7 Tips for Clearing the Clutter from Your Closet

Clear your Closet: Change your Life

Discover 7 tips for clearing the clutter from your closet so you can make space for more of what you want in your life. In Feng Shui your closet represents secrets. Once you unlock the energy in your closet you could possibly find something beautiful coming your way.

Imagine you've written your life long autobiography and it didn’t flow well?  How do you fix it?

At my www.howtospeakinaweek.com seminar recently one of my clients was surprised to hear my recommendation:

"First you declutter your stories. You eliminate any phrases which doesn't sound right..... words, anecdotes, whole ideas. And even if you are left with only one short story, you've created space for something totally new to surface."

Does this sound familiar?

While working with a busy executive client the other day, we decluttered her closet - we took out two thirds of her clothes and gave them to charity. Within 2 days she found herself writing, day and night. She couldn't stop.

Four years earlier, she had started writing her autobiography and she'd got stuck. It had been on her mind ever since.

Now it was flowing out of her. She told me her family had a lot of secrets and she'd got stuck trying to write about them.

What she didn't know until then, was that closets represent secrets. Things hidden away. Once she freed up the energy in her closet, her writing energy freed up and she found herself writing about the secrets that had stopped her in her tracks years before.

So, how is your closet, and what do you think decluttering might free up in your life?

If your closet has clothes you don't wear, it's messy and disorganized and/or you have clothes that don't make you feel great when you wear them, this will create an energy block which will keep your life from flowing as easily as it might. As you're decluttering ask yourself these questions about each piece of clothing:

1. When was the last time I wore this? Sometimes you need to give things a rest for a while - but if your reason for not wearing it is that something else always feels better then perhaps it's time to let it go.

2. Does it fit? Keeping clothes you no longer fit into can really bring your energy down. Let go of them and focus on living in the present. It doesn't mean your weight might not change in the future.

Having clothes that don't fit is a constant reminder of the past. Consider promising yourself some new clothes if you clear out those clothes that represent who you used to be?

3. Do I look good in it? There's no point keeping things that don't make you look your best - even if you paid lots for them. You're not going to wear them. Take them to a consignment shop and get some money for them. Take a look at what inspired you to purchase them in the first place - how can you make a wiser decision next time? Now, go out and buy yourself something that makes you feel on top of the world.

4. Do I feel good in it? Given that your clothes are a reflection of who you are, why keep anything that doesn't make you feel good?

5. Does it fit my current or desired lifestyle? Do you have clothes from a past lifestyle still in your closet? Any corporate suits that are no longer appropriate? Anything you bought because it looked wonderful but it doesn't fit who you are? In Feng Shui it's important to surround yourself with things that represent who you truly are now.

6. Is it in good condition? You'll not wear old clothes, except to paint in and you only need one set of those. Throw anything out that's past its best.

7. Is it ready to wear or does it need repair or cleaning? Set it aside to do now so you can wear these things.

The clothes that will be most difficult to let go of will likely be those you paid a lot of money for. Giving clothes to charity can help move past those guilty feelings. It will make you feel good if you focus on the value you're creating in someone else's life.

Action Step: This week set aside some time to declutter your closet.

Just as in reworking a poem, the easiest way I know to declutter a closet is to take everything out, clean the closet, and only put back what you'd like to keep.

And once you've done that, do the same in a month's time - you'll find you can let go of even more.

When you unlock the energy in your closet, you might just find something wonderful coming your way. Perhaps you'll start writing again and get that book published.

Strategies to Further Improve Your Work Productivity

 1. Undertake the most difficult thing first. As soon as you arrive at the office, you may be inclined to first check your emails, go through the day’s mail, or furrow through some easy admin activities. Instead, try doing the most challenging, trickiest (or least satisfying) action early in the day. You’ll be approaching it when your focus level is raised and your mind is sharp.

 2. Prepare for tomorrow at the close of today. Take 15 minutes at the end of every day to make tomorrow’s to-do list. This routine of preparing will give you the gift of focus, allowing you to get a jump-start the next morning. In a sense, you’re building a plan for the following day.

 3. Transfer all ideas, actions, and goals onto paper. Clear the muddle out of your brain by taking pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and make it possible for to-dos and brilliant ideas to become more tangible.

 4. Use your email proficiently. Avoid skimming emails and leaving them to act upon “later.” Instead, plan time just twice each day to check and handle emails. Go through each email message thoroughly, then act, file, delete, or forward.

 5. Enjoy a lunch break every day. You may not feel you have time for one, but schedule the time. Poor nutrition while at work is costing countries (and their businesses) up to 20% in lost work productivity! 

6. Become a proficient time estimator. Most undesirable activities don’t take as long as you think they will. And most enjoyable things tend to draw out a bit longer than you'd think. Have a timer to get an accurate measure of the exact time it takes to finish several different everyday tasks.

 7. Setup an effective work space. The standard office person spends 2,000 hours per year at her workspace. Make sure that space is easy to work by simply gathering things you use most often and housing them within effortless reach of your usual seatedea.

 8. Tackle paper effortlessly. Resolve to deal with your papers on a scheduled cycle. Whether first thing in the morning, at the end of the day, or somewhere in between, set aside 30 minutes each day so you don't end up with overwhelming piles.

 9. Be more efficient by avoiding distractions. Try using lower-energy hours as your open office hours so you don’t squander peak work productivity with distractions.

 10. Understand the many benefits of staying organized. Getting organized goes way beyond having a orderly and uncluttered space. By becoming more organized, you’ll not only help your business run more effective, but you’ll enjoy many personal benefits as well.

 11. Stop procrastinating. Break activities down into realistic-sized parts and write these down Each day’s achievements can give the motivation so you can keep going.

 12. Master how to say “no” and delegate. Take control of your schedule and tasks by creating a list of all your commitments, both daily and special undertakings. Even if it takes a little more effort on the front end to teach someone else, it may pay off by providing you increased time and energy to focus your attention on more substantive responsibilities.

Turn a Bonus Room into a Home Office

Post by Strategize and Organize.

Are you committed to change?

In an interview I was asked, "as a business coach, how do I get commitment from clients?"

            I gain commitment by influencing and persuading clients about several objectives and by having them buy into the process. I have a plethora of methods. As I said earlier, every client is unique. I figure out what works for each individual one. I do have one client in particular, and even though her company is no longer keeping me on retainer, she still emails me weekly. I had this company for about eight years, and due to a reshifting of their priorities, my services were put on hold. Even though I’m no longer on retainer, this individual still emails me every Friday with her successes for the week and a quick note about the lessons she’s learned that week.

I had just started working with her prior to the budget cuts, so we really wanted to keep this going. We established a spirit of cooperation and cohesion for goal achievement. I couldn’t let her go because I saw how much she wanted to change. The method I used with her was for her to write an “accountability” every week of what her goals were, what she’d accomplished, and what lessons she’d learned.

I inquire which methods my clients have previously used or considered using and what they want to accomplish in using those resources. In the process of questioning them, I validate and acknowledge their desire to learn more, to do things more efficiently, and to help themselves. I then help them identify which resources will best address their needs, taking into consider ease of use and cost-effectiveness. Once we establish that I’m listening to them, understanding their needs, and looking at what’s best suited for them based on where they are, then they’re ready to make the time commitment to learn and incorporate these new methodologies into their work practices.

I have heard lots of speakers over the years and recently have been on calls with Michael Bernoff. He talks about asking people to commit to the time they schedule with you. I learned from him that just using the words, “Do I have your commitment that you will accomplish such and such?” has a strong emotional affect for people. They hear commitment and know they need to show up. 

Also, I have found that if a client isn’t committed to keeping appointments, I have to fire them. I guarantee my clients that I can help them and if they are not willing to commit to the work or systems that we define are best for them, then I tell them that they are setting me up to fail in helping them. If that’s the case, then either they get on board and become accountable or we work together to get them help elsewhere. Sometimes, they are just not ready, and I let them go with love.  

How to File and be Guaranteed to Find It!

Did you know that the average executive spends six weeks per year retrieving or replacing lost documents?  Naturally, it makes sense to create a system that is quick and easy so you can save that lost time.  Here are some ideas to get it done now once you have The Paper Tiger.  If you don’t have The Paper Tiger now, download this link to get started.  Here are the top ten tips I recommend:

           1    Look at the “hot spot of files”.  You know the pile that seems the most urgent and makes your stomach churn every time you look at it.  Take the paperwork and make a decision on each piece and separate into four piles:

            a         Reference, those items you need, just not right now

            b         Action, current projects, ongoing projects

            c         Toss, you know where those are going

            d         Timed, you need these on a specific date.

            2    When deciding on whether to file something or throw it away, ask yourself if how difficult would it be to find this information again?  Does it have any legal or financial ramifications if you were to throw it away?  If you can live with the answer of throwing it away after those thoughts, let it go.

3    Set up the Paper Tiger Filing System Software and Document Management, an indexing system that works like a search engine for paper files to help you get organized and stay organized.  It’s essentially creating an inventory for all of your files.

4    Use names that you will be able to recall easily.  The obvious file names that you’ve used in the past.  Then the interesting thing is with The Paper Tiger is that will also be able to add keywords into the database so that any name you think of when you need to find a file, the software will be able to tell you where it is in seconds. So in the case of “Auto” the Item Name would be “Ford Explorer”, and in the keywords section, you would input the name of the company, i.e., “Vehicle, Car”, possible the name of the dealer, the service person’s name, etc., and you might use “Personal” in the Category section.

5    Oftentimes, people receive notices of an event and they never know what to do with the postcard. Set up a monthly filing system (a Tickler File) to keep track of when to throw them away.  Create 12 hanging file folders, one for each month.  As you rsvp or pull the information for “dress code” or directions. When the day rolls around, you can retrieve it for a reminder. This will ensure that you never miss an event or an expiration date on an rsvp or offer.

6    When sorting through paperwork make a decision. If you’re not in a decision-making mood, have a place set up for “unprocessed paperwork”.  Then when you’re ready, if you need to take action, do it now or place it in the appropriate action file.  If someone else needs to attend to it, give it to them.  If it is something to reference later on, add it to a reference file and place it there. Putting it back in the pile to address later is no longer an option for you as an organized person.

7    When you have a lot of tasks to do for the day, quickly sort the tasks in order of importance.  Do what is most profitable or important to you first, then move on from there.  Therefore, if you only have a little bit of time you will be addressing the most critical issues first.  All other tasks need to be scheduled for the when it makes sense.  This final step is critical otherwise you’ll be starting a new pile.

8    Print out reports of what you have inventoried in your filing system, place a folder in the front of each door labeled “File Index”.  Having a quick and easy reference when you don’t want to open your computer makes it easier to find quickly.

9     Get into a maintenance habit of printing out a report of all of your files, quarterly or no less often than annually, and identify what you no longer need and purge or create steps to archive via off site store or scanning. 

10 .Finally, create a time management habit.  Take 10-15 minutes every morning looking at your priorities, including your Actions within your Paper Tiger system and pulling files from your Tickler File.  Do the same thing each evening by placing all documents collected through the day back into your systems. 

Congratulations on your progress, if you haven’t done it yet.  Set up your Paper Tiger system now and get started.  As you go throughout your day, keep in mind the task at hand and focus on completing that one task.  Remember that “things don’t clutter, people clutter”.  When we make simple decisions and take action, we can improve the quality of our life at work and at home.

Tips How to Maximize Productivity

As you think about getting organized in your office, here are some tips to get you going. 


1.        Do the hardest thing first.  When you arrive at the office, you may be tempted to first check your messages, rifle through the day’s mail, or plow through some easy administrative tasks. Instead, try doing the hardest, most challenging (or least enjoyable) thing earlier in the day. You’ll be attacking it when your energy level is high and your mind is clear.

2.       Plan for tomorrow at the end of today. Take 15 minutes at the end of every day to create tomorrow’s to-do list. This habit of planning will give you the gift of focus, allowing you to get a jump-start the next morning. In a sense, you’re creating a map for the following day.

3.        Download all ideas, actions, and goals onto paper.  Clear the clutter out of your brain by taking pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and allow to-dos and brilliant ideas to become more concrete.

4.        Use your email effectively. Stop scanning emails and leaving them to deal with “later.” Instead, schedule time just twice each day to check and manage emails. Read each email message thoroughly, then act, file, delete, or pass along.

5.        Take a lunch break every day. You may not think you have time for one, but make the time. Poor diet on the job is costing countries (and their businesses) up to 20% in lost productivity!

6.        Become an expert time estimator. Most unpleasant tasks don’t take as long as you think they will. And most pleasant things tend to drag out a bit longer than you'd expect. Use a timer to get an accurate gauge of the real time it takes to accomplish a variety of routine responsibilities.

7.        Create an effective work area. The average office worker spends 2,000 hours per year at her desk. Make that space easy to use by gathering items that you use most frequently and storing them within easy reach of your usual seated position.

8.         Manage paper effectively. Resolve to deal with your papers on a regular basis. Whether first thing in the morning, at the end of the day, or somewhere in between, set aside 30 minutes each day so you don't end up with overwhelming piles.

9.         Be more productive by avoiding interruptions. Use your lower-energy hours as your open office hours so you don’t waste peak productivity periods with interruptions.

10.     Know the benefits of being organized. Getting organized goes way beyond having a neat and tidy space. By becoming more organized, you’ll not only help your business run better, but you’ll reap multiple personal rewards as well.

11.     Stop procrastinating.  Break tasks down into realistic-sized chunks and jot them. Each day’s successes will give you the drive to keep going.

12.     Learn to say “no” and delegate. Take control of your time and tasks by making a list of all your responsibilities, both daily and special projects. Even if it takes a little more time on the front end to train someone else, it may pay off by giving you more time to focus on larger responsibilities. 

My Source:

Anne McGurty
www.AnneMcGurty.com
Strategize & Organize
10401 North 52nd Street, #114
Paradise Valley, AZ  85253
(480) 442-2014

Anne is available as a consultant to help you improve your efficiencies in your office whether it is a home office or in a commercial environment.  She is also available virtually on Skype for coaching sessions.  If your human resources department is looking to implement an employee training program, Anne can customize a program for your organization.