Do you think any dust has accumulated under piles of clutter?  Is it possible that there is dirt somewhere in the midst of piles of stuff that need to given away.  Would you find any cobwebs around those places that haven’t been sorted lately?

Let’s just agree that the answer is ‘Yes.’

A simple way to keep the de-cluttering process moving and to keep yourself motivated while you are getting organized is to clean the spaces where you are working just as soon as you take the ‘stuff’ out. 

For example, let’s say that you decided to start with one bookshelf. The best way to proceed is to remove everything from that bookshelf including books, VHS tapes, notebooks, knick-knacks, plants, pictures, piles of papers, whatever is there.

Once you have taken everything off the shelf, take a wipe, a damp cloth, or some other cleaning rag and clean off or out the whole area. Really wipe it down (and all you have to do is take one look at the rag and you’ll know it’s a good thing you’re doing this). I’ve worked with people who were horrified when they started doing this because we needed rag after rag – and it’s why I always taken a giant container of wipes whenever I do a productivity day in someone’s office. I know we may need all 75 wipes!

The reason this is one of the easiest ways to decrease clutter and decrease stress is this:  Just seeing an empty and clean shelf, drawer, file, or wherever you are working, makes you more deliberate about what you choose to put back.  There’s something sacred about a place that is not just clutter-free but is also CLEAN. 

Give it a try and see what a difference it makes. Folks, I’m telling you it’s the little things sometimes that make a big difference!

And you are invited to learn more from the full-color Get a Plan! Guide(R) to Ridding Your Workspace of Clutter to REALLY get going on decluttering.  This special Get a Plan! Guide(R) will give you (and others with whom you work) suggestions and motivation to start de-cluttering your workspace (and even your home).

Delegating is an essential part of being productive both at home and at work. There are certainly tasks that I am sure you have done where you asked yourself “did I earn a master’s degree to qualify me to stuff these envelopes?” Other times, you wonder, “Hmmm….why am I doing this when a machine can do this just as well?” And still other times, you wish later (rather than sooner) that you had delegated.

Here are a few ideas to consider as you think about becoming a better delegator.

1. Know the definition of delegation. In general, delegating means asking for help with a task or larger project (and receiving a commitment to do what is asked). There are more involved definitions, but this is enough to get us started. Be very clear that delegating is NOT dumping and that if you are NOT an effective delegator, you cheat yourself, your company, and those with whom you work (plus your family if you still have one!)

2. Be clear on why you need to delegate. If you possess more time than you need AND all the knowledge in the world AND every skill that is imaginable AND interests and passions so diverse that it’s hard to fathom, you don’t need to consider delegation. For the rest of us…we do.

3. Write down the crises that have occurred because you did not delegate. This should not take long, but I’ll wait for you. Unfortunately, this is a case where recognizing what happens when we DO NOT delegate can encourage us to start being better delegators. It might be part of why you found this article.

4. Generate a list of people to whom you can delegate. Don’t forget teenage neighbors, anyone who needs to earn extra money, people who are “looking for something to do,” and family members. If you will just put on your thinking cap, I’m sure you will come up with quite a list. At this time in our economy, you can find incredibly talented people who will be thrilled to do some work for and with you.

5. Have a method for tracking delegated tasks. It’s easy to lose faith in delegation if it is causing you more stress than ever. That stress can be at least partially relieved if you have a way to track what it is you have delegated. You can:

• keep a list,

• write dates for checking back in your planner,

• set up a “help desk” system on your server,

• create a spread sheet…

 or a myriad of other possibilities. There are both simple and complex ways. Try something and if the method doesn’t work, try something else. And hey, you could even delegate the responsibility of finding a tracking method that will work for you.

Truly, productivity in business (and in our other endeavors) requires that we become effective and efficient delegators. See if you can implement are refine one of the ideas discussed in this article to enhance your overall productivity – by delegating. I believe you can!

1.  Define what a productive environment is like for you. There is not one and only one definition. It depends on your style, your work, your space, and more.

2.  Study the ergonomics of your work space. Especially think about getting a better keyboard – one with a built-in wrist pad.

3.  Take a look at your lighting. If you don’t have a window, consider light bulbs that simulate outdoor light.

4.  Consider sound. One of my assistants doesn’t even have the speakers plugged in on her computer. Music is entertainment for her, and is therefore a distraction.

5.  Assess the quality of furniture and other accoutrements. If your file drawer is always sticking, it has an impact on your productivity.

6.  Get the supplies you need, but don’t store anything that you don’t use EVERY DAY on the top of your desk.

7.  Use the ABCD concept for spaces around your desk. Think of your desk and associated areas as a target. You sit in the bull’s eye, or “A” area, and anything you can reach without moving your chair is also in the “A” area. I like to call this “prime real estate.” Ask yourself if you use the items in this space EVERY day. (Do you really use the phone book every day?) “B” space is for every other day, “C” is weekly, and “D” space is materials that you must maintain but that you do NOT deal with very often.

8.  Eliminate rather than add. You don’t need MORE stuff, you need less. You probably try to convince your colleagues of this fact, too.

9.  Take it all away and put it all back at least once/year. That means everything in every drawer and stuffed into any desk cubby – remove it and then mindfully replace it. You will only put about 50-60% of it back and realize the rest either belongs somewhere else or doesn’t belong anywhere and can go in the trash or recycling bin.

10.  Hire someone for a couple of hours or more (a professional organizer). For more information about professional organizers in your area, just check with The National Association of Professional Organizers.

Take the time and energy to make sure that your desk and workspace are places where you can work productively. It’s worth the effort

In today’s world, people think that the height of productivity is responding instantly (or as close to instantly as possible). In fact, in many cases, this lessens your productivity. In business, we can’t afford to be less productive. Here are tips for downshifting your ability to be responsive so you can upshift your productivity.

When you see that a magazine or a website has ‘before and after’ pictures, don’t you always want to check that out first?  We all love to see what someone looked like ‘before’ and what that person looks like ‘after.’ 

What about the sheer number of shows on TV that show what a house, room, garage, car, or building looked like ‘before’ and what it looks like ‘after’?  This is a pretty good indication that we are fascinated with change and we love to see the difference.  At the end of such shows, the producer never just displays the ‘new and improved’ version, but always contrasts it with the ‘old and not-so-great’ version.  Even though you got to see that at the beginning, your mind doesn’t remember how bad it actually was, so you can’t appreciate the phenomenal difference in what was accomplished – until you get to compare the old and new versions, side by side.

When you are cleaning, clearing, and decluttering, you want to take before and after pictures.  Here’s why:

1. You want proof for yourself of what you’ve done.

2. You want a reminder of why you never want to go ‘back’ to the cluttered mess you are starting with. 

3. You may be able to use the pictures as documentation for expenditures you are making to get yourself organized, thus being able to write off the expenses (and showing how the money was spent and WHY!)

It’s really quite remarkable when you view the changes you make when you start tossing, sorting, and organizing.  Your  brain doesn’t keep the true image of how bad an area was – but a digital picture will.  Don’t deprive yourself of the satisfaction of seeing the growth you’ve made. 

Note:  You don’t have to show your pictures to anyone – but you want to have them for yourself.  And hey, maybe you want to post them on your Facebook page for all to see and appreciate!

If you are like most teachers, you may have some clutter lurking in your classroom – and let’s start with your desk.

Look at that big drawer in the lower right- or left-hand side of your desk – the one where files are supposed to go.  To use that drawer for its intended purpose, you will have to take out the extra pair of shoes, the box of energy bars, the toys you’ve taken from students, the extra bottled water, the wire in-basket that never was big enough, etc.   Another possibility for ‘clutter’ is the drawer that could be called the “history of makeup” area.  Whatever might be hiding in this drawer – toss it!  Do you ever really have time to apply makeup during the school day anyway? Get everything out of the drawer so it’s free and clear to become a place to access easily and quickly for your increased productivity.

Note:  If the desk you inherited from the previous teacher is broken, the drawers don’t open or are in some way non-functional, you should walk right down to the custodian’s office and ask for some immediate assistance. This is not a time when you should just “make do.” You are a professional educator and you deserve a functional desk.

One of my good friends, who is a teacher, says that we all need to have the “Disneyland Mentality.”   That is, no one would think of throwing garbage on the ground at Disneyland because there isn’t any trash already on the ground. They have lots of workers on the lookout for the least bit of garbage and no area is left unkempt at any time.  So, what does this mean for your classroom?  Hmmmmm…..

Look around your classroom, office, or home (wherever you are reading this).

• Do you see anything that is not in its designated space?

• Do you see some items that do not even have a designated space?

• Are areas of your desk, side table, floor, or shelves piled (however neatly) with paper, folders, containers, and random items?

• Is there anything within range of your view that gives you an annoying sense of “gosh, that needs to be done,” or a troubling sense of “yikes…I wonder if I should be doing that instead of what I’m doing now?” or the like? 

If these questions make you want to cry or throw your hands up in despair, have hope! Yes, you have some clutter, and yes, it’s time to make a move to rid yourself of it. Even the smallest change can give you a new sense of how your world can change for the better.

Put in place a “Disneyland Mentality.” Don’t allow yourself, your family, or your students to make a mess of your space. Organization should be the constant in your classroom.  Here are some steps you can take immediately to clear the clutter and conquer its attendant chaos.

1. Have a serious throwaway session! Don’t bother trying to organize things you shouldn’t be keeping in the first place. As Barbara Hemphill comments, “If you do not know an item to be useful, believe it to be beautiful, or love it for personal reasons, it’s time to get rid of it.”  

2. Get in the habit of throwing more pieces of paper out than you let come in to your possession every day (and that takes some doing, believe me!)  

3. Do the same for all the incoming items…physical, digital, and mental. For example, have a serious deleting session with your email. Then, get in the habit of getting rid of a higher number of emails every day than you have new ones coming in. Once you have reached the point of 0 (yes, zero) emails left in your in-box at the end of each day, you will be more likely to maintain this state.

Imagine your students grading you on your room’s “clutter factor.” Ouch. Wouldn’t you like to get an “A” this nine weeks in clutter reduction? For some teachers, old habits die hard, but for others, once they learn to get and stay clutter-free, they see the difference and feel the freedom.

How can you stay in the present (mentally) – or get to the present? Here are 5 strategies:

1. Breathe. The idea is that you breathe in. Then you breathe out. This helps you to get centered – and somewhere I read that the space between breathing in and breathing out – that’s the present. So actually, right now, breathe. In. Out. In. Out. It’s amazing that we need to be reminded.

2. Stand up straight or sit up straight (if you are physically able to do so). Just pull your head up, straighten your spine, pull in your stomach, and of course, breathe. It’s interesting how making sure we are doing all of these behaviors just pulls us to the present. Apparently there is no chance of multi-minding when we are focused – just for a moment – on standing up straight, pulling our head up and our stomachs in – and, oh, yeah…breathing. Those four tasks take all our concentration and are sometimes enough to break us out of whatever past tense, future tense, or too tense thinking we were in just before.

3. Say, “One thing, right now.” It’s a calming phrase. It helps you to get centered again. “One thing, right now.” “One thing, right now.” “One thing, right now.” Say it over and over as needed. Let people around you know that if/when you get into a “state,” they might help you by saying, “One thing, right now.”

4. If you have an object that helps you focus on the present – then use that. It might be something physical, it might be a picture, it might be a quote. It’s whatever will calm your mind enough to focus on now – just now.

5. Make marmalade. This recommendation comes from D.H. Lawrence’s suggestion: “I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.” The idea, of course, is to take up an activity where you need to be focused. Making marmalade, doing repair, engaging in some kind of intricate work….all of these activities require your focus and that you be present. Figure out what your marmalade activity is.

I promised that these were simple – and they are. Yet, we often don’t apply simple solutions. Give one or more of these a try when you need to bring yourself back to NOW – and see if you aren’t more focused and much more peaceful, too.

Human beings love to achieve…to set goals and to reach those goals. It’s motivating. Use that to your advantage when you are cleaning, clearing, decluttering – and of course, destressing.

Make a VOW to rid yourself of a certain amount, number, or percentage of your ‘stuff,’ whether your stuff is books, papers, files, cans, emails, stuffed animals, or anything else that is cluttering up your mental or physical space.

VOW is an acronym for:

• Visualize

• Orally Commit

• Work through the obstacles

Let’s explore this acronym…

You may be one of the people reading this post who has a wall (or several walls) of books in your home or office. You know perfectly well that it’s time to move some of them out – whether it’s to make room for more books, to make room for other items, or just to create space, which is a SUPERB reason.

You could VOW to get rid of 2 books (a goal involving a number) everyday for 100 days.

• First, you’d Visualize what it would look like to get rid of 200 books.

• Then, you’d Orally commit to doing so. You could tell a colleague, your students, someone in your family, or your coach. You need to say it out loud so you hear yourself making the commitment. This helps to get the idea and the commitment into your brain.

• Then, you Work through the obstacles. Obstacles might be where you’d find the time to get rid of two everyday; the fear that as soon as you get rid of a book, you’d wish you had it; the worry that stuff will fall down if you start taking out books; and so forth. Since only smart people read these articles, I’ll bet once you name these obstacles, you can work through them. If not, let someone help you. Humans also love to help others.

Another VOW (involving a percentage) that you might make could involve your acknowledgement of the research that indicates that 80-90% of what is in the average professional’s file cabinet will never be used again…so you could VOW to recycle or shred at least 50% of what is in your file cabinet.

An example of a VOW involving an amount could be determining that as you declutter (and then destress about your laundry room/pantry) is that you will fill two average-size grocery bags with food you’ll never eat, containers that you don’t need, or whatever else can be removed from that space.

Human beings love measurable goals. Use that proclivity to your advantage by VOWing to get rid of a particular number, amount, or percentage of something as you reduce your clutter and the experience the concomitant reduction in your stress.

And you are invited to access the full-color Get a Plan! Guide(R) to Ridding Your Workspace of Clutter to REALLY get going on decluttering.  This special Get a Plan! Guide(R) will give you (and others with whom you work) suggestions and motivation to start de-cluttering your workspace (and even your home).

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bryan

In life, “A door must either be shut or open.” (Anonymous); I think that means we need to determine which doors we want to shut and which ones we want to open. For the purposes of this article, let us consider those doors you want to deliberately keep open instead of letting them just slam shut (or gradually close).

Maybe you want to decide to keep the doors open to certain experiences, people, things, behaviors, attitudes, practices, strengths, and more. If so, I recommend that you get a door jamb or a prop of some kind to make SURE that the door stays open. It makes sense that your door jamb is actually a plan you need to put into place (no matter how rudimentary at this point) for how you are going to keep particular doors open. Let’s think about some examples:

• Do you need to set up date night with your honey? Will that happen magically or do you need to establish a plan to make that happen?

• Do you need to get a walking partner to keep you on track with your walking plan? Who should you call? And how about calling him/her today?

• Do you need to hire someone to clean your house so that you can continue to enjoy a productive environment, free of detritus? Might there be people who would be happy to fill this role for you?

• Do you need to enroll in a class to increase your skills in one or more areas so you can stay on the cutting edge? Where might you take such classes? Is there a website you can access – today – to learn more?

• Do you need to call a friend to set up time for lunch? If you want to keep up your relationships, this is one way to do so and it takes deliberate actions on your part. Don’t trust this to chance.

• Do you need to join a group that gives you a weekly boost of instruction, direction, and energy? Then get out there and do so!

“It is your life – and it is your decisions that help to make your life what it is. Make a plan that involves these decisions. Surely you don’t want your decision muscles to get flabby“. H.W. Andrews encourages us by saying,

Not all of your decisions will be correct. None of us is perfect. But if you get into the habit of making decisions, experience will develop your judgment to a point where more and more of your decisions will be right. After all, it is better to be right 51 percent of the time and get something done, than it is to get nothing done because you fear to reach a decision.

Decide to keep the doors wide open to what you want in your life. Then make a plan so your decisions become a reality.

It is not just the big things that need to be eliminated in order to reduce stress. You may need to get rid of those extra Cool Whip tubs that fall out of your cabinet every time you open the drawer. You will be surprised by what is on this list. How about starting to eliminate your stress by getting rid of:

1. A ratty planner. Go out and buy one that you love – right now!

2. Ugly decorations for any holiday. Less is more.

3. Irritating sounds (try noise canceling headphones – the technology is amazing).

4. Unnecessarily long meetings (be sure to announce the time you’ll be leaving at the beginning of the meeting).

5. Paying bills by writing checks (and addressing envelopes and putting stamps on). On-line banking and bill paying is fast, easy and secure.

6. Waiting in line at the post office to buy stamps. Please. You have better things to do.

7. Old prescription eyeglasses. The glasses you have from 3, 4, 5+ prescriptions ago…have got to go (and can be dropped off at your eye doctor’s or the Lion’s Club to be given someone who needs them).

8. Returning low-dollar items. If you bought it at the dollar store and it’s defective, fagetaboutit! Depending on your income bracket, you might choose never to return anything….just give it away.

9. Gadgets that don’t work (can openers, VCRs, etc.). All they do is bug you. Get rid of them!

10. Gadgets that you never use (Ron Popeil and other info-mercial kings have single-handedly contributed to the need for this listing!).

11. Plastic tubs in your kitchen (you have Rubbermaid, Tupperware, and so forth a-plenty…so why do you need 35 Cool Whip tubs?).

12. Anything past its expiration date (medicine, spices, contact solutions, canned goods, mayonnaise, etc.).

13. Habits that you obsess over.

14. Emails. Not all email….but if you have hundreds or thousands of emails in your inbox, sent items, deleted items, or some other “items” folder….you are not being peacefully, predictably productive. Start eliminating.

15. Phone books. What in the world do you need phone books for? MAYBE keep one but, for heaven’s sake. Get rid of all the others. They are big and cumbersome and just in the way.

If you can get rid of one of these today, you are making progress. Start working toward eliminating at least one each week for the next 15 weeks and you will much less stress in just four months from now. Hooray for you!!

Please comment on what you want to eliminate – and the difference it makes for you!!  We’re interested