Get Organized Wizard Articles

Many people I’ve talked to lately say 2011 has not been a great year. From global challenges to personal problems, it seems many of us are hoping for a better year in 2012.

What can we do to make the new year a great one?

There’ll be things we can’t control and disappointments out of our hands. But there are also steps we can take to make the best of what is in our hands.

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One of my mottoes is: Have what you love; use what you have. Anything that doesn’t serve you, doesn’t earn a place in your life.

But an obstacle to decluttering that many people face is deciding what to do with the stuff they get rid of.

Unfortunately, this dilemma can be so confusing that some people get completely immobilized – they end up unable to part with their stuff because they can’t decide where it should go.

Don’t let confusion stop you from releasing unloved, unused things from your home and your life. Instead, use this guide.

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With a change of season upon us, now’s a great time for a spot of spring cleaning.

But instead of focussing on the external environment, let’s start with ourselves.

By tidying up mental habits and self-talk on the inside, we can make life a lot more happy and ordered on the outside too.
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If I ask you what you’d like to have or to achieve in the next month, what comes to mind?

Coming up with goals isn’t hard for most people. They know what they want.

But translating goals into results is another matter. Despite carefully writing out goals and starting to take necessary actions, somehow the desired outcomes don’t materialize.
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Although the start of a new year is a fairly arbitrary thing, it offers a priceless psychological gift – motivation!

The promise of a fresh start is like a boost of extra energy that can help you start strong and maintain momentum toward the things you want.

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

(If you’re now madly assembling a list of reasons why you don’t have control over your own time, then may I ask, with only love in my heart, that you use the energy instead to apply the steps that follow.)
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I’ve been using SMART goals for 20 years or so. That’s a long time!

But recently I was reminded of just how powerful this little approach is.

I had a pair of leather pants that had been a couple of sizes too small for many years. About 6 months before my 43rd birthday, I decided that I really, really, wanted to fit into those pants again…
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You know that lovely feeling you get when you’ve just organized your shoes, cleared out the filing cabinet, or streamlined your vintage doily collection?

The answer is that backsliding is actually not inevitable.
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Sometimes life’s little tantrums make it hard to keep your equanimity. You get sick, you face one problem after another, your goals stall, your relationships struggle…

You can start to feel disorganized, frustrated and despondent – unless you have a plan for keeping yourself afloat. I suggest a daily checklist of things that will help you feel as though you’re hanging in there and doing okay.
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We’d all like a little more time for ourselves, right? It recharges our batteries and restores our sanity.

But if it seems we can barely fit in our current priorities, then how on earth can we justify more self time?

In fact, we can make space in our lives for ourselves – simply by applying these three strategies.
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Holidays can be a stressful time of year, no doubt about it.

To help you to get things done, keep your cool, and have a good time, here are my top 3 happy-holiday strategies.
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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.

This is a motivating and satisfying way to kickstart your new year’s resolution to be better organized. And you can get it done in a day!
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Being organized has all kinds of benefits – greater productivity, saved time, less stress and more motivation, to name a few.

But some organizing tasks give you a happiness hit, too. What a cool bonus!

Here are three of my favorite organizing things to do – all guaranteed to put a little spring in your step and a smile on your face.
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If you want to make this the start of a more organized life, choose as your project something achievable. Your success will give you momentum to move on to another project – and another one after that.

But if you begin with the worst room in your house, you may struggle to get it done – and the disappointment could undermine your future organizing efforts, too.
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Recently I started doing some new things at the gym. I raised my bicep and shoulder weights in my weights class, and I began doing cycling and combat-style classes to replace my treadmill walks.

The lessons I’ve learned from these changes have surprised me. And I’ve realized that they apply outside the gym, too.

Here are the 3 life lessons I’ve learned…
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When it comes to work-life balance, it seems there’s nothing new to say. We all know the problem and we all struggle to find the answer. The solution doesn’t appear to be out there.

But it may be in here. Where? In here, in our heads.

Here are 4 ways to think about work-life balance that might give you a fresh perspective – and with it, a new range of options you may not have considered.
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For most of us, feeling good about ourselves helps us to do more, be more and give more to others.

The following 7 simple strategies can help you to feel better about yourself – and that can help make you more productive, motivated and effective.

So why not pick at least one strategy that you can use today…
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When you attend a workshop or college lecture, how productive is your time?

Do you take copious notes – but never get around to taking action?

It costs time and money to educate yourself.

Here are my top three tips for making sure you get great value.
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Did you know that happiness is associated with all kinds of benefits?

They include: Physical & mental health, good relationships and effective conflict management.

That means happiness isn’t selfish. In fact, these benefits show that a happy person brings positive advantages to the family, workplace, economy and society. You can feel great about making happiness your goal!

So given that happiness is worth pursuing, how exactly do you pursue it?
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‘SMART’ is an acronym for 5 characteristics that help you set well-defined goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-Framed

Say your goal is ‘To lose weight’. Here’s how to make it SMART…
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If you’ve read Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People you’re probably familiar with ’sharpening the saw’.

If not, the idea is a simple and powerful one: you need time out for refreshment and rejuvenation (sharpening your ’saw’ – yourself!) or you become stale and ineffective.

There are two aspects to this idea.

The first is making time and space in your life for saw-sharpening. Many saw-sharpening plans die right here…
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Research has found happiness to be associated with all kinds of benefits, including:

• Enjoying physical health
• Enjoying mental health
• Having better coping skills
• Being more resilient
• Feeling satisfied at work (and many more)

Of course, these findings are generalised across people – for some the effects are small or non-existent, for others they’re significant.
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Participating in social networks is a bit like being on a reality TV show.

• Everything you say is public
• Once it’s out there, it’s out there
• It’s easy to get voted off (other people’s friend/follow/connection lists).

To help you manage social networking, here are seven of the biggest mistakes people make, along with tips to help you avoid them.
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Use any or all, or let them stimulate you to come up with your own ideas. But do think about ways to cut out the things that waste your time, money, energy, space… and life. Then you’ll have more of yourself for the people and priorities that really matter to you.

1. Subscriptions
   Cancel subscriptions to papers and magazines unless they enhance your life. If they don’t, they’re simply taking up your time, money and living space.
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Are you always thinking you should be more organized? Rebuking yourself for poor personal systems? Self-flagellating over household clutter?

It’s time to step away from the whip.

Deflating the twin peaks of perfectionism and procrastination

Few of us rush headlong toward the things we ought to do. ‘Should’ just isn’t a great motivator. If it were, the diet industry would collapse overnight under a stampede to the salad bar.

Instead of seeing simplifying, sorting and systemising as the organizing equivalent of steamed vegetables, try de-shouldifying them.
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Back from holidays and facing hundreds of emails? It’s overwhelming! Where do you even start?

Resist the temptation to press [Ctrl-A] and [Delete]. Instead, use my system to slay the inbox dragon. You might even be able to hold on to some of that precious post-holiday serenity.

Here’s a quick review of The ONLY 4 things you should do with new email.
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