Decluttering is all about making decisions.  These decisions can be hard! Here are a few ideas to help you make decisions that make sense, make letting go easier, and make a difference for you. 

• Donate it if it is “good”.  It is considered “good” if it can be used and still in working condition. 
• Freecyle if it is broken.  List it on freecycle.org and it will be picked up from your doorstep.
• Give it a moment, then give it away.  Look at it, touch it, and then put it to the side. In a moment you will be ready to give it away.
• Set a number.   How many do you think you need of any one object? Think of your own number as a guide.
• Compare two.   Establish a “tournament”, do you prefer this or that?
• Set a boundary.  Where does a specific item belong?  That is the boundary, the space where the item will be confined.  Let that guide you for how many and where to keep items.
• Gather items all together, see how many you have and need. Once you see items together, it is easier to decide what to keep. 

What is holding you back from making a decision?

Your mind is swirling with ideas. There are so many projects you would like to do, but they are all running together.  There are also lots of small but very important unrelated tasks, which never seem to be at the top of your list.

According to ADDitude Magazine, “personal productivity is not a matter of coming up with ideas for what to do. The problem lies with poor sense of time and inability to gauge how long it will take to complete a given task. Then there’s trouble with setting priorities, and tendency to get distracted and forget what we were trying to do.”

Here is a list of some ideas that can help you get more done in your week.

• A body double helps you get started and make decisions.   Ths is a person who is with you, virtually or in person, to just be in the moment with you.  The person is just there, not giving you advice or being an expert, just in the space with you.
• Be sure to list all your tasks in one place. This can be on paper or in technology.  The list starts with just a brain dump, getting everything out of your head.  This step makes the biggest difference in clarity! Then choose just 3 Most Important Tasks (MITs) for you complete.  Prioritizing these 3 MITs can be difficult. However, any 3 completed are 3 less tasks to do.
• Set a timer to help you get started on your tasks.  Initiation can be a challenge, so just getting started may be the key to getting tasks done. 
• Give yourself ample time to complete a task. If you think it will take 10 minutes, give yourself 30 minutes. It may take up to 3 times longer for completion.  Give yourself some “warm up” time too.  This is about 10 minutes to get oriented, prioritize and get into the mindset of the work at hand.  
• Find someone to assist  you with verbal processing.  Verbal processing is talking the ideas that are swirling in your head.  By talking through the work, you become aware of what is most important and cull out the first action step.
• Know how important self care is and practice it. We all work much better with a good night’s sleep and good lean protein in our diet.  Be sure you are at your best to get your best work done.

What ways do you get started or get finished with your tasks?

It is easy to get stuck in an organizing paralysis with recycling.  Getting behind with recycling can lead to lots of organizing challenges.  For Kingwood and Houston residents, there are easy and convenient ways to recycle e-waste and BOPA materials!

• Goodwill http://www.goodwillhouston.org/ has a special program with Dell called Reconnect http://reconnectpartnership.com/ . Goodwill accepts any brand of used computer equipment in any condition and anything that can be connected to a computer; monitors, printers, scanners, hard drives, keyboards, mice, speakers, cords & cables, software, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Zune, Microsoft-branded Webcams, etc. They will pick these items up from your house along with any other household donations or you can drop them at one of their convenient locations.

• Best Buy will accept ALL electronic waste (no more than three per visit) including monitors and TVs up to 32″ (they charge $10 for a TV but give you a $10 gift certificate in exchange).

• Styrofoam chips and even blocks can be brought to most UPS, FedEx or Mailbox stores. They reuse them for their packaging.

• Leftover useable paints can be given away on Freecycle http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humble-KingwoodTXFreecycle/ Small amounts of paint can be dried out and then put in your trash.

• Appliances and scrap metal will be picked up for free at your house by Junky Business http://www.junkybusiness.com/

• CFL Bulbs and regular fluorescent bulbs are recycled at Home Depot or Lowes.

• Rechargeable batteries can be recycled at many hardware, electronic, and department stores (Alspaughs, Sears Hardware, Best Buy, and Radio Shack). You can also recycle your old cell phones at Alspaugh’s Ace Hardware for the benefit of Keep Kingwood Green.

• Used Motor Oil can be recycled at O’Reilly Auto Parts, 3219 W Lake Houston Pkwy in Kingwood (next to Walgreens).

All items above can also be dropped at the Westpark Consumer Recycling Center (for City residents only) at 5900 Westpark located at Hwy. 59S between Chimney Rock & Fountain View (Galleria Area) : www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/westpark.html or the Harris County facility if you live in Harris County but not in the City of Houston at 6900 Hahl Rd @ 290 & N. Gessner, 281-560-6200 Check for operating times. http://www.eng.hctx.net/watershed/hhw_facility.html

All other Hazardous Waste (fuel, pesticides, chemicals, etc.) can be brought to the North Environmental Service Center (713)837-9137, located at 5614 Neches, Building C. It is open to Houston residents only, every 2nd Thursday of the month from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Harris County residents can take them to the Harris County site listed above.

Want more ideas? Visit earth911.com. 

Originally written for  www.keepkingwoodgreen.org  by Jan Zaremba-Smith (April 2011)

Time to change your clutter into cash!  Lots of families are making some extra change with decluttering and selling their items.

• Post your item on an online garage sale, like KingwoodYardSales.com or TheWoodlandsonline.com.
• Be part of your community garage sale that occurs annually.
• Find an association for the items you are selling and find a buyer.  Our family sold a paperweight collection with the assistance of the Texas Paperweight Association.
• Local consignment shops for all sorts of items are in our communities,  including shops for clothes, toys, and home decor.
• Use Gazelle.com, a trade-in and recycling firm, that helps sell all sorts of items, from cell phones, laptops and tablet computers to digital cameras and video gaming consoles.
• Sell your used cell phones to www.cellforcash.com to get top dollar for your used phone. 
• Half Price Books will purchase your used DVDs, CDs, and books. 
• Find a local estate sale company to sell big items, or even a whole house of clutter. 

What other ways have you turned your clutter into cash?

I am often asked where to start organizing in a home or office. It just takes starting in a small spot. Here are 5 you can start in to feel successful and motivated.

• Car glove box! You can easily clean out receipts, old insurance papers and other odds and ends.
• Silverware drawer! It gets a little crazy sometimes getting utensils back in the right slot. Take a few minutes to sort and clean out.
• Sock drawer! There are just too many socks sometimes. Match up the socks, and toss the rest. Be brutal!
• Top drawer of your desk! We just slip papers in there, just too easily.  Spend a few minutes tossing what is old, unused or broken in there, decide what really belongs in this space, distribute the rest, and then you are more productive than ever.
• Email inbox and processed folder. You don’t have to keep all the emails in your inbox.  Add a subfolder called “processed,” “read,” or whatever you what to name it, for the emails you have read and want to keep.  Keeping your inbox just for incoming mail will be more effective and efficient.

What small stuff do you do to get organized?

It’s time to get moving on decluttering our homes and offices.  It’s been a busy winter and now it’s time to focus on spring renewal.   Doing the Spring Fling helps us by eliminating the unnecessary, deciding on what is most important and keeping only the best. 

Get motivated and focused first by having the end in sight.  Find ideas on www.houzz.com.  Tap into your inner organizer by defining 3 key words that will describe your newly organized spot, such as nurturing, simplified, inviting, or friendly.  Know what you want your organized space to be and to feel like. 

Gather your team to get going. At home your team can be a supportive friend, your children or your spouse.  At the office it can be your colleagues, assistant or boss.  It is more fun and energizing to work with partners.  Set specific dates and deadlines for your organizing.  Break the work into smaller units to work effectively and get this job done.

Find a cause that you are passionate about to donate your items. Make donating simple and get your donations out the door the same day you decided to part with them.

Not sure what to “fling?”

• Would you wear it today if it fit?
• You purchased a new one and it’s time to “fling” the old one.
• Your kids have outgrown it or don’t play with it.
• Extra home decor, linens, or framed prints
• It’s still good and it’s time to let others use it. 

Create functional, accessible and beautiful space using bins or boxes in colors you love, adding uniform shelving, and embracing simplicity.  My new favorite closet items are slimline hangers. Choose one color for your closet and donate your used hangers or return wire hangers to your dry cleaner.  This simple addition makes for a beautiful closet. 

 Add in great routines to keep your space maintained. Have a nightly family pick up or take just 5 minutes each evening to get items back to where they are stored.  Plan a general reorganization each spring and fall, just to keep your home and office efficient, orderly and attractive.

Practical Estate Planning: Organize Your Documents on April 4th at The Veranda, Kingwood. 

 Help your family — and make your executor’s job easier — by getting your paperwork in order.  Estate planning isn’t just about legal issues — there are practical ones as well. Join Tamara Paul and myself to learn more about this at  Lunch and Learn at The Veranda, Kingwood.  Fee of $20 includes materials, lunch, tax and tip.   
 
To register, call 281-358-2820 or email info@verandakingwood.com

The first step in less filing is getting less paper! Here are some ways to make it happen.

1.  Eliminate catalogs with www.catalogchoice.com.

2. Get your Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) online through your medical insurance company.  Create a log in and password, then set up the email account to notify you.

3. Use E-vites instead of invites. View paperlesspost.com for lovely invitations by email.

4. If you find articles to clip from the newspaper, find the article online instead. You can find it by the name of the author and the date of printing.  Save these with a bookmark in your computer.

5. Stop clipping recipes and use allrecipes.com to find the ingredients and more. 

6. Need a map? Use your GPS, google maps, or your smart phone navigation.

7. Add coupons to your email and smart phone through online sites.  See how on http://shortcuts.com/.

8.  Want to scan in your papers?  Try using the Fujitsu ScanSnap!

What ways have you eliminated paper at your home or office?

Its that time of year again for tax preparation. This can be very overwhelming and very stressful! Here are a few tips and resources to get you through.

• Start with baby steps and early March is the best time to start. 
• Set up sessions for yourself for one or two hours at a time so you can work efficiently. 
• Write your sessions in your calendar and have a deadline well before April 15.

 Not sure what to gather? Everyone has different items to gather, but generally these items are the following.

• Income includes your W-2 and 1099’s.  These come in envelopes marked Important Tax Document and will be easy to find in your mail.  Or these can be found online from your employer or in investment accounts.  You may have already set up ways to find these documents easily online!
• Expense/Deductions include home mortgage interest (From 1098), property taxes paid to your school district and county, and charitable contributions.  Property taxes may be escrowed in your mortgage, and you can find these payments listed on your monthly December mortgage statement.  Charitable contributions can be found in reviewing your checking account online.  Non-cash charitable contributions can be valued with ItsDeductible.com online too. 

File online for the quickest return.   Keep your filed return forever, either on paper or electronically. Ask your accountant how long to keep the preparation documents.  There is differing advice on this but most say at least 3 years.  Get ahead for next year by setting up folders to use throughout the year for income and deductions.

Resources

You and Your Federal Return

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/index.html

Smead Tax Organizer

http://www.smead.com/Director.asp?NodeId=1445

AARP Top 10 Filing Tips

http://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-01-2011/irs-ten-tax-time-tips.2.html

AARP Tax filing assistance

http://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/

Maximizing your medical deductions

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/money-guides/maximizing-your-medical-deductions-1.aspx

I love my new shiny status as Superstar!  It is a collaboration I participate in just about every month, with other organizers throughout the country. But to me it is really a shining star about collaboration in general. I love to find partners that are a great fit for what I don’t do well.  As a member of this collaboration, I am prompted monthly to submit.  The topic is already chosen, so in many ways it is just following up on a great idea. 

How do I use this collaboration process throughout my work and life?  I find having partners who give you enough information to get started on whatever the task, either with a template or not, and then move forward.  It can be when I want to give a speech, add a new aspect to my business, or even make dinner for our family.  It is always more fun when you work together!

How can collaboration help you get started, get finished or get moving on a goal?