by Katherine Macey
Somehow during fall and winter, you collected a few more items than you needed. Maybe it’s a primordial urge to hibernate and bring things in for comfort (can that really be necessary in Southern California?), or maybe we spend more time at home during the winter months so more things accumulate. But chances are, whatever you collected, you have things that you could let go of. It’s time for a good spring cleaning, and a good place to start is your closet.
Maybe you have winter clothes that you didn’t get around to wearing this winter. Let them go. Bring out your spring and summer clothes and decorations. Let go of anything that looks tired or you know you won’t use this year. Let spring time be that time for renewal. Allow those things that you won’t use to be returned to the general flow of things in the world. You do not need to be their keeper. Let someone else use them. Donate to a thrift store or a homeless shelter.
Give yourself more space to move, breathe and enjoy life.
I recently went through the sweaters in my drawer. Since I live in Los Angeles, I really don’t need them all that much, but I hadn’t cleared them out in a few years and since I’d been given some as gifts recently, the drawer was getting decidedly difficult to both put the sweaters away and close easily. Time to reduce the frustration and decide which sweaters to let go of. Now it’s easy to put my sweaters away and close the drawer.
Where do you get frustrated by small things? What could you do to change that small frustration?
by Katherine Macey
Have you ever wondered when you realized that taking care of the environment is a good idea? Maybe it was on a family camping trip. Maybe it was watching a nature documentary. Maybe it was at school when they taught you about recycling. At some point, taking care of the environment went from your subconscious to your conscious.
Now you may take little conscious action to take care of the environment, or you may take a lot of conscious action. You may only do what you are forced to do, like not bringing home your groceries in plastic bags anymore because your local grocery store has been mandated not to use plastic bags. You be at the other extreme, making every living decision weighted towards the best environmental outcome. But you are probably somewhere in between. And during National Green Week, thousands of school students will learn a little more about taking care of the environment and how to live more sustainably.
National Green Week (link: http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/greenweek.html) actually runs from Feb 2 through April 25. Schools around the country choose a week within that time frame and choose a project to focus on during the week. Projects fall under one of six themes: green energy, waste reduction, green thumb, I ride green, green building or sustainable water.
So what does this have to do with business? Well, if school kids can take small steps to being more sustainable in their lives, we can find somewhere to be more sustainable in our businesses.
Even though change can be instituted in large, radical giant steps, change can also be effectively implemented in small, continuous changes. Small changes are often easier to incorporate into your daily routine.
This year our big change goal is to purchase a car with an awesome gas mileage, perhaps even an electric car – we are still researching the options.
Our small change goal is to stop collecting business cards, using our smart phone apps on the spot to collect contact information.
We would love to hear your change goals. Drop us an email, or leave a comment on our facebook page.
![A quick word on Holiday Decorating]()
by Katherine Macey
Decorating for the holidays can take up a huge amount of time, money, energy, everything! Let’s get down to brass tacks so you can make it manageable, and enjoy your holiday season more.
Do what you have time for
Plan a time to put up your holiday decorations and a time to take them down. A friend of mine got out all of her Halloween decorations 3 weeks beforehand. They’ve been taking up her dining room table for more than a week now, and she’s super busy this week. Guess whether or not she’s going to get her table back this week?
If you have to decorate and you don’t have much time, be judicious about the items you put out. Choose only the ones you really love (and consider giving away the rest). Consider focusing on only a few areas of your house. For example Halloween, you might only decorate your front porch for trick-o-treater’s, no one is going to see your bathroom!
Manage the number of decorations you have
If you’re building up your decorations, it’s fun to add one or two new pieces each year. Maybe you already have plenty of decorations, but can’t resist buying just one more cute thing to put up. In that case, consider the old refrain, “Out with the old, in with the new.” That’s right, live by the following rule: let go of one thing, and bring one thing in. If you really have too many decorations, make this rule: let go of five, and bring one in!
Storing decorations
If you have no room to store holiday decorations, the solution is easy – give them away, recycle them, donate them, or sell them. If you have room to store decorations, choose clear bins to store them. You’ll be able to see the contents and keep the dust out. Put all the decorations that go in each room together. That way it’ll be faster to put them up the next year. Clearly label the outside of the bins. If you have a separate bin (or bins) for each holiday, store them in a relatively inaccessible place. After all, each holiday only comes around once a year. If you have all your decorations in one bin, keep the bin handier because you’ll be accessing it more often.
by Katherine Macey
Are you packing your ghosts and discarding your jack-o’-lantern? Then you know that Thanksgiving is right around the corner, followed by the “busy season” as people prepare for Christmas, Hanukkah, and other solstice-time celebrations. The holidays are a time of joy and celebration, but all too often, stress and sadness come with the season. Family members and friends who have passed away are remembered, and the hubbub of parties, events, and vacation days can strain anyone’s schedule. Greeting cards, family gatherings, decorating, and gift giving all take a bit of work. But a pinch of planning and a dash of restraint can lift your eyes and your heart to see the beauty of the season.
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![A quick word on Holiday Decorating]()
by Katherine Macey
Many people who struggle with paper management commit three deadly sins:
- They fail to file (or scan and shred) the paperwork they have completed any actions on, but need to keep for future reference
- They fail to prioritize and take action on their action items
- The keep items they do not need mixed in with their other paperwork
The result – they are drowning in paperwork.
This focuses on solving just one of the deadly sins – what to do with your paper action items.
As with any organizing, there is not just one way to deal with your action items. In any case, the aim of any system to deal with your action items should be simple to implement and maintain. It should capture your action items and ensure they can be processed in a timely manner.
Here are five methods for taking care of your action items.
- GTD – getting things done, defined by David Allen
- 4 quadrants – from Stephen Covey
- Tickler system
- Hotel system designed by Dolores Kaytes
- Simple priority system
Let’s look at each in turn.
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![A quick word on Holiday Decorating]()
by Katherine Macey
This is a scary question. Is your financial disorganization costing you? Or worse, how much is your financial disorganization costing you (because if your finances are not in order, I can virtually guarantee it is costing you something).
Do you struggle to keep your financial paperwork under control? Do you have little piles of receipts all over your office, or are they shoved in a box to hand over to your accountant at tax time?
There are two secrets to keeping on top of it all so you are not missing important deductions and your poor accountant is not pulling their hair out at the end of the year!
- Set up a filing system that is easy to use and accessible.
- Do a little bit often.
Setting up your filing system
Paper systems
The simplest filing system mirrors your accounting system. The categories you use when entering your expenses into your accounting system will be the same ones you use for your filing. Make a folder for each category of spending you get receipts for. Now each week, after you enter your receipts and invoices into your financial tracking system (ledger, spreadsheet, Quickbooks, etc.), simply drop the receipts into the appropriate folder. You will keep track of your spending and your income and know where you stand each month.
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