for things to buy as a way to distract yourself, procrastinate, pass the time or avoid existential angst. You’ll just end up with existential clutter.

When you do shop, be smart about it and make a list beforehand. While you’re at it, make a ‘What-Not-To-Buy’ list, too.

4. Parse Everything Through The Love/Use Test

Things cost much more than money. They also cost time and energy: to purchase, store, tidy, dust, clean, rearrange, look for, shop for when lost, create mental clutter, undermine peace of mind.

Reminding yourself about the true cost of stuff is like applying a reality filter when you look at the things in your life. It will help you make smart, quick decisions about what to keep and what to lose.

1. When considering what to buy, remind yourself that Things = Time and Energy. If you don’t need it or love it, don’t buy it.
2. When considering what to keep, remind yourself that Things = Time and Energy. Whenever you spot something in your home that you don’t need or love, donate or discard it.

Applying this filter will stop you from tolerating clutter in your life.

5. Have A Ready-For-Donation Basket

In fact, any time you notice something you don’t use or love in your home, wardrobe, car or office, simply pop it into your donation basket.

When the basket gets full, bag the contents and immediately place them in your car to drop off at your local charity store or bin. Don’t leave them in the house, where you may accidentally re-discover them with childlike glee and decide to lovingly re-donate them to yourself.

Let it go. You’ll feel good about giving stuff away, and your home will be more organized, too.

6. Set Up An Outgoing Spot

Choose a convenient spot near the door for things that need to be taken out of your home – DVDs to return, library books, the gift for Friday’s party, that crossbow you’ve been meaning to give back, etc.

If you don’t have such a spot, you could:

• Move a small table near the door
• Clear a shelf in a hallway closet
• Liberate a drawer in a hall table. 

Make it a habit to check this spot as you leave the house. You’ll ‘remember’things more often, keep transient clutter out of your living area, and feel much more organized.

7. Do An Express Bedtime Tidy

Spending 10 minutes to do an express tidy every night will help to stop the daily accumulation of clutter.

Just hit the main problem areas as part of your bedtime routine: load the dishwasher, put toys in a toy bin, hang up clothes or toss them in the hamper, use a hand-vac to scoop up the day’s crumbs.

You’ll feel pretty pleased with yourself as you head to bed, and it will put a smile on your face when you start the next day.

Need a little mantra to motivate you? How about: 10 minutes a day/ Will keep clutter at bay. (Yes I know I won’t be getting a song-writing Grammy. Nice of you to mention that.)

How Will You Clutter-Proof Your Life?

You don’t have to surrender to clutter. Defend your home and sanity with these clutter-busting ideas – and you can enjoy a happily organized world.

Which of these strategies will you use to clutter-proof your life?

[Image by Sean MacEntee]

Related posts:

1. Home Organization: My Very Best Life-Changing Tip For A Clutter-Free Home
2. Simplify Your Life Quick Tip: Have a Ready-For-Donation Basket
3. How Clutter Can Hold You Back – From Love, Success & Health

It seems everybody wants more time.

We read books on getting things done. 

We stress ourselves out with multi-tasking.  

We complain to anyone who’ll listen that we’re so awfully busy. 

And we wish we had more energy.

We load up on caffeine and sugar to get through the day.

We don’t let ourselves stop for fear we won’t be able to start up again.

But there’s a simpler way to add minutes or hours to our days and energy to our lives. How?

Get rid of stuff.

Here’s why, and how to do it.

Things = Time And Energy

It’s obvious that things = space.

The more stuff you have, the less free space you have.

A cluttered environment is like a page without paragraphs or margins. It looks ugly and it’s stressful to navigate.

Less obvious is that things = time and energy.

Time and energy to buy; to store; to put away, or alternatively, to trip over; to look for; to shop for when lost amid the clutter; to move around when looking for other things; to feel irritated about; to evaluate when trying to find room for new things; to loathe when friends come over and see a mess; to dust; to feel guilty about not dusting; to create mental clutter; to deny us a place of calm at the end of the day; to undermine a sense of order in our lives.

In short, things cost much more than the dollars we spend to buy them.

If we use them and/or love them, then that cost is probably justified. Loved, beautiful, useful things earn their place in our lives and homes.

But everything else – every ill-fitting sweater in the closet, every rarely-used gadget in the kitchen, every dust-gathering ornament in the living area – costs you more than it gives you. It costs you space, time and energy.

How To Have Less Stuff, And More Time And Energy

Reminding yourself about the true cost of stuff is like applying a reality filter when you look at the things in your life. It will help you make smart, quick decisions about what to keep and what to lose.

1. When considering what you should purchase, remind yourself that Things = Time and Energy. If you don’t need it or love it, don’t buy it.
2. When considering what you should keep, remind yourself that Things = Time and Energy. Whenever you spot something in your home that you don’t need or love, donate or discard it.

As you free yourself of things, you’ll free up time and energy for your real priorities in life – like family, relationships, health, and goals.

One caveat, though. Whatever you do with your newfound time and energy, don’t spend it shopping.

Image by Aaron Geller

Related posts:

1. Declutter Your Life – Get More Energy
2. Get Organized Mission #4: Forgo The Freebies
3. ★Simplify Life Tips★ (Twitter Tweet Digest)

Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. 

~ Thomas Carlyle

Have you been putting something off? Maybe you’ve been meaning to:

• Begin working toward a goal?
• Get organized at work?
• Declutter your home?
• Start a project?

It might be tempting to wait until some mythical perfect time. Perhaps when:

• You have more time (yeah, that’ll happen)
• You feel more motivated (um, ditto).

Let’s put aside for the moment the fact that a perfect time will never come. And that your life marches on, regardless of whether you do the things you plan to.

Instead, consider the three benefits that come with starting right now.

1. You Avoid Perfectionism

If you start today, this minute, your expectations will be low. You’ve had no time to build up an intimidating idea of what you should achieve.

By taking prompt action, you focus on doing and you stop over-thinking.

2. You Break The Procrastination Habit

In many ways, perfectionism and procrastination are two sides of the same coin. The harder you make something, the less you want to do it. If it has to be perfect, of course you’re going to avoid doing it!

But once you let go of unnecessarily high standards, procrastination loses much of its power.

Starting now is the solution to both perfectionism and procrastination.

Dubious? Start something, and see for yourself.

3. You Get Closer To The Result You Want

Even if all you do is 10 minutes of decluttering, exercising, outlining your novel, sketching a portrait – you’ll still move closer to the outcome you want.

And here’s the thing. Those first 10 minutes move you further forward than any other 10 minutes you’ll spend. Because next time, it will be so much easier to get back into it. Starting really is the hardest part.

So, with these three benefits associated with starting now, it’s worth taking that first step, don’t you think?

What Will You Start Today?

[Image by jakeandlindsay]

Related posts:

1. 11 Great Reasons To Be Happy
2. Do You Use Information as Procrastination?
3. Getting Organized Quick Tip: How To Short-Circuit Perfectionism and Procrastination

Wonder why you don’t see updates from some friends in your Facebook feed?

You can easily change a setting and fix this. Here’s how.

How To See Updates From All Your Facebook Friends

1. Go to your Home page in Facebook.
2. Click the blue down arrow shown by the green arrow in the image at left. This will reveal a drop-down menu.
3. Click [Edit Options…], shown by the red arrow in the image at left. This will open a dialogue box.
4. Click the blue down arrow shown by the orange arrow in the image below.
5. Click the [All of your friends and pages] option.
6. Click [Save].

Ta-da!

Your missing friends will now regain their rightful place in your news feed.

Come Join Me On Facebook

I’m very nice and almost never bite.   Please come and like my Facebook page!

More Facebook Organizing Tips

How To Organize Your Friends on The New Facebook

How To Organize Your Friends on The New Facebook – Part 2

Related posts:

1. How To Organize Your Friends on The New Facebook
2. How To Organize Your Facebook Friends
3. How To Organize Your Friends on The New Facebook – Part 2

Looking your best is a great way to boost your confidence.

You may argue that it shouldn’t, but the reality is that your grooming and dress style can make a big difference to the way people respond to you.

Perhaps more importantly, it can change the way you feel about yourself – adding a little spring to your step and twinkle to your eye.

If you’d like to make a few tweaks to the way you present yourself, try these 7 ideas for improving your personal presentation.

Get Organized For Personal Style: 7 Dos & Don’ts

1. Do Have A Professional Bra Fitting (For The Girls)

An ill-fitting bra instantly frumpifies you. 

Get a professional fitting at a department or lingerie store, and invest in at least a couple of flattering bras with excellent support.

They’ll refresh all your outfits, improve your posture and make you look and feel slimmer. That’s time and money well spent.

And avoid clutter – toss out the ill-fitting numbers immediately.

2. Don’t Keep The Same Hairstyle Year After Year

Fashions change and so does your outlook on life.

Keep yourself looking and feeling fresh by updating your hairstyle from time to time. Cut out pics from magazines and ask your hairdresser to suggest styles that would suit you.

If you’ve had the same cut and color for years and you’re not Anna Wintour (some might argue, especially if you are Anna Wintour), then get a style revamp and re-do your ‘do.

3. Do Make Only One Fashion Statement At A Time

If you’re wearing statement heels, statement earrings and a statement top, then your clothes are having way too much to say.

Tone down your look and tone up your style by limiting yourself to only one item per outfit that’s bold and eye catching.

Of course, if you’re a veteran fashionista and confident in your choices, then you can do whatever you want.

But if in doubt, impose good manners on your outfits and stop your clothes from talking over each other.

4. Don’t Wear Leggings With Short Tops

The only people who can get away with this look are TYTs (taut young things).

For the vast majority of us, though, the buttular region requires more support than is afforded by leggings. The same goes for jeggings, unless they’re very structured.

To maintain a flattering look, pair your leggings with a longer top or jacket that covers your bottom. You’ll be good to go – and it won’t matter if people watch you when you do.

5. Do Work A Uniform

If there’s a particular type of outfit that suits you, feels comfortable and goes with your lifestyle, then consider making it into a ‘uniform’ of sorts.

Skinny jeans, hoodies, and boots can be ideal work wear for home-based business owners.

T-shirts, jeans, sneakers, and cross-body bags might work perfectly for on-the-go moms.

Straight-leg trousers, tailored shirts, and structured jackets can be just right for some professionals.

Having a basic go-to style can save heaps of time and bother, and provide an excellent template for your daily dress code.

Just be sure to keep your look fresh by varying colors and fabrics, and opt for more adventurous outfits on weekends and nights out.

6. Don’t Glam Up Eyes And Lips

Avoid using strong make-up color on your eyes and your lips.

For a night out, smoky eyes look great with a nude or subtle, browny-pink lipstick.

Rich red or magenta lips can work beautifully with a toned-down look on the eyes.

But the two together are best reserved for Priscilla Queen of the Dessert parties. The rest of the time, opt for one or the other.

7. Do Check Yourself In a Full-Length Mirror

It’s a common mistake to ruin an otherwise great look with a bag, shoes or coat that’s too chunky, too lightweight, or simply doesn’t go.

The mistake is easily avoided by checking your entire outfit in the mirror.

If you don’t have one, invest in a full-length mirror. Place it near your closet, or if your shoes and coats are somewhere else, place it near them.

That way you can run an eye over your complete outfit before you head out. How you doin’?

More Personal Presentation Tips?

Disagree with any of my tips? Got your own ideas to share?

Please let me know what you think!

[Image by: by howlita]

Related posts:

1. Would You Answer The Door In That?
2. How to be Organized in 2009: Day 7 – Personal Presentation
3. Get Organized Mission #11: Create Your Wardrobe Wishlist

People in my Facebook Community will know I’m a big fan of Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog.

How To ‘Eat That Frog’ For Greater Productivity

Eat That Frog is a time-management idea that encourages you to:

1. Identify the most important task you could be doing each day (your frog)
2. Do this task first, before you do anything else
3. Continue doing this task until it’s complete (eat your frog).

I love this idea and re-listen to the audiobook as a refresher pretty much every year.

How To ‘Do The Worst First’ For Greater Productivity

I also like a related idea, Do The Worst First, and find it a neat little productivity booster.

It applies when you have several to-do items to get done in a set amount of time – say before you go to lunch.

The idea is that instead of doing tasks in the order they appear on your list, or picking the easiest to do first, you choose the one you most want to put off and you do that first.

It boosts your productivity because:

• You feel relieved and have more energy for your tasks once the the worst is behind you.
• It prevents you from dragging out the easier tasks as a way to procrastinate and avoid the less-pleasant task.

You get things done faster and with more energy.

Do The Worst First At Work

Let’s say you have these tasks to handle before heading off for the day:

• Send out invoices
• Open and process the mail
• Call a customer back.

Whichever of these you feel most inclined to put off is the one you should do first.

I would call the customer first because I’m not a phone person (I’m lucky I write for a living!), then send out invoices, then process mail. What about you?

Do The Worst First At Home

Let’s say you have a bunch of things to do before going to the store:

• Clear the breakfast things and load the dishwasher
• Fold the laundry
• Make the bed.

The one that screams, ‘Do me later’ is the one you should do right now.

I would clear the breakfast stuff because it’s icky, then make the bed, then fold the laundry. You?

Do You Do The Worst First?

Do you Eat That Frog or Do The Worst First – at home or at work?

Do you have another strategy that works for you?

I’d love to know!

PS: Remember that you can also Use Procrastination to Get More Done.

[Image by Andrew Mason]

Related posts:

1. Get Organized for Better Productivity: Design a Productivity Ritual
2. [Productivity Strategy] Improve Your Focus By Going Offline
3. Home Office Productivity: Let Your Goodbye Be Goodbye

Clearing Clutter Can Increase Success

Jack Canfield points out that a cluttered physical environment can undermine success in several ways:

• Clutter drains energy
• Clutter hides problems
• Clutter blinds us to opportunities and ideas.

If you feel held back in your personal goals or career goals, could clutter be part of the cause?

Get Rid Of Clutter To Get Ahead On Your Goals

To get rid of clutter and clear the path to achieving your goals, survey the space where you want more success – at home, at work, or both. 

Look for things that inhibit your sense of mental clarity – stuff that distracts you, bugs you, or undermines you.

For example, look out for:

• Excess stuff you’ve been saving up for ages
• Piles of paperwork that need to be actioned, filed or discarded
• Procrastination demons – things you’ve been putting off for too long.

Every time you notice these things in your environment, they cause stress that can undermine you. So get rid of them!

• Start using your supplies, or if there’s too much, give it away. Have spares, but don’t hoard more than you need.
• Make a date in your diary to process your paperwork. Then, make a large cup of coffee or tea, put on some music, and power through those piles.
• Set aside a day or a weekend to systematically work through your procrastinated tasks. Make a list of tasks, and feel a growing sense of relief and energy as you check them off.

Getting rid of clutter may take a little time today, but it will move you closer to the things you want tomorrow.

Taking Action

What will you do today to remove clutter from your space?

Want More Help?

If you’d like more help getting rid of clutter, try my 52 Missions Home Organizer.

[Image by Christian Heindel]

Related posts:

1. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Tools for Success
2. Setting Goals, Achieving Goals – Dos & Don’ts
3. Organize Your Living Room for Holiday Entertaining: 15 Targets for Clutter Blindness

Are you always looking for time-management tricks as a way to get more done each day?

You can also increase your productivity by improving your focus, so that you get more done and more effectively, with whatever time you have available.

One way to become more focused as you work is to pull up the drawbridge – my metaphor for cutting off distractions, online and offline. And an important part of cutting off distractions for most people is stopping the endless inundation of email.

Improve Your Focus By Going Offline

If you want to stop receiving emails so you can focus better on your work, then try going offline during key work periods.

Users of Outlook 2010 can choose the [Send/Receive] tab and click [Work Offline], as shown in the image above.

Alternatively, you could:

• Close down your email program completely – but this could be a hassle if you need to refer to an email for the project you’re working on.
• Turn off auto-receive and stop ‘checking’ email altogether.

When you’re ready to release the drawbridge, click [Work Offline] again.

Other Email Programs

If you use a another email program, please let me know if there’s a similar option to the Work Offline button, and I’ll update this post for readers.

Related posts:

1. Improve Email Productivity With Bullet Points
2. Get Organized for Better Productivity: Design a Productivity Ritual
3. 7 Productivity Tips For Your Home-Based Business