Unclutter Your Life
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Just do it...NOW!- Determine where your biggest, toughest job is (a closet, a kitchen cabinet, the garage, your desk) and work on it for 30 minutes a day. In clutter control, procrastination is the root of all evil. An optimistic "I'll deal with it later" inevitably becomes an overwhelmed "I'll never get to it."
- To make bill-paying easier, separate bills from the rest of the mail and place them in one prominent, accessible spot.
- Got a spare moment? Spend it on clutter maintenance. Get rid of the newspaper (or use under your mulch); put the remote control near the TV; put away shoes.
Toss it!- Clothes you haven't worn in years, can't fit into or don't like anymore.
- Medicines whose expiration dates have come and gone. Plus, dried-up lipstick, broken compacts, once-trendy eye shadows. (For hygienic reasons, toss mascara after 3 months).
- Broken appliances that are cheaper to replace than repair (e.g., hair dryer, electric shaver, curling iron, VCR).
- Junk mail. Ask to be taken off mailing lists by writing to:
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P. O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
Paper clutters. If you can't toss it, file it!- warranties, product information and instructions
- receipts (file by month or year)
- tax returns (keep for at least four years)
- important papers - birth, marriage, divorce certificates; passports; real estate papers; insurance policies; wills; school records and doctor records
Source: Women's Day, 6/25/96.
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