De-stress, De-Clutter: Some unusual solutions
September 18th, 2008.
Many will tell you that stress is internally created, yet external factors can aggravate it. Having an AK47 pointed at you may cause you to sweat, for instance.
Another accelerator for stress is clutter.
Bloghers are inundated with opinions, news, technology - and many (especially in this current economical climes) hold onto two or three jobs. (Remember that story back in January 2008, when Mr. Malik the blogger suffered a heart attack while struggling to maintain his many blogs?)
With the credit crunch squeezing our non-existent balls, bloggers more than ever are breaking into a sweat.
Some Stress indicators?
- Sleeping noticeably more or less
- Procrastination, with a sense of not knowing where to start
- Nervous habits (nail biting, jaw clenching, hand shaking, the list goes on)
- Excessive sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Headaches and backaches
- Tight chest and dizziness
- Inability to focus and concentrate
Physical clutter can contribute to the mental clutter, and so add to your stress.
Solutions that you probably haven’t heard of yet:
1. Chuck it in a box - neat, color-coded military ranked filing systems are a great ideal. In reality most of us can only aspire to this.
In the mean time, we deal with the guilt over our chaotic filing system by ignoring the problem.
A quick, and effective solution, pick up a two boxes from your local supermarket. Color-code them (using colored paper, paint, whatever you have to hand). One color represents ‘Action‘, the other ‘Archive‘.
In your Action Box: throw any receipt that you need to act on, like using for accounting. If you can, write a quick note on the back about the action needed.
In your Archive Box: keep any receipt you need for taxation purposes.
When it comes time for that auditing, the receipts will be in a rough chronological order from top to bottom. And you will have saved yourself hours of worry, and stress!
(I imagine I’ll get many rude comments for this suggestion, but it really does work.)
2. Ask yourself: does this make my life easier - Holding a big black bag, go through the objects in your house and office. With each object ask yourself if it has a use that makes your life easier (whether through organisation, or simply making you smile). Be brutal. If it doesn’t make the cut, it goes in the bag.
When you’re done: give the bag away to charity; hold a garage sale and meet some neighbors; sell the junk on eBay; give the objects away as presents to people you never know what to buy; etc. Just get rid of it.
If you’re hamster blogher who likes to hoard, you can place the bag in storage until you feel comfortable to get rid of it!
3. Forget folding and ironing - if you haven’t already. These are two activities that time-leaches.And the piles of laundry waiting suck your precious time can really clutter things up.
Hang up the easily-crinkled clothes. The rest of the clothes should be kept in containers that you can simple throw your clothes into.
HOWEVER…
Keep it organised.
One container should hold t-shirts, another warm pullovers, another socks, etc.
And never throw anything unwashed or soiled into the mix.
4. Become a paper nazi - you’ve heard the phrase: turning you back on paper, is like turning your back on rabbits. When you look back they’ll have multiplied.
Keep a rubbish bin in each of your main rooms. If the paper is: not needed or can easily be reproduced, then throw it away and send for recycling if possible.
Don’t let your paper reproduce!
5. Escape - at some point you will need to deal with the clutter. However, going for a short walk, run, swim, cycle, etc gives you a clarity to deal with the clutter. When you get back, approach the situation slowly and with caution.
What are your unusual solutions to clutter? Tell me about them, and I’ll add them to a follow up article with a link to your name and blog!
Hope that helps all the bald and twitching bloghers!
Ciao for now,
Lilly
This article is written by: Lilly Mouse...I love communicating (through writing, art, dance, and any other way imaginable). Blogging and I have become very good friends in the last few years.
LillyMouse.com is my creation, and I'm so please to share it with you! Ciao for now, Lilly Read more from this authorWhat's Next?
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