Need an incentive to finally get organized? How about money? Of course getting organized will make you more productive at work or help you enjoy your life more at home but these days it’s all about “the Benjamins.” So because your time is money, here are just 10 simple ways you can make and save your money as you get out from under your clutter.

1. Sell your good quality, “gently” used and unwanted stuff. You can do this online such as on ebay, Amazon, Etsy, Craigslist or if you prefer a more personal approach, take it to a local consignment shop or hold a garage or yard sale.
2. Donate your stuff and get a tax deduction. Want to know how much your donated stuff is really worth? Check out Itsdeductible.com
3. Open your mail. You’ll be amazed when you find refund checks or other payments you overlooked. By doing so, you’ll avoid late fees or interest charges for unpaid or late bills.
4. Organize your paper piles.  By doing so you’ll probably find some unused gift cards or gift certificates. One client of mine discovered a stock certificate worth $5,000.
5. Organize your closet and find hidden money. It generally hides in places like your coat pockets, purses, between your sofa cushions and in those old pair of jeans you were planning to donate.
6. Organize your pantry and avoid wasting money on duplicate items.  This way you avoid having ten cans of diced tomatoes when you only need two.
7. Organize your kitchen so you can finally cook at home and avoid having to eat out or bring home expensive take-out food.
8. Host a swap party to give away things to friends and get things for free that you otherwise might have purchased.
9. Always ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
10. Unpack that box! The one you’ve taken with you (and probably paid your movers for taking) each time you’ve moved.

Paper. No matter how much we hear about going paperless, it’s still a fact of life that paper in every form whether it be junk mail, supermarket coupons, business cards, magazine clippings, bills or receipts will continue to be part of our lives for the foreseeable future.

There are really only four ways you can manage the inflow of paper:

1. Stop it before it starts
2. Determine if you must act on it
3. Determine if you must or need to hold on to it (or really want to)
4. Toss it

Stopping it before it starts. This is akin to the prevention approach. Depending upon the type of paper you have, you may want to consider some of the following approaches
• Get off mailing lists. Contact the Direct Marketing Association at dmachoice.org
• Stop printing website pages from the Internet. Of if you must, only print those that are associated with a task or action you plan to take.
• Don’t take what you don’t need. Just because they hand it to you doesn’t mean you keep it. If your local supermarket hands you a coupon at the register, unless it’s an item you know you will buy don’t keep it and ask the cashier to dispose of it.
• Be a business card snob. Only take business cards for those people and organizations that you probably (not maybe) would do business with. If someone hands you their card that you know you will never refer to, politely decline by saying, “I know how valuable these are to you, please share it with someone who can benefit from your expertise.” Or a more direct approach, “Thank you for offering but in my effort to go paperless, please save this for someone else.”
• Stop clipping magazine and newspaper articles. Seriously, when was the last time you actually looked in that file and did something with that article? When you clip an article you are actually contracting for your own time. What is your time worth? With everything else you have to do, are you really going to make this recipe? Are you really going to going to invest in a marble countertop? It’s great to keep a single file or box of images that inspire you, but rather than keep every picture related to the hobby you think you plan to do “some day” – use the time instead to focus on ways you can actually do that hobby today!

For all other pieces of paper, you should ask yourself, “Is there a necessary action I need to take with this?” If so, then take the action and dispose of it or file it if you’ve been advised to when you’re done.

If there is no necessary action associated with that piece of paper, then you should be keeping it for one of the following reasons only:
1. You have been advised to by a financial professional. Examples would be your tax return or record of business expenses.
2. It would be difficult to replace such as a passport, birth certificate or deed.
3. It’s a record of where your money comes from and goes to such as an unpaid bill or a recent investment statement.
4. You know you will reference it again and probably more than once such as frequently called numbers, vendor information or mailing labels.
5. It has strong emotional value such as a cherished photograph or sentiment from a loved one AND would be dearly missed if lost.

Whatever is left over, according to to the National Association of Professional Organizers, there is an 80 percent chance you will probably never refer to it again except when you decide it’s time to purge your files.

This is the very definition of paper clutter. You keep it but it serves no purpose for you. If this is the case for you then ask yourself, “If this piece of paper were to disappear, what would it cost me in terms of lost time, money or information?” If the answer is nothing or probably nothing, then it’s time for the shred or recycle bin.

For more practical tips on organizing your life at home or at work, subscribe to Back On Track, the e-guide to organizing living from LET’S MAKE ROOM.

I recently worked with a team of professional organizers to help a woman who was forced to leave her home because of an extreme condition she had called “Hoarding Disorder.” Her home was declared inhabitable because of the amount of clutter she acquired.

According to the proposed revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition, (DSMV-proposed), Hoarding Disorder is a condition marked by a “persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions regardless of their actual value… leading to a large accumulation of possessions that fill up active living areas of the home or workplace so that their intended use is no longer possible.”

She lived in a quiet residential neighborhood just outside of San Francisco. Unbeknownst to her neighbors, every inch of her home was filled, much of it in plastic bags piled to the ceiling.  She couldn’t move from one room to the next without having to climb over literally thousands of possessions, much of it soiled by dirt, animals and mold.

When her house was condemned, she moved in with a friend.  Her family had long given up on trying to help her.  Her friend persuaded her that it was time to deal with her “hoarding”  after watching a show about others like her. It was hard to believe that she needed to be convinced. Its not that it didn’t matter to her that she had lost her home; it was the idea of letting anything go that was so too painful.  When she spotted a broken, plastic souvenir baseball cup, inadvertently thrown away by one of my colleagues, she became so angry she threatened to “fire” us all.  The only thing she bear to remove from her home was herself.

When I’m working with clients who I consider more “situationally” disorganized, as opposed to “chronically” disorganized, that is, people for whom disorganization is more related to existing circumstances, stress or learned behaviors, not an underlying psychological condition, I think about the fine line between them and this woman.

Many of us have an inexplicable attachment to objects, behaviors, ideas, memories and even people that don’t serve us (or no longer serve us) and yet we can’t seem to free ourselves of them. It’s not until the pain of these attachments exceeds the pain of letting them go that we begin to find the readiness to open ourselves up to the possibility of something better.

Despite the pain of losing her home, this woman had an enormously high threshold for the pain caused by her own behaviors. Her attachment to her objects, the memories they evoked, even the parts of herself they represented were more important to her than the possibility of a life filled with meaning rather than things.  It was the things themselves that gave her meaning, or more accurately, she gave them meaning. She could not let go of her possessions because they were the symbols (both real and imagined) of a life she once had and probably lost.

So if you are reading this and thinking, “I’m nothing like this woman,” ask yourself, “What are the things, behaviors, ideas, memories or people in my life that are holding me back?” Are you ready to shed them to make room in your life for something more meaningful, a greater connection to yourself perhaps? If so, consider yourself fortunate. You may want to reflect on  feeling gratitude for having more than you need. It’s unlikely that this woman will ever feel that way.

People often say they can’t get things done because they are too disorganized.

The causes of disorganization can be both personal as well as situational. In either case it requires an ability to make effective decisions.

Even with plenty of space, you can still be disorganized. Why? Because getting organized requires taking action and action requires decision making.  Disorganization is often the result of delayed decision making or deficits in decision making. If you find you have difficulty making decisions it may be because:

1. The task ahead of you is too overwhelming
2. You are afraid that you’ll lose something or accidentally get rid of something you’ll need later
3. You group important and non-important items together
4. You don’t have the time, mental capacity or physical ability to devote to organizing
5. People around you do not support your organizing goals and may even sabotage them intentionally or otherwise
6. You don’t have a system for maintaining your changes once you’ve made them. In other words having a S Y S T E M will Save You Space Time Energy and Money
7. Your space does not efficiently accommodate the stuff you have such as a poorly designed closet or a storage area is inaccessible, broken or filled to capacity
8. You’re afraid of the consequence of your decision
9. You’re not really motivated to decide – that is there’s nothing compelling you enough to take an action
10. Poor health in the moment or on an ongoing basis. This can be temporary such as fatigue or more chronic such as neurological conditions that affect your brain’s ability to distinguish between options.

If you experience these or any other moments of indecisiveness, try one of these ideas to get you unstuck:

1. Give yourself less options: Instead of focusing on all that you have to do, choose the two that get your attention the most and pick one of them. (Flip a coin if you have to.)
2. Ask yourself if making the decision will improve your life in any way and if so, how?
3. Recognize that not everything is important and that some things are more important than others. Imagine you had one hour to leave your home, what would you take with you? What would you leave behind? What do you know you would be able to find again if you had to?
4. Understand and accept your limitations. Most of us are good at some things but not at everything. Not even dentists can fill their own cavities.
5. Take the advice of people who have what you want. Don’t listen to people who discourage you if you suspect they don’t have your best interests at heart or if they have something to gain from your staying stuck.
6. Look for alternatives. If you can’t afford the high-end closet organizing system you dream about, get a design estimate for one anyway, then look for ways you can build or create your own system that will accomplish the same functional goals even if you have to let go of the pretty wood finishes.
7. Imagine the worst. Go ahead, take yourself through the scenario of what you are really afraid of and then ask yourself, “Is it true?” or “Will this really happen?” If you are convinced it will,  then try a different route.
8. Get absolutely clear on what’s in it for you.  What would you stand to gain or lose? Is this really that important to you? If not, then it’s not going to motivate you to take action. Find something that you absolutely care about without question.
9. Do nothing for a while and wait to see if anything changes. Do you feel worse? Are others impacted by your indecision and do their feelings matter to you? Are you stressed by your own inaction? These are the times to ask for help since you know that something has to change but you know you can’t do it alone.
10. Ask yourself what is this costing me in terms of my time, money or my quality of life? Are you spending your time doing what you want to be doing? Are you able to afford what you need and a few extras too without feelings stressed about the consequences? Does your life feel rich with the things that really matter to you be them friends, family, community, a sense of purpose, fun, health or whatever else makes you happy? If not, then it’s time to make a change.

Spring. It’s that time of year when so many of us are inspired to clear out the old to make way for the new.  It’s more than just “Spring Cleaning.” It’s nesting!

Though the term is typically associated with preparing for childbirth, according to the World Dictionary,* nesting is defined as:

“The tendency to arrange one’s immediate surroundings, to create a place where one feels secure, comfortable, or in control”

There are several times in your life when you may find nesting helps express your personality and emotion:

• At the start of a new season
• When you’ve just moved to a new home
• When your (last) child living at home leaves for college
• In the weeks before undergoing a medical procedure
• During a career search
• While recovering from a loss, divorce or breakup
• Preparing for a loved one who is entering (or re-entering) your home

If you are feeling the urge to “nest,” here are a few simple tips to keep in mind that will help you achieve a greater sense of clarity and control.

1. Focus on one area at a time such as your office, cubicle or bedroom and resolve to finish the task even if it takes more than one session.
2. Start by clearing one surface space such as a desktop or even a bed. Having one clear space is a great motivator to keep you going and you’ll need it for the next step.
3. Sort like items into three piles Keep, Toss and Not Sure. The goal here is not to get stuck on the “Not Sures.”
4. Remove the items you no longer want or need by placing them in containers (bags or bins) for donating or recycling.
5. Identify the purpose of each “Not Sure” item and ask yourself, “Does this still serve me or enhance my life in some way?” If not, consider letting it go, donating it or re-purposing it as something you would probably use.
6. Assign a permanent home for the items you know you will keep and contain them with other like items especially if they are small to help you find them again.
7. Clean and/or dust areas as you go. Create a fresh space to resume the activity you do (or plan to do) in that space.
8. Enhance your newly organized space with something fresh or inspirational such as a vase of flowers, a piece of art work or a photograph you love to bring new life into the space.

When you’re done, go out and enjoy the beauty of Spring!

When you begin an organizing project, regardless of whether it’s your closet, garage, kitchen or another room in your home, it’s likely you will come across something that you can’t decide about letting go or keeping. Choosing not to decide or “deferred decision-making” is one of the leading causes of household clutter.

So how do you know what to keep (or toss) if you’re not sure what it’s worth to you?

Here’s an easy guide to help you make a decision you can live with.

Start by placing the object you are trying to decide about in front of you then ask yourself each of the five questions below, in the order they appear:

1. Do I love it? This means the item gives you a great deal of pleasure, you associate it with a happy memory or you enjoy having it in your life now.  If not, ask yourself:
2. Have I used this item recently or do I expect to use it again soon in its current condition? Not everything you own, you’ll love but some things are worth keeping because they still serve you in some way. If you don’t love it, it needs repairing and you haven’t used it recently, ask yourself:
3. Would keeping this item add value to my day-to-day life now? Perhaps this is an item you know you’ll need at a certain time of year or for a particular event or purpose such as for travel or for the Holidays.  If you can’t think of a way the item adds value to your life now, ask yourself:
4. If I didn’t have this, would I choose to replace it? If yes, keep it. Otherwise, ask yourself:
5. Could someone else benefit from this item in its current condition? If you answer yes, then it’s time for the item to find new life somewhere else.  Consider donating or if it’s worth your time, sell it. If not, then recycle it or dispose of it safely.

Would you like to receive other useful organizing tips? Subscribe to Back On Track, the monthly eguide from  LET’S MAKE ROOM

I was dropping off boxes of items that are typically tough to recycle at my favorite recycling center, Universal Waste of Oakland, CA. Usually this is a stop, drop and go experience for me but today for some reason I decided to look around their “sale” area.  What I found inspired me to write this. I feel fortunate to live in a city that has a resource like Universal Waste that gives people and businesses an alternative to disposing this stuff in a landfill.

1. The Internet and specifically Google: Love it. I can’t imagine life without it. The other day I needed to explain something to someone who only spoke Spanish. I used an English- to-Spanish translator tool I found online and bingo, communication received and understood. ¿Qué más se puede decir?
2. Obsolete hardware, especially gaming devices, old computer monitors and cables: Hate it. I just came back from a local electronic waste-recycling warehouse that was filled with every kind of hardware imaginable. The waste produced by this stuff is overwhelming. The cell phone manufacturers are the worst. Every time they upgrade their phones, you need to buy a new charger cable.
3. Smart Phone: Love it. Here are two random reasons why:
Reason 1: I’m at the bank to make a deposit, realize I forgot to make a copy of a check, take a picture of it using Evernote and print it when I get home for my records.
Reason 2: Was shopping at my local grocery store when I see a type of olive oil I’m not familiar with. I “Google it,” read what it says about it and decide whether or not to buy it. I did and it was great!
4. People with smart phones: Hate them: Tried to cross a street yesterday and couldn’t get by because there were three people standing on the curb all looking at their smart phones instead of looking where they were going. Dumb.
5. Access to Technology: Love it and hate it. While a Twitter feed can ignite a people’s revolution, it’s created a bigger gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’ I don’t see a lot of working poor walking around with ipads or ipods.  When they do need access to a computer, they generally can only get one at a local library, assuming budget cuts have not shut it down.

What are 5 reasons why you LOVE/HATE technology?

I’d like to tag Cheryl over at the Breakfast Blogging Club since she gave me this idea, as well as Quinn’s blog, These New Boots, Margaret’s New Leaf & Co. Blog and Kristine’s Entrepreneurial Mindset

By the way, if you’ve been tagged, then write a post with your list of 5 reasons why you LOVE/HATE technology. As a courtesy, link back to the person who tagged you, (in this case, me) and then tag 5 more people you’d like to see answer this question.  Till next time…

How many times have you walked past the piles of clutter in your home or office and thought “I’m going to get that organized….some day.”

Embarking on a large organizing project can feel overwhelming and for good reason. It is.  Staying organized is easier than getting organized. Why? Because for most of us just looking at a huge pile of mess makes us want to close the door and pretend it’s not there.

A few people can play the pretend-game for a long time. Eventually though there will be a consequence; finance charges from a bill you can’t find, time spent looking for a vital document at a moment when you don’t have the time to spare (say the night before your income taxes are due) or sometimes worse things if you let it go too long.

So if you’ve finally made up your mind to organize that pile of papers and other junk on your desk or realized you can’t go another minute with the clutter creeping upstairs from your basement or out of your closets and into your living room, don’t just dive in blindly. If you do, within a short time you’ll want to give up and you’ll be back to square one.

Instead take a little time to plan.  With the right conditions you can be successful. What are the right conditions? As a professional organizer, I believe they include Support from others, adequate Time to accomplish your goals, a willingness to take Action, an incentive or Reward to keep you motivated and the Tools to help you get the job done efficiently.  If you forget them, just remember the word START.

Support
Organizing a large project can be lonely, tedious and overwhelming.  Start by setting a small, manageable goal and ask a supportive friend or family member to help you. You can do this in one of two ways. The first way is to ask them to be your “accountability coach” by helping you stay on track. The second is to engage their help as a “clutter-buddy.” The best candidates will have a knack for organizing and will not be judgmental or critical.   Before working together, tell them what you need (“I need support to help me meet my organizing goals”  and what you don’t need (I would like your advice about what to keep, what not to and why, but I prefer to make this decision myself.” Finally, once you’re work is done, acknowledge and thank them for their help. Take them out for a great meal or offer to return the favor.

Not surprisingly most of us can organize someone else’s things better than our own. If your home or office have become so cluttered that you are ashamed or embarrassed, consider talking about it to a counselor,  professional organizer or join an online support group such as “Messies Anonymous”

If you are a parent with young children, ask your spouse or a family friend to support you by taking the kids for the day so you can focus on organizing.

Time
You don’t need money to get organized but you do need time. Consider dedicating some time each week to your goal. For large tasks such as organizing your garage or closets, you’ll get a jump start if you set aside a few half day sessions at first. Then taper down once you have control of your space.

If you can’t imagine squeezing one more thing into your hectic schedule, consider the alternatives and what your disorganization is costing you in terms of lost time,  money or joy in your life.

You may also wish to consider using a couple of vacation days productively. Better to come home from a real vacation with your home or office in order than to have to face chaos the minute you walk back in the door.

Action
Wouldn’t it be nice to wiggle our noses and have all the clutter be gone like Samantha Stevens, the young witch from the movie and TV show Bewitched? Alas,  just like starting an exercise program,  you’ll find getting organized is both a physical as well as mental process that take effort. The good news is by taking action your own momentum will increase.  Physics has proved this. “A body in motion tends to stay in motion,” said the English physicist, Isaac Newton.

One important note: Don’t forget to take care of yourself while you’re organizing. Keep some water nearby and munch on healthy snacks or listen to music to keep your energy up. If you have limited mobility, consider asking a friend or professional organizer to help you. Organizing can be good exercise too so if you’ve been sedentary, getting organized can get you moving again.

Reward
Before you even begin, think about what will be different and how you will feel once you have everything just the way you want it. Ask yourself, “why do I want to get organized in the first place?” To entertain more?  To feel in control of your life? To gain a room of your own to pursue a new hobby or an old interest? Yes, your newly organized and clean space will feel like a reward in itself but don’t stop there.  Imagine what it will mean to you.

Every one of my clients has discovered a side of themselves they didn’t know they had before they got rid of their clutter. Getting organized is not only about clearing the physical space around you, it’s about opening up the space in your mind for other ideas and unrealized needs to emerge.

Tools
Finally, make sure you have what you need to sort, move or dispose of your stuff.  There are certain tools that are indispensable when it comes to starting a large organizing project. I recommend the following “tools.”

* Trash receptacle, a large one, preferably one on wheels for big jobs such as your garage.
* Heavy duty trash can liners that fit the receptacle
* Cardboard boxes, collapsible storage cubes or paper shopping bags for sorting – each one labeled for things you plan to keep, donate, shred, repair, recycle and one more for things that go elsewhere
* A few basic office supplies such as envelopes and file folders
*Permanent markers for labeling
* A rag or dust cloth for wiping off sticky residue or dust. (Note: Consider hiring a professional cleaner for the nitty-gritty stuff when you’re done.)

Once you’re done, be sure to regularly maintain your changes because clutter has a way of creeping back.  That’s because organizing is not a destination, it’s a practice.  Practice and before long you’ll not only be more organized, you’ll be more of who you are and you may even discover who you were meant to be.

One of the most common causes of paper clutter is simply not knowing what to keep and what can safely be tossed. Inevitably, it’s common to keep much more than we need, “just in case.”

To hold on to something when you don’t know if you will need it or not, is like carrying an umbrella with you every day “just in case” it rains.

“Better safe than sorry, ” we say to ourselves and end up cluttering our surroundings, drawers or surfaces with piles of paper. Then, when we do need that important document, we end scrambling and making ourselves crazy, “I know it’s here somewhere!” Keeping more than we need actually ends up costing us more, both in time and money.

A common example I see as a professional organizer is receipts.

If you buy an item and pay cash, you only need to keep the receipt as proof-of-purchase based on the store’s return/exchange policy – generally not more than 30 days and typically less.  If you pay by credit card, the same applies and your credit card statement will serve as your proof-of-purchase.

If you make it a habit of checking your purchases (receipts) against your credit card statement, you shouldn’t have to wait more than 30 days to view it as the majority of credit card (and debit) purchases are posted within a few days or less.  After 30 days, you can recycle these receipts as well.

The only exception to the 30-day system is if you bought the item with cash for a business expense (not for personal use) in which case you can record it in whatever bookkeeping system you use (ask the advice of your bookkeeper or tax adviser) or follow your organization’s policies for submitting business-related cash expenses you expect to be reimbursed for. Hold on to it until you are reimbursed by your organization then recycle or shred it if it contains personal identifying data such as a Social Security Number or account number.

In summary, if you don’t own a business or submit receipts for reimbursement, there really is no reason for you to keep cash or credit card receipts past 30 days.

For those who are self-employed, simply file the cash receipt with your other business-related expenses, by month.  I use a letter size accordion file such as this one from The Container Store.  Until you are ready to toss them, you can keep them in your wallet or in a small container or desktop file with the most recent on top. Just remember to go through them every month or so.

Recycle them once their purchase date exceeds 30 days (same goes for ATM receipts too). One final note, since you paid cash they shouldn’t contain account numbers or identifying information but if they do, then shred them.

Interested in more time- and money-saving organizing tips? Subscribe to Back On Track, the e-guide to organized living from LET’S MAKE ROOM