Sometimes the thought of how much you have to do is enough to make you do nothing! Does that sound familiar? Well, there IS hope!
I recently spent approximately 6 hours helping a client tackle a huge “to do” pile on her desk. She was feeling so overwhelmed every time she tried to get started that she would just give up. Some bills were not paid, not for lack of funds, but because they were lost in the stack. Money was being wasted on late charges, services needing cancelled, yet just making a phone call or going online to cancel seemed like too much work as it was just one more thing on that to do list.
Tips on how to Get Started..
- Stack everything on your desk in one pile. If you are concerned about bills or items that are time sensitive, go through the pile quickly and put those items on top.
- Start with the first item in the pile and do not go on the next until that item is completed.
Some examples:
- If it’s a bill that needs paid, go online and pay that bill. If you haven’t set up an online account, do that first, then pay the bill, file the receipt (digitally is preferable of course). Move to the next item..
- If it’s a service that needs cancelled, call or go online to cancel. Move on to the next item..
- If it’s a form that needs to be filled out and mailed, fill it out, put it in an envelope with a stamp, then set by your front door/garage door and take it with you to mail the next time you leave the house. Move on to the next item..
- If it’s an item needing returned, fill out the return slip, repackage the item and also put by your door and take it with you. Then either file (digitally is preferable) paperwork, receipts, etc. or shred.
- If it’s a recipe you found and just HAD to save, first be realistic and ask yourself if you think you will ever try it. If so, scan it and start a digital recipe file! You can always print your collection and bind them for your own personal recipe book – Shutterfly is great for things like that! Move on to the next item.
- And so on and so on..
Tips:
If you feel you don’t “have time”, set a timer and work uninterrupted for a specific amount of time, perhaps just one hour. Then take a break and set the timer again. You’d actually be surprised and at the end of that hour, you may be so excited to be tackling that pile that you don’t want to stop! This is what happened with my client yesterday!
Don’t look at anything else, any other room or closet that needs help OR how big the pile is..take a deep breath and just take it one item at a time.
Suggestion: Set aside one hour per day (or even 30 minutes) until the pile is gone! The time and money saved will definitely pay off!