Clutter Busting Coach

…clearing clutter from your mind, body and space

Clutter Busting

The Journey Into Clutter Busting: Defining My “Embarrassment”

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I wanted to take a step back for a moment because I realized that I described my feelings as those of embarrassment about having clutter. Sometimes clutter does cause feelings of embarrassment for an individual. There could also be feelings of discouragement, frustration, a sense of being overwhelmed, anger, resentment and a feeling of being incompetent to name a few.

I used the word embarrassment because I felt that I was not “walking the talk”. I was able to help others dig out from their cluttered bodies, minds and spaces while my clutter was collecting.

The important lesson here is to identify clutter and how it makes you feel. Then envision how you want to feel and set up an action plan to achieve a clutter-free life.

I use my life coach to help me focus on what’s important to me…clutter busting being one of the topics we cover. I would like to opportunity to work with you to see if life coaching can help you clear chaos from your life. Please contact me if you are interested in a free 30 minutes sample session to see if coaching is right for you.

The Journey Into Clutter Busting: The Sea of Papers Gets Smaller

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WOW! I have more progress to report. I have unloaded more papers from my life.

I found a binder that I organized 11 years ago when we were doing some major decorating in our home. I called it “Decorating and Ideas”. It contained everything from samples of wallpaper, paint, carpet and material for our valences to potential contractor information to ideas for furniture and décor.

Since I had not used it in several years, I determined that the binder did not serve me anymore. So I deconstructed it and created a folder in my intermediate file cabinet that I titled decorating. I would estimate that I recycled (got rid of) about half of the papers that were in the binder.

I can tell you this one completed task has resulted in such a sense of freedom. I really feel that I am really unloading a lot of extra “baggage”.

What this task also reminds me is that what once may have worked may not continue to work for you. So you shouldn’t be afraid to pursue new ways of organizing your stuff.

My next move is to continue to eliminate reference papers that are unnecessary or that have not been looked at in a year. What are you working on this week?

The Journey Into Clutter Busting: Archived Record Storage continued

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I have more progress to report. I have handled the following from my basement project list:

I have emptied two storage boxes of records/files that are intermediate storage. These are items that I will reference multiple times a year, but not weekly and no more than once a month. I decided to move these to the basement instead of keep them in the office closet along with a four drawer file cabinet they were previously stored in. It was taking up valuable real estate in my home office (extra bedroom).

I tossed a grocery bag full of reference material that I had piled for filing and intended for that same file cabinet. I recycled the papers since I hadn’t used any of them during the year they were in the pile.

I also made the conscious decision to purge anytime the four drawers of the file cabinet get full or minimally once a year. [Read more…] about The Journey Into Clutter Busting: Archived Record Storage continued

The Journey Into Clutter Busting: Archived Record Storage

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I got a little stuck working on my archived record storage this past week. I was trying to develop criteria to use to make more sorting easier.

For my clients, I have used the same advice that all organizers use about financial record storage because each person needs to determine what is appropriate for their individual situation. So we recommend that you consult with your financial advisor, bank, attorney and accountant for what is appropriate for you.

I have asked my accountant, my financial planner and my bank. At a previous appointment I had asked an attorney’s opinion. And I have even queried my friends, family and a professional organizer about what they do. And I was still uncomfortable with the answer.

So I went to the IRS website for their recommendations and found this.pdf as well. I also searched online and in organizing books for recommendations.

You still need to ask the professionals for your personal situation, but as a general rule here are a few tips: [Read more…] about The Journey Into Clutter Busting: Archived Record Storage

The Journey Into Clutter Busting: Paper Piles and Taxes

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I know that I started my clutter busting journey in the basement, but have chosen to divert my journey to tax preparation and records since it is that time of year.

Paper adds up quickly and can be a challenge to handle mostly because we don’t decide what to do with the paper when we have our hands on it.

I wish I would have taken a picture of my file pile before I tackled it. But on second thought that would have been more embarrassing than my basement photo.

I am glad to report that the file pile is gone. My 2010 taxes are in the final review stage and all 2010 archived tax records are stored and labeled appropriately. In addition, all 2011 records are filed appropriately. No more file pile (imagine me doing the happy dance).

This journey into clutter busting is full of lessons learned and the theme that continues to reappear for me personally is about daily practices. Routines for daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks keep us on track and prevent us from getting overwhelmed. For me this includes having time scheduled weekly to focus on paper management. I already scheduled “filing” in my calendar for next week. Did you?

I also scheduled some project time for next few weeks for paper management projects. But more on that later…