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  Spring Cleaning in Less Timecopyright 2007 Marcie LovettTake a look at your home or office and think about how it makes you feel. If you feel good about it, great! If, however, you are surrounded by clutter, think about how it affects you. Clutter causes stress and chronic stress can speed up the aging process, affect your memory and increase risk of heart disease and stroke. Removing clutter in your home and office helps relieve stress. While most people are uncomfortable when surrounded by clutter, almost no one wants to spend time clearing it up. Here are some ways to make it less painful: Make Time People often complain that they don't have time to get organized; however, if you don’t put things away because you "don't have time," you waste an amazing amount of time trying to find what you need when you do need it. Putting things where they belong actually saves time. Start Small Start with one manageable area and create a vision for it. You might think you have to set aside large chunks of time to sort and purge, but use small pockets of time to your benefit. When you have a few minutes, go through a pile of papers or purge one file folder instead of surfing the web or squeezing in one more phone call. Create organizing appointments with yourself and commit to the time, just like any other appointment. Toss It Give yourself permission to get rid of things: If you had fewer things, you would save time when you had to find something important. Be ruthless; if you are having trouble deciding whether to keep something, don’t talk yourself into it. You may know someone who would love the things you no longer have room for in your life. If not, there are dozens of thrift shops that will accept your donations. While throwing out what is truly trash, you may have recyclable materials, too. In addition to the usual glass, plastic, paper, aluminum and steel, you also may be able to recycle scrap metal, textiles, tires, construction materials and computers. In Montgomery County, you can visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/recycling for more information. Reward Yourself Accept that this is a job you don’t really enjoy and set up rewards for completing small steps toward your cleaning goal. Keep it Up Spend 10 minutes a day putting things away once you have cleared your space and don’t buy more things to fill the space you’ve created. People often look for the "perfect" system to enable them to get and stay organized, but a system is just one aspect of the process; your habits play a large part in your organizing success. Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org About The Author: Marcie Lovett, author and owner of Organized by Marcie, a full-service professional organizing consulting service, can be reached at info@organizedbymarcie.com. |