I would like to thank Heather for asking me to be her Guest Blogger today. She had this great contest and it sounds like clutter was at the top of your problem areas of your home. She also mentioned that "Time Management" was an issue. Hope this helps! Thanks.

Clutter can make you late! "What, do you mean by that?" you may say. But clutter and time management can go hand in hand as a problem. "Where are my keys? I know I just laid them here, maybe they are under this stack of mail." "I just need to grab that report for the meeting, but where is it?" "Mom, where did my red jacket go? I'm going to be late for school!"Do any of these sound like your house?

When you have extra clutter sitting around choking up the "clean, clear, calm" space then you also have clutter sitting in your head...choking up your "clean, clear and calm" space of your brain. When you do not have a clear brain to think with, you are going to have too many thoughts...too many things jumbled in your head and lose track not only of what needs to be done, but in what time frame it needs to be done in.

Simply put, Too much stuff in your house + Too much stuff in your head = Being Late.Being late out the door, being late to pick up the kids, being late with reports due, being late paying bills, being late to the meeting - sound familiar?

So what do you do? Clearing out the clutter from your home will result in clearing out the clutter from your head which will in turn help you to focus and plan your day more productively which will then lead to being on time.Sounds simple doesn't it....NOT!

How Do I Clear out the Clutter?

Make 4 signs:

1. Keep
2. Donate
3. Move
4. Toss

Get white trash bags for your donate and black for trash (so you don't mix them out when you take them out of your house. I prefer clear plastic storage bins for long term storage. Give yourself 2 hours of time if you are able. Do not think you will get an entire room done, just start out with a smaller goal.

Pick up each item, look at it fast and think:

1. Do I use this?
2. Do I need this?
3. Do I like this?
4. What is the worse thing that can happen if I don't have this?

Don't spend more than about 5-10 sec. on each item, otherwise memories start popping in and you "personalize" that item. You want to keep it "depersonalized", otherwise it can be too hard to get rid of.

This is just one aspect of being organized and next week, Sandy will share a great time management tip and will pull everything together.

Sandy is a Professional Organizer, blogger, mom, and a wealth of information. You can read more of her tips at Organize with Sandy. Be sure to check back here so you do not miss her Time Management tips. Heather

Labels: Guest writer, organization, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Thursday, April 02, 2009