Spring Organizing
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Keep one tax document folder labeled with the current year, and add papers to it as they collect throughout the year. Once your taxes have been filed for this year, transfer the documents to a bin labeled past tax documents, and write the specific years that are included in the bin. Include with your past tax documents, all your supporting tax papers, financial records for that year, and proof of tax payment. Store the bin in a remote area. Start a new tax folder for the next year.
According to a National Association of Professional Organizers survey, 54% of Americans are overwhelmed by their clutter, and 78% find it too complicated to deal with. Are you felling overwhelmed by clutter? I understand that making decisions about what to keep and not keep can be difficult. I also understand that when we don’t want to make decisions it’s easy to come up with excuses as to why we can’t let go of something. I call them clutter excuses, and the best way to deal with them is to ask thought provoking questions, and to answer them honestly. This helps determine if it’s time to stop making clutter excuses and let it go.
One of the most common clutter excuse I here is, “I might need it someday.” We all have those tools, gadgets, and products that we can’t seem to let go of, even thought we haven’t touched them in years. Answer these five questions truthfully to determine if it’s time to let it go.
Another common clutter excuse I here is, “I paid a lot for it.” We all have those items that we spent a bunch of money on, but they just didn’t work out, and we can’t seem to let them go. That stinks, doesn’t it? Answer these five questions truthfully to determine if it’s time to let it go.
“It’s valuable,” is another clutter excuse. An amazing statistic is the average dollar amount of unopened, new merchandise in a typical American household is $7000.00 (Real Simple magazine 11-2012). Answer these five questions truthfully to determine if it’s time to let it go.
Clutter happens, but if we don’t allow ourselves to use clutter excuses we can keep it under control. Use these questions and let me know the outcome.
©March 2015 Janine Cavanaugh, CPO® All rights reserved
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