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The Recycling Corner:
Corks
Do you have leftover corks from all that champagne on New Year's Eve? There is actually a specialty cork recycling site available online.
Cork is already a very environmentally-friendly material since it is harvested without cutting down the tree. Used cork can also be made into flooring, insulation, shoe soles, bulletin boards & more.
Take your used corks to Whole Foods grocery stores, or go to recork.org/locations
for drop-off locations in your area.
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LEARN HOW
to Get More Organized!
(Upcoming classes and presentations)
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Clutter Control
at Home
atSandwich Community Schools
Thursdays
Feb. 16 & Mar. 1
6:30 - 8:30 pm
Learn how to organize your household and clear the clutter. Two sessions so you can practice in between.
Overcoming Procrastination
at Sandwich Community Schools, Thursdays
March 8 & 15
6:30 - 8:30 pm
Strategies for staying on task, reaching your goals, and overcoming those nagging fears that make you put off difficult tasks. Two sessions so you can practice in between.
Declutter Your Workspace
at Broadreach Rehab Center in North Chatham (Upper Cape Tech Adult Ed's satellite campus)
Wednesday,
March 14
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Get more productive at work by setting up your workspace in an efficient, organized way. Learn how to file your papers and get rid of the clutter at work. |
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Dear , 
January is GO Month (Get Organized Month),
as we try to start off the new year in a way that will make us more productive and more in control of our lives.
If getting organized was one of your New Year's Resolutions, how is it going so far? Changing habits can be difficult, so I've provided some tips below on how you can keep those resolutions and make real progress this year on getting organized, getting healthy, or achieving any of your other goals.
Another big topic I've been asked about lately is how to manage the volume of email that demands our attention daily. Is that an issue for you? My article below provides some simple tips to managing the digital clutter.
I look forward to another great year of helping you reach your organizing and time management goals. Being organized can help us in every aspect of our lives. Please let me know what specific challenges you are facing as you try to organize your time, your space and your possessions, and I'll try to address them here.
Give me a call if I can help!
- Maryann Murphy
Your Personal Organizing Expert
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Tips for KEEPING your New Year's Resolutions
Now that we're two weeks into the new year, many of us are struggling with those valiant resolutions from January 1st. Even if you didn't make any resolutions this year, if you're trying to make changes in your life, these tips can help you stay on track:
- Try working on ONE resolution or goal at a time. Take three months to FOCUS on getting healthy, getting organized or spending more time with family and friends. Changing habits is hard, and you're more likely to succeed if you apply all your energy to making one change than if you scatter your determination among several. After three months of success, your first resolution may become habitual enough that you can then maintain it while you start focusing more intensely on a second, "New Quarterly" resolution.
- PLAN how you will achieve your resolution that week every week (Sunday evening or Monday morning is best), and SCHEDULE work on your resolution daily. You may not have to work a lot on the resolution each day, but paying attention to it daily helps make your new habits a consistent part of your life.
- Celebrate your success, even if it's small. Reinforcing your progress makes you feel better, and makes you more likely to keep at it. Setting unrealistic goals (lose 50 pounds this week) just sets you up for failure, but setting and celebrating smaller goals makes it easier for to maintain a new habit and eventually expand it into larger steps.
- Get Help! People who make their resolutions public are more likely to continue with them, making a commitment to work on your resolution with someone else helps both of you, and getting help from a professional who does what you're trying to do all the time can save you a lot of time and false starts. Get whatever help YOU need. You don't have to do it alone.
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Managing Your Email
Is your Email driving you crazy? Inbox overflowing with stuff you should be acting on? Do you find yourself opening your Inbox, hoping for something interesting to distract or entertain you, and then closing it again without taking any real action?
You are not alone! Here are some suggestions for taming this modern-day monster:
When you begin work in the morning, make something other than email your first task. Spend an hour completing a report, making phone calls, or working on any priority task that will leave you feeling as though you've done something of substance. (If you must, take a quick peek at your inbox in case there are any emergencies.)
Set up several folders to hold emails you can't act on right away, and drag those emails to those folders or set up "rules" to direct those emails to those folders automatically. For example:
- Links to cartoons, YouTube videos etc. that are pure entertainment (look at those as a reward at the end of the day)
- Receipts for purchases, new order numbers, and other info that only has short term value
- Tasks that you must act on soon. If you use Outlook, you can bring those tasks directly to your Task List or Calendar by clicking on "Move" and moving them electronically.
Turn off your instant email alerts, and only check your email two or three times a day - one hour after you start the day, 1/2 hour before lunch, and 1/2 hour before the end of the day. Most email represents someone else's priorities, not yours, so don't waste your valuable time on their priorities until you have worked on your own!
When you do attack the inbox, stick with it until all the new emails are processed in some way, completing any brief task that's called for (3 minutes or less), scheduling time to work on larger tasks, filing information you will need in the future, and deleting emails you do not intend to act on.
Don't let email soak up your energy or your time. Try this approach to keep it under control and out of your hair. |
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 Please call me at 508 292-6706 if you need additional help organizing your home, your office, or your schedule.
I can come to your home or office and help you there, or coach you by phone.
My business relies on referrals, so please forward this to anyone you think might benefit from it. I hope to talk with you soon. |
Sincerely,
Maryann Murphy, MSW Professional Organizer, Speaker, Trainer
(508) 292-6706
- Member, National Speakers Association and NSA-NE
- Chronic Disorganization Specialist, Institute for Challenging Disorganization
- Member, Mashpee Hoarding Task Force
- Past Director of Professional Development, National Association of Professional Organizers New England chapter
- President, Marion Toastmasters Club
- Secretary, American Business Woman's Association of Cape Cod
Please join my network on LinkedIn
Follow me on Twitter @MMurphyMSW
Like me on Facebook!
Check out my video on my website:
www.maryannmurphymsw.com |
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