Which Job Should You Do First?
“Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”
– Dale Carnegie
Does Perfectionism Hold You Back
“Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.”
– Robert Schuller
Just Get Started
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
– Sally Berger
Chaos
“We adore chaos because we love to produce order.”
–M. C. Escher
People vs. Things
“People are made to be loved and things are made to be used. The confusion is in the world because people are being used and things are being loved.”
– unknown
Do you know what the fastest growing category of waste is on our planet? Consumer electronics – you know the stuff with a plug or battery.
It’s not just taking up as much as 25% of our landfills but it’s leaching hazardous toxins into our environment. Over 80% of electronics are not recycled.
Recycling is getting easier and more convenient so there is no reason not to do the right thing.
Best Buy has an in-store solution for customers to bring in their unwanted electronics – even if they didn’t buy them at the store. The best part is it’s free. When you walk in the door they have bins that collect everything: old chargers and cords, cell phones and CDs. For larger items like computer or DVD players you drop them off at the customer service counter.
If bringing them to the store is too big of a burden call E-Haul Away. They pick up most electronics for free. They’ll remove all your data from devices before they remove toxic materials and then recycle the components.
Most local governments have recycling programs. You can find options in your area by visiting 1800recycling.com or download their app to your smart phone before you recycle it.
Why Does So Little Get Done
“The reason why so little is done, is generally because so little is attempted.”
– Samuel Smiles
Is your mail box overflowing with unwanted catalogs, credit card offers and what the post office euphemistically refers to as bulk rate mail? The rest of us call it what it really is junk.
I am always asked “how can I get control of all the paper?” My answer is to start by decreasing what comes in.
You can spend your time calling each company asking to be removed from their mailing list or you can let someone do it for you.
Catalog Choice is both online service and an app called MailStop. I’ve been a member for many years and it has helped to limit the catalogs that I need to recycle.
It’s free to sign up and when you log into their website you simply select from the 4000 companies who have agreed to honor your opt-out request. The new app is even quicker. Simply click the opt-out button, take an image of the label and hit done.
Paper Karma is another new free app that promises to restrict your junk mail. It’s just as simple – take a picture and they do the rest. In addition to catalogs they will help you cancel magazines, coupon books, credit card offers and even phone books.
Organizing Solution: FileThis Fetch
Challenge:
You made the commitment to go paperless with e-statements. The problem is that the task of logging into your accounts each month to download your statements never seems to get done.
Solution:
Stepping in to the rescue is FileThis a service that acts as your personal digital assistant, retrieving all your statements and bills while you spend your time on more important things.
Sign up in seconds and then register and connect your financial accounts.
FileThis is intelligent and automatic. Every few days it logs into your accounts to look for new statements. They’ll even send you an email notification when something is downloaded.
After the statements are retrieved, FileThis names each one with the account name and statement date and stores them where you designate, such as your computer hard drive.
FileThis has the highest security standards – using bank-level encryption.
They are offering a free trial – no credit card required. You’ll fall in love and be happy to pay $2 a month.
Result:
I met one of the founders of FileThis at a recent organizing conference and it took no arm twisting to sign me up. In about 10 minutes all my bank accounts were registered and FileThis started retrieving my statements. Overnight 414 PDF statements were downloaded and organized into separate company folders on my hard drive and Dropbox.
I estimate that I will save 2 hours a month, minimum. That’s 24 hours a year. If you want an extra day each year, I’ll be happy to get you started. FileThis doesn’t perk me, I’m just excited to share the best time saving technology I’ve seen in a long time.
Why Do People Get Organized?
“Successful organizing is based on the recognition that people get organized because they, too, have a vision.”
– Paul Wellstone
