Fireworks, salute with the black sky background

This is the first of a series of articles designed to help you to declutter your new year in order to find joy, freedom and growth.

Disclaimer: I cannot truly declutter your new year. You must do that yourself! However, I hope to guide, inspire and support you as you shape your new year.

The three steps to organizing your new year are:

  • Be clear about your goals
  • Let go of things that do not support those goals
  • Create simple systems to support your daily life and your goals

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? It is simple, though not easy.

One area in which many are overwhelmed and lacking in systems relates to the paper in our lives. And not just paper, but information. We have access to a wealth of information that comes to us in our e-mail, on the radio, on our televisions and now on our hand-held devices. I have even begun to get junk text messages!

In order to declutter your life, you must be brutal in discarding information that does not support your happiness, productivity or long and short-term goals. You must also be ever mindful of the commitments you make with your time.

If you are serious about making 2012 the year in which you declutter your life, join us for our “More Time ~ Less Paper” workshop on February 11th or one or all of the other events in our series.

A common theme that I see when I work with people individually in their homes and offices is stacks of unopened or partially processed mail. Charitable donation requests are often a part of the partially processed variety. Below and on the right are my suggestions for managing your charitable donations.

  • Make a 2012 giving plan
  • Establish systems to support your giving plan
  • Feel the freedom of knowing that you are supporting the causes that are important to you in a thoughtful and caring fashion

Visit https://blog.clutterfreenow.com/resources.htm to download a free PDF (entitled Donation Log) to help you keep track of your charitable donations for this year.