PINK PARTIES and HELPING HANDS(c)

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1. Cut something out. 
Look at your hectic, "gotta-get-it-all done" everyday schedule. If you're like 
many people, you think you cannot eliminate anything from your day. But look 
closely. No doubt you can find something that is cluttering your day and needs 
to go. Anything that is not absolutely mandatory can be negotiated when it comes 
to your calendar -- even work! Sure, you must go to work, but can you adjust 
your hours there or the time it takes you to do a certain task? Or maybe you 
took on an activity years ago that fit your life then, but doesn't fit anymore. 
Maybe it's time to let it go. Or perhaps you can organize your "essential" activities better. For 
instance, see the four "quick" trips you took to the grocery store last week. 
Now realize you can better arrange your grocery shopping time by consolidating 
future trips into one. Suddenly that frees up time. You will find you have many 
things that can be eliminated or consolidated in your day. Once we begin to open 
ourselves to the possibilities that our days do not have to be as packed as they 
are, we begin to see we can hurry less and worry less.

2. Carefully consider each addition to your calendar. 
It's easy to add "just one more thing" to the calendar without realizing it. 
Sometimes that's the result of saying "yes" to a last-minute request from a 
child's school for a volunteer position. Sometimes it's the result of letting 
others' lack of organization make more work for you. But for the next week, try 
this: Make each new addition to your schedule "fight" to get on your calendar. 
Ask a series of questions to evaluate whether you should add this to your schedule: Is it important? Is it essential? If I do 
not add it, what would happen? What will be the result of adding it? What will I 
take off to make room for it? Is this worth being added to my calendar at this 
time? Only items that "fight" successfully to be on your schedule get to be 
added. One that "fights" successfully means one that answers these questions in 
a way that makes sense for you.

3. Choose the simpler option. 
One way to free time to do what you truly want to do is to see how you can do 
activities more efficiently. Do not be embarrassed or ashamed when you choose 
efficiency, when the result will be good and also will allow you time to hurry 
less and worry less. For instance, if you look at your schedule for the week and 
realize meal preparation is taking too much time, consider cooking ahead on the 
weekend and freezing, then popping out those containers and only warming up 
during the week. Or consider picking up something quick (but still healthy!) a 
few days a week, or even hiring a personal chef. Your goal is to have good food to eat -- 
so if you can do that without having to be the one to physically prepare it 
every day, then maybe the reward of more quality time with your family is a 
benefit of being more efficient by finding other ways to get the meal on the 
table. 

These are three tips to help you enjoy your life more -- starting today. When 
you begin to reduce the clutter in your day -- from outdated obligations to 
finding more efficient ways of doing things -- you can hurry less and worry 
less. And that's a great way to enjoy life.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0687062594/selfimprovemeonlA/

Uncluttering doesn't have to be just your desk or your closet.  Uncluttering can also help your concentration.  Here are a few tips that can help:

• Do One Thing At A Single Time:  If you are like me you try to multitask to get more done.  This can lead to a lot of confusion.  It is much better to try and focus on a single task at a time.  Set aside time specific to this task.  Devote that time soley to getting that task done.  Refuse to do any other work during that time.  This way you are more then likely to do that work with more concentration than trying to do many things at once.
• Do Something As If For The First Time:  Think of every task that you are doing as if you are doing it for the first time ever in your life.  Even if you have done it or something similar 1000 times in the past, still pretend that you are doing it for the first time ever.  Whenever we do something new, we are more careful and pay attention to detail.  If you act as though this is the first time you have done the task then you will always pay attention to detail.
• Unclutter Your Mind By Writing:  While performing an important task, what if some other problem comes to your mind and starts worrying you?  If this happens, then there is a good chance you may forget what you are doing or do the task half as good as you would if you hadn't thought of something else.  If this happens, then a good technique to clear your mind from the worries is to write down whatever problem or concern is worrying you so that you will not forget it and can deal with it after you finish your task.

The holidays are coming very quickly......here are a few tips from  unclutter.com that will help you this season:

1 DECLUTTER

Keep in mind: “less is more,” even at the holidays. Now’s a

good time to donate some of your kids’ old toys and games –

and some of your own stuff.

Keep a list of what you donate and be sure to get a receipt

for tax purposes. While you’re at it, when you pull out

your holiday decorations, add the ones you didn’t use last

year to your donations box, and toss anything that’s broken

or worn.

2 RIGHT-SIZE YOUR COMMITMENTS

Ask family members: If you could go to only three holiday

events, which would they be? Think about activities from

holidays past. What activities refresh your spirit? What

activities could you do without?

Decide which celebrations are the most meaningful and fun.

Pick a manageable number of events and activities and leave

yourself some downtime to simply enjoy the holidays. You’ll

save money and stress by reducing your obligations and

expectations.

3 Get online instead of in line

 Avoid long lines at the post office by buying holiday

stamps at www.usps.com. (It costs an additional buck, but

it’s worth it.) You can also print labels for your packages

and even request mail pickup from your home at no extra

charge.

Shop online to escape mall crowds and parking hassles.

Order as much as possible from one online company to save

on shipping costs. Comparison sites such as MySimon.com and

Froogle.com are great for finding whatever you’re looking

for at the best price.

4 Simplify gift-giving

 The last thing most of us need is more stuff. Consider

giving edible gifts, tickets to an upcoming event, or gift

certificates for a splurge on something like spa services

or a one-of-a-kind experience such as a helicopter tour

ride. I’m buying a ticket for my husband to ride in a B52

Bomber that flies out of our local airport. It’s something

I know he would love to do, but won’t ever buy it for

himself.
 

I recently found a company called Ribbon that offers a

variety of gift albums that you can send to clients,

friends and family so they can choose what they want

(without knowing how much you spent). The albums can be

mailed to you or directly to your recipient. For a look at

the entire gift collection, contact my Ribbon

representative, Don Feuerstein, at danf@odint.com or 866-

715-1726. Please say hi for me and remind him that I am

still waiting for a photo of their new baby.

5 Break big jobs into mini-projects

Did you know that you can freeze cookie dough? Then bake a

batch each night while cooking dinner or doing dishes.

Freeze the baked cookies and thaw as needed.

Instead of that last-minute marathon gift-wrapping session,

spend 15 minutes wrapping presents each night until you are

done. Save time and frustration by setting up a gift wrap

center with all of your wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue,

ribbons, bows, and gift tags, tape, scissors and a marker

or pen.

Holiday cards are another big project that you can complete

in phases: sign cards, address envelopes, seal, and stamp.

Use the time during television commercial breaks and the

job will be done in no time. This year, I’m using a service

that lets me select the card I want to send from their

online card catalog. All I do is press SEND and they do all

the stuffing, sealing, addressing, stamping and mailing for

about $1 a card. (These are real paper greeting cards, by

the way, not e-cards.) Try it for free at www.yourcardconnection.com.

6 Keep it simple

With every activity you plan, ask yourself “How could I

make this simpler?” Is it important for you to bake cookies

or would you be just as happy buying them from a bakery? Do

you really need to have a huge sit-down dinner on the

holiday or could you have a buffet? If you’re having a

holiday get-together, consider a potluck dinner or a party

where guests help to trim the tree. If anyone offers to

bring anything, say yes!
 

7 Plan ahead
 

If you have holiday guests coming, prepare the guest room

now and stock the bathroom with clean towels, toilet paper,

and toiletries. Clean your toilets and then install a

continuous toilet bowl cleaning system like Kaboom

NeverScrub that cleans with every flush.

Plan meals and do all your grocery shopping before guests

arrive. You might even consider preparing meals in advance

at one of the new meal preparation franchises that are

popping up, such as Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, or My

Girlfriends Kitchen. In just an hour or two, you can

prepare up to 12 ready-to-cook dinners for your freezer.

And if your guests offer to help clean up, hand them a

dishtowel or broom.

Turning clutter into cash

It pays to unclutter. A few months ago, I sold a bicycle,

kayak, and car roof rack on Craigslist (more about that in

a minute) and made $800 for about 60 minutes of effort.

My husband watched in amazement as people pulled into our

driveway, looked at the item I had advertised, and then

counted out $20 bills into my hand. I was pretty surprised,

too, at how easy it was – so easy that I started rummaging

through the garage to see what else I could sell!

If you want a little extra spending money for the holidays,

just look around. An October 2004 AC Nielsen survey showed

that the average American has more than $2,000 worth of

unwanted items that could be donated as a tax write-off or

sold to generate cash.

What’s in your closets, garage, basement and attic that’s

just taking up space? Following are some ideas on how you

can turn your clutter into cash:

Place a classified ad – A few years ago, when I was moving

from Lake Placid, New York, I placed a small classified

advertisement in my local newspaper to sell some Adirondack

furnishings that I knew would be out of place in my new

home in Phoenix, Arizona. I sold all but one lamp and it

only cost me about $15 to place the ad. You can often place

classified ads in weekly community or shopping papers for

free.

Sell online. Some items sell very well on eBay.

LiveDeal.com is a similar web site that lets you target

buyers in your local community. But my favorite online

selling site is Craigslist.org because 1) lots of people

look here first, 2) it’s free and 3) it’s effective. If

someone is interested in buying the item you are

advertising, they will respond via email and you can

schedule a time for them to come see what you have. Go to

http://www.craigslist.org, click on your city and then

click on your specific “for sale” category. At the top

right of that page, click on “Post.”

Sell on consignment – Consignment shops usually accept your

secondhand belongings with an agreement to sell them and

give you a percentage of the selling price – something in

the neighborhood of 40 percent. This is a good choice if

you want someone else to do the selling for you. You can

sell all kinds of things on consignment including clothing,

furniture, sporting equipment, and more.

Hold a garage sale – Set a date for your garage sale

(better make it soon!) and plan to put an ad in your local

paper. Then go through your home, looking for things you no

longer love or use. Give yourself permission to let go of

those things. Get the whole family in on the act. If you

have kids, let them keep any money they make on items they

contribute to your sale.

Find a specialty dealer – To sell items such as jewelry,

antiques, coin collections, and musical instruments, look

for stores that specialize in buying and selling these

items. I once sold a set of old Westerns to an antique book

dealer for a nice price. I recently learned that

Powells.com buys books they feel they can resell and will

give you roughly 30% of the price they expect the books to

sell for. You don’t get cash; they give you store credit.

What you do is enter the ISBN of each book you wish to

sell, click “Sell these books” and in just a few moments,

you will receive an offer. If you accept the offer, you can

print a postage-paid mailing label to ship your books to

Powells. For more information or to sell your books, go to

http://www.powells.com/sell.