Extraordinary Results February Newsletter 2006
What Is Clutter Costing You?

>> Personal Note

I hope that 2006 is off to a great start for you! I know it's going to be a great year! I started off the New Year by spending the first week in January at the beautiful Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, AZ at the National Speakers Association University weekend. The resort was gorgeous and the workshops I attended were fantastic!

My instructor for the main portion of the weekend was Glenna Salsbury. She is not only a wonderful person but a fantastic speaker and I learned so much from her.

Spending four days with Glenna and some of the other top speakers in the nation helped me realize that I want to get out and speak as much as possible to help people who are feeling overwhelmed gain back control over their office, home, and life!

The response when I speak at a conference or meeting is extremely positive and I would consider it an honor to speak for your association or business. If you are part of an association or organization that would benefit from hearing my message and learning new strategies – I'd love to hear from you!

The feature article this month "What is Clutter Costing You" is an example of some of the life-changing strategies I teach during my workshops.

Clutter costs us TIME, and because it can never be replaced, it is priceless. According to the American Demographic Society, Americans waste more than 9 million hours each day looking for lost and misplaced articles. The average executive, reported Office World News, wastes 150 hours per year looking for lost and misplaced documents.

Clutter costs us ENERGY, which makes our jobs harder. Getting rid of excess clutter could eliminate 40% of housework and 80% of the clutter in most homes is a result of disorganization, not lack of space.

Clutter costs us FINANCIALLY because we not only pay for the original purchase, but also maintenance. Before you buy something go home and think about it. It's amazing how much money that will save you. Recycle or donate items you no longer need before looking for more storage space.

Clutter costs us PEACE OF MIND. When we walk into our home or office and feel overwhelmed by all the stuff, stacks of paper, and things we need to do we feel stressed and on overload. There is peace of mind when we can find what we need when we need it and have a place to put everything.

Look around right now and notice if there is an area that needs to be de-cluttered. How long have you wanted to work on it? When you focus on that space notice what happens to you mentally and physically. If you're like most, you've wanted to do something about if for a long time and the combination of visual mess and negative self-talk drains your energy. You'll be thrilled after you've cleaned the area and you'll feel more energized and motivated. Creating space makes you feel better physically and emotionally.

Suggestions to help de-clutter your life:

• Use the keep or toss test:
• Have I used this item in the past year?
• Is it serving a specific purpose?
• Do I still like it?
• Is there a legal reason for keeping it?
• Do I have a place to store it where I'll find it again?
• The goal is to surround yourself with only what serves you.
• Keep like items together. Think of how a kindergarten classroom is set up with activity zones. Use this same principle in your home.
• Find a specific place for everything. Then label boxes, shelves, doors or containers so that everyone in the household or office knows what goes where.
• Pick a room or closet that bothers you the most. Have four boxes or garbage bags marked Take to Another Area, Action, Toss, and Give Away (or garage sale). Set the alarm clock for one hour and start going through items. If it's something you need to act on - don't do it. Put it in the 'Action' box and write it on your to do list. When you're done with that area or the alarm has rung, take the 'Take to Another Area' box and place the contents where they belong. Bring the 'Give Away' box to the proper charity that day or have a place to store it until your garage sale. When your time is up put the items away in the room you've set them at. Congratulate yourself on a job well done and keep at this until your home is clutter free.
• Ask for gifts and give gifts that don't clutter. Some examples are dinner gift certificates, a day at the spa, movie tickets, and music lessons.
• Go through all the old board games your family has collected and now doesn't play with. Give away to a child's home or friends.
• Look through your junk drawer. If you don't know what it is, toss it!
• Three-ring binders are great for storing warranties and instructions for appliances and office equipment.
• Three-ring binders are also great for storing school directories, sport schedules, summer camp information, etc. Use tab dividers labeled with the name of each person in your family and store their information behind the appropriate tab.
• There are three things you can do when paper comes into your office or home: File, Act, or Toss.
• Think of the major areas in your life: Financial, Business/Career, Personal, Health/Spiritual, Fun, Relationship, and Contribution. Decide what you want to accomplish in these areas of your life and set goals for each one.
• Make sure your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Achieving goals requires intention, planning and action.
• Remember, when you say "yes" to someone or something and it's a good thing, you may be saying "no" to a better thing. Look back at your goals for your life and ask yourself if this action fits into your goals.
• Set up a good filing system and tickler system to relieve yourself of the stress caused by all the paper in your home or office.
• Learn to manage your "self" and your "to do" list through weekly planning. Whether you use a paper-based day planner or electronic, divide your major activities into two categories - those with a deadline and those that don't. Create a timeline around the activities with deadlines and put them in your day planner. Review your other tasks and plan time to accomplish some of those each week.
• In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "Simplify. Simplify." The less you have, the harder it is to generate clutter.
• Please, take time for yourself. If you don't take care of yourself, how can you take care of others?

In this information age we live in it is very had to teach ourselves to eliminate clutter, but it is an important life skill to develop. Technology has made us virtually available 24 hours a day and we have more choices on how to spend our time. As a result, 168 hours a week isn't near enough and we need to be more efficient with our time and self. Organizational skills and effective systems can improve your productivity, reduce stress, and improve the quality of your personal and professional life.

>> Quick Tip

Today's mail is tomorrow's pile! Get in the habit of going through your mail each day and open it over the trash can/shredder. At least 1/3 of the mail you receive is junk. Then make a decision of what to do with the rest of the mail. Set up a Household Command Center to have a home for all those papers you need to act on.

>> Computer Tip
     Deleting Temporary Files

Temporary files are copied to your PC every time you look at a web site. That's ok but over time you can build up thousands of these files. They do not need to be stored in your PC. You should clean these out on a regular basis.
Here's how:

1. When you are in Internet Explorer click 'Tools', then click 'Internet Options'.
2. Select the 'General' tab and find the 'Temporary Files' section down the page.
3. Click the 'Delete Files' button and the window that opens check the box for 'Delete all offline content'.
4. Click OK and the files are erased.

>> Workshops/Teleclasses

I'm excited to be presenting "Organize with Confidence" on February 16, 2006. This is a women's only workshop and it is absolutely free! I want all women to experience the joy and fulfillment of living an organized life so you can come as my guest. "Organize with Confidence" will be from 10:00am - noon at the Holiday Inn Express, 2501 S. Shirley Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD (by the Century Theatres).

You will learn:

• The S.T.A.R.T.™ Method to organize any area in your home
• 7 Steps to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed
• The 5 simple decisions that conquer paper pile-up
• How to prioritize your day in 60 seconds or less
• Save time in the kitchen and at the grocery store
• How to totally organize your closet in 4 easy steps

It's going to be a lot of fun - please join me! This workshop is free but you must register to attend. You can register at www.ElizabethHagen.com/OrganizeWorkshopregistration.

For those of you in the SD/MN/IA area Anastasia Quanbeck of Weekenders is sponsoring my GO (Getting Organized) Seminar on February 9, 2006 from 9:00am - noon in the Pizza Ranch meeting room in Brandon, SD. This workshop is open to anyone and the fee is only $159 which includes a GO System Implementation Packet and the book "Getting Organized". You can bring a friend or someone else from the office for only $129. Since I rarely speak for an open enrollment office-organizing workshop this is your chance to take advantage of this life-changing seminar.

After attending the workshop you will:

• Improve your ability to focus and concentrate
• Gain more control over your workload
• Easily and quickly prioritize your workload
• Get more done in less time
• Have the tools you need to get started right away
• Increase your contribution to the bottom-line results of your organization

To register download the registration form and fax or send to me. Act now!

I'm in the process now of booking spring speaking engagements. If your business or organization would like to start off this fall being more focused, organized, and productive please visit the Speaking page on my website.

It's time to make your life easier!