Some simple Ideas for Home Organizing that will make it easy to keep the "little things" from turning into big piles of clutter quickly spreading around the house.
Touch it Once and Settle it!
Most of us do with everyday clutter is put off taking action until later. This creates an even greater lack of time had you taken care of the item right there and then. This stuff is just added to the piles and it spreads through the house like wild fire.
So take action right away and don't "leave it for later."
Keep things the same kind together.
Sweaters with sweaters. Shirts with shirts. One shelf for snacks and a shelf for cans.
Wouldn't it be nice to find whatever it is you're looking for in a matter of seconds?
Start to dedicate a specific space for everything you own.
Organize one thing or space or room at a time.
Work on one small thing at a time in set increments and try and do it every single day until you're done. Then move onto the next thing.
The key is to get something organized everyday and make it consistent.
If you try and tackle too much at once, you'll simply find yourself overwhelmed. Then you'll give up.
Keep these ideas in mind and start to organize your life.
After years of repetitive work, I'm right on track of my planned lifestyle. Get a degree, get a job, work hard until retirement and enjoy my retirement egg nest.
However, I'm beginning to challenge this concept of "the right way" in life. This concept was conceived many years ago, if my memory serves me well, it's around the early days of my secondary school years.
Is this really the lifestyle that I want? Is it time to redefine my ideal lifestyle?
After some soul-searching and researching, I've managed to gather some Ideas for Great Living. If I could go back in time, these would be my Life Goals:
- To have more quality and purpose.
- To own a business and not run a business.
- To have others to work for me. The "others" here also refer to automated software or programs.
- To do the minimum necessary for maximum effect.
- To have consistent income.
- To have "mini-retirements" throughout life. Inactivity or retire early is not an option.
The standard roadmap of life:
- Grow up.
- Go to school.
- Get a job.
- Get married and have kids.
- Retire at 65.
- Play a little.
- Die.
Anyone have a different roadmap?
What is Unclutter?
Let me start with the word “Clutter”, “Clutter” means "crowd together in disorder".
“Unclutter” simply means rid of clutter (junk).
Imagine this, you are now at home, looking around and you see a home free of clutter, nothing lying around on the floor, nothing stored at a corner, nothing stacking up on your coffee table and nothing crowding on your computer table.
How do you feel?
Clutter is a form of visual distraction, the less clutter, the less visual stress. I feel less stressful when I'm in uncluttered areas.
Whenever I find something lying around "unclaimed", I will find a "home" for it. If I can't find the ideal place for it, this thing is probably better to be disposed. Else it will start "growing roots" and remain there "forever".
Normally, I will ask myself whether the item is truly essential. If I can live without it, I will dispose it.
Yes, I agreed there are certain things we can live without now but will come back and "haunt" us in later part f our life. I will create a system to manage these items.
For example, a good filing system for letters and bills will keep the paper junk from crowding in some corners. We can file these letters and bills according to names and/or dates etc. The criteria for any system varies with every individual, it depends on how you like to retrieve the items in future and the maximum number of years you would like to keep these items etc.
Generally, I will keep all surfaces clear of clutter and things out of sight (in the drawers or cabinet).
The idea is to keep essential stuff and remove the unnecessary.
I'm always on the lookout to unclutter my areas for a more relaxing and better life. I like the calming feeling working in uncluttered space. It's a form of enjoyment just by looking at clear, clean and uncluttered space, it gives me a peaceful and satisfying feeling.
How about you? Do you like uncluttered space?
I love this story.
There was a big city businessman who once went on holiday to a faraway beach. One day he walked past a local fisherman who was lazing around, with his fishing rod in the water, enjoying the sun and a beer.
The city man’s mind went to work immediately. The fishing spot was a gold mine, and a serious fishing business would thrive in the area.
“Why are you so stupid?” he asked the fisherman. “Get some boats, hire some extra hands, and in a few years you will turn your little shop into a million-dollar business!”
The local man asked him. “And what would you do once you have a million dollars?”
The city man stared back blankly. “Why, I would have so much free time I could sit around enjoying the sun and drinking beer!”
What about you? Are you living in the Present? or in the Future?
The first time I read about the"Law of Attraction" I had problem understanding the "concept" behind this Law.
I'm reading it from an Engineer point of view, to me, all Laws are supposed to be complex and takes a great mind to comprehend.
However, the second time I read about it, I realized the "Law of Attraction" isn't a new physic term. It is a simple law of nature, every energy of your being is in constant response to, whether you realize or not.
The "Law of Attraction" is defined as "I attract to my life whatever I give my attention, energy and focus to, whether positive or negative".
For example, when you are feeling cranky and irritated today, you are sending out negative vibration (vibes) and naturally the Law of Attraction responds, simply matching the vibration you are sending and giving you more of the same.
Then, you will find yourself attracting more and more of the same negative energy for the rest of the day. You start to encounter more frustrating stuffs and irritating people start to show up in front of you etc.
On the flip side, you are feeling great and positive, you greet everyone with a genuine smile. Soon, you find yourself receiving positive smiles and joyful conversation etc.
These may sound funny to you, but they are examples of the Law of Attraction at work, unfolding and orchestrating all that needs to happen to bring you more of the same, whether positive or negative.
It simply responds to the vibration that you are sending out, as a result you get more of what you are sending out, whether you like it or not or whether you believe or not.
So if you want to start attracting joy, happiness and prosperity, then stop thinking and talking about all the negative elements of life such as sadness, confusion, disappointment, stress, anger etc. Start shifting your mindset to the positive side and attract what you want.
Yes, I heard you, attracting joy, happiness and prosperity through positive thoughts are ultimately not easy, but it certainly beats the fact that you keep drowning yourself in negative thoughts and attracting more of the same.
A good example of the Law of Attraction is the phrase: "Birds of the same feather flock together".
Imagine, you start sharing with others how rotten and negative your life is and "the others" who have the same thoughts, agree with you and start discussing how rotten life is treating everybody, soon, more and more of the same start to join in and the group gets bigger and bigger. Is this what you want?
It’s not easy to change the way you think and create an ongoing positive dialogue with yourself. However, you have the choice, You can choose Happiness or Sadness! I have chosen Happiness.
Start changing your mindset bit by bit and start attracting good things in life.
"Money gives you more options, but Happiness makes life worth living."
- Ebeneezer Scooge
I have gathered a list of 10 main activities that I will follow closely for year 2009. Hope I will make 2009 a Meaningful, Fruitful and Successful year.
1. Stay focus and work towards the only Goal I have set for 2009.
2. Exercise at least twice a week. (jogging, swimming and playing soccer ... what else.)
3. Learn more about personal development and apply the knowledge.
4. Spend more quality time with my family. (I mean really quality time and not watching TV programmes with them... but I must admit that I have "wasted" a lot of time watching Little Nyonya [小娘惹] with them.)
5. Expand circle of friends. (It's always good to make more friends than enemies right?)
6. Engage in activities that are productive and of good value.
7. Be early.
8. Drink more water and green tea.
9. Eat more vegetables.
10. Pray.
Have you plan anything for 2009?
I have been setting goals, goals and more goals for the past few years. At the beginning of each year, I would get very happy, very excited and very enthusiastic with the goals that I have set.
However, when Christmas comes and I looked back… it is always: “WHERE DID THE MAJORITY OF THE YEAR GONE TO?”
Maybe I have set goals that I don’t really care about or maybe I have set too many goals or maybe... and maybe… maybe... you know.. maybe…
After much reflection, I have decided to do something different in 2009. I will just set 1 goal and keep my focus on it until I have achieved it.
1 goal is clarity. 10 goals is confusion. Do you think it's a good idea?
So what are your Goals for 2009?
I have been trying to improve my productivity and become more organized for a long time. However, I realized that I have spent too much time organizing, planning and managing my productivity, it actually become less efficient. My productivity meter yields a loss instead of a gain.
Recently, I found a good and old way of managing my productivity. While attending an exhibition in Singapore Expo, I was given a free pocket-size paper notebook. Not knowing what to do with such an old school stuff, I just left it on my computer table.
As I was thinking how to solve my low productivity problem, I realized that a pocket-sized notebook is one productivity tool that I really need.
Whenever I get or think of a new task, I would write it down in my notebook, along with the deadline. When I completed a task, I would cross it off. I wrote down every task in the order it was received. I didn't do any reordering or prioritizing of this list. When a page from the notebook was all crossed off on both sides, I ripped it out and threw it in the trash.
Typically, I scan through the current list of tasks in my notebook and considered each task's difficulty, duration, and deadline as well as my energy level. Then I made a snap decision and just picked one that seemed to be a reasonable choice. Then I started working on that task immediately, sticking with it until it was 100% complete.
Since the tasks were recorded in the order they were received, the oldest tasks were in front of my notebook. If I had a really old task, it would often be the only item left on a page with everything else on that page already crossed off. This gave me a little extra motivation and pressure to complete it and rip it off.
If a task on my list got too old and I hadn't done anything with it, I might decide not to do it at all, so I could remove the page and throw it into the trash bin. Alternatively, I might decide it was still worth doing but at a later date, I would copy it to the back of the list and give it a chance for another cycle.
But if a task was on the list for a couple of months and hadn't been touched, it probably just wasn't important enough that I was ever going to do it.
Do you find it difficult to maintain complete concentration of your audience on your presentation beyond, say 15mins?
Why? Because they're human and they've got things like where to go, what to have for lunch, what movies to see etc on their mind besides your presentation.
A Pattern Interrupt is a popular technique to remind your audience where they are.
To keep your audience's attention on you and your topic, interrupt their train-of-thought with a new module by creating a change.
Try introducing a new media such as vision, sound, get audience involvement in small brainstorming session or pose some questions to work their mind a little.
By interrupt the wandering thoughts of your audience and your topic will have a better chance of sinking into their consciousness.
- Attend free seminars, networking events or ask the presenters if you can attend their presentation.
- Pay close attention to their appearance, introduction and closing.
This is something interesting that I have learned from Adam Khoo.
If you look at people who succeed, the first thing they do is, they set extremely clear goals.
Next, they create a strategy or model the strategy of people who had achieved that goal.
Then they take consistent action toward hitting the Goal.
Once they meet with failure, they will take it as a feedback and refine their strategy.
No matter how many times they take, they will keep adjusting and changing their strategy until they get what they want.
The more action we take in life, the more likely we are to experience failure. That is why people who succeed and experience a lot of success, fail more than anyone else since they take so much action.
But what separates people who enjoy success from the majority who end up frustrated is how we respond to failure. It is what we do about failure that makes the difference.
There is no Failure in Life. There is only Feedback.
1. Write a specific and meaningful subject line.
State the purpose of the email clearly.
2. Keep the message focused and get to the point.
Break up your message into easy to read paragraphs.
3. Wait to fill in the "TO" email address.
This is to avoid sending an incomplete email accidentally.
4. Identify yourself clearly.
When contacting someone that you are not familiar with, always include your name, occupation, contact information and other important identification.
If you assume your recipient doesn't remember you, try to drop casual hints to jog their memory: "I enjoyed talking with you about mobile phones in the lobby last week"
5. Be kind and mind your manners.
Always remember to show respect and restraint when writing email. Be professional, you wouldn't want your inappropriate email to be circulated like wild fire. Address people you don't know as Mr, Mrs, or Dr, use words like "please" and "thank you" etc.
6. Proof-read.
Use proper grammar and correct spelling.
7. Distinguish between formal and informal situations.
8. Respond Promptly.
If your respond is needed urgently but you are too busy to look into the matter. Reply with a quick sentence,"Sorry, I'm too busy to help you now," at least your correspondent won't be waiting in vain for your reply.
Master your time usage and become extremely productive.
Important steps to effective time management:
1. Organizing
Plan your daily, weekly, and longer term goals. Based on these goals develop a “to do” list.
Establish your own mission statement, which clarifies your goal. Once you've created this personal mission, you should have a better means of linking your actions to your goal.
The more organized you are, the more effectively you will be able to use the 24 hours in each day. Make a list of everything you want or need to get done. Don't think about which tasks are most important, just write them all down.
Here are some ideas to keep in mind when creating your lists:
- Always have a mission statement above your list. You should have many mission statements and a list of tasks under the respective statement. These mission statements will keep you focus on your goals.
- Make your list realistic and maintain a healthy balance between the tasks you want to do, the tasks you feel you should do, and the tasks you have to do.
- Establish a daily routine and be determine to get into the habit of doing the tasks. Every crossing out of task upon completion, should motivates you to get to the next.
Prioritize the items on your “to do” list according to importance and do the most important tasks first.
Don't procrastinate! Do not leave tasks for the last minute. It's the least effective way of getting things done.
3. Scheduling
Now that you have your prioritized list of everything you need and want to do, you should look at your schedule to fit in your day. Don't try to plan out every minute of your day. Your schedule should be flexible and realistic. Leave room for break and socializing.
4. Concentrate
Complete one thing at a time. The amount of time you spend on a task is insignificant, rather you should think about have effectively your time was spent.
3. Relax
Be sure to pamper yourself, avoid the old adage, “all work and no play.”
4. Avoid Unnecessary Clutter
Organize your work space and you will feel organized. By removing clutter you can often feel calm and prepared.
5. Don’t be afraid to say NO
When you are asked to perform a task you aren’t committed to and does not benefit your goals, don’t waste your time, say "NO" to the request.
6. Slow Down!
- Find a time during the weekend to take off your watch, go slow.
- Choose a weekend to sleep late or just relax!
- Go to a beach and enjoy the breeze.
- Meet up with family or friends for dinner and enjoy the conversation.
- Have a nice wine.
- Make time for spiritual renewal. Talk to God.
Life is Meaningful When You Set Goals and Work Towards Achieving Them.
