MORE HELP and MAINTENANCE The way to move forward is to take the next step. Sandra Felton, THE ORGANIZER LADY® ---------------------------------------- Contents of New Ideas for Today 1. Message of the Day - MORE HELP 2. Habit of the Day 3. Did You Know? 4. Family Reminder of the Day 5. Quote of the Day 6. Question of the Day 7. From the Trenches - MAINTENANCE 8. More Info ----------------------------- **The Messies Anonymous website, www.messies.com, is back up! Thank you for your patience.** **Learn how to get organized with Marsha's (FREE) YouTube videos!** ***If you are having problems with Yahoo Groups mailing, you can subscribe to https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3490310591173841338#allposts to receive the exact same messages.*** -------------------------------- 1. Message of the Day - MORE HELP Think about getting further help. Would you benefit from developing an online ClutterBuddy? Ask someone online who seems to relate to your thinking. Set up a time to communicate by personal email or phone. That way you can have more direct accountability. Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Friends-of-The-Organizer-Lady Use the Message Search Box and type in "clutterbuddy". By the way, if you are asked to be a ClutterBuddy and it does not meet your need to say yes, please feel free to say that you are not available at this time. If someone whom you ask says no to you, don't give up. Ask someone else. We have suggested this before. Some have already started. You can find a special ClutterBuddy brochure in the files of the home page of The Organizer Lady Group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The-Organizer-Lady/ It is also in the files on the MessieTalk Group and on the Friends of the Organizer Lady Group. Or, email felton.messie@gmail.com for a pdf file you can print. ----------------------------- 2. Habit of the Day Commit for just this one day. THIRTY SECOND RULE If it takes thirty seconds or less to do, do it immediately. ----------------------------- 3. Did You Know? The NEW and IMPROVED K.I.S.S. Flipper The K.I.S.S.(Keep It Super Simple) Flipper has fresh ideas on how to move through your home, day by day, room by room, with simple choices for maintenance and organizing. It will gently guide you through the process of creating clear and shining surfaces throughout out your home! With the NEW K.I.S.S. Flipper all you have to do to is FLIP through the spiral-bound, sequentially numbered, full-color job idea cards. No more sliding cards into sleeves; the NEW K.I.S.S. Flipper is ready to use out of the package. When you are ready to begin, make a few simple choices each day from one card and you will be on your way to a clutter-free and well maintained home. Free BONUS: Once you order, you will also receive the "K.I.S.S. eBooklet" via email to learn the "Hows and Whys" of the system while you wait for your Flipper, so you will be ready to start the day your Flipper arrives. Introductory price $26.00 US postage included Go to the link below to order you NEW K.I.S.S. Flipper today. messies.com messies.com One of a kind design for home maintenance, The Super Flipper by Sand... View on messies.com Preview by Yahoo ----------------------------------------- 4. Family Reminder of the Day Pick one of these reminders or make one of your own to share with your family each day. In our family, we take responsibility for completing the chores assigned to us. In our family, we don't complain about our responsibilities. ----------------------------- 5. Quote of the Day Take charge of your life. You are the only one who can -- or should. Your dignity requires that you have the responsibility and privilege of taking care of your own problem of clutter. ----------------------------- 6. Question of the Day Do you have a spot in your life where you are stuck? If so, make a vow with a negative consequence to do it. What vow will you make? Are you willing to share that with us and report on how it works out? Tell us by posting on Friends-of-The-Organizer-Lady. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Friends-of-The-Organizer-Lady ----------------------------- 7. From the Trenches (Long but good) MAINTENANCE What I've found is that maintenance doesn't become too overwhelming if (a) you constantly maintain and (b) you don't go too fast at decluttering. When I do maintain as part of a daily routine it doesn't take more than a half hour for everything. I've gotten in the habit of washing dishes as I go along with the cooking, so at the end of supper there's not really much left to do. I'll often leave it to the next morning if I'm too tired at the end of the day, but I will put everything up to soak so it's easy to wash in the morning. Then it's just wipe down the counters, stove and sink - a quick job if it's already basically clean. Making the bed in the morning takes less than a minute so all that's left is to pick up stray things from the floor (toys, laundry, etc.) Again, if I pick up everyday, there's not really a lot to pick up – only from the previous evening and morning. I've also found that it works best for me to go slowly with the decluttering. If I go too fast, then there's too much maintenance to do at once. Better to declutter a small area, make that area part of my routine until it's automatic and then go on. (And that routine that I mentioned above did take over an hour when I first started.) A couple of weeks ago I had decluttered a good sized area of my basement. And have managed to keep that area clutter free. It really looked good at that point. Until this morning when I went down and noticed the rest of the clutter that I hadn't gotten to. And it just made the basement look terrible. So it's time to do some more. I realized at that point that I need to rely on cues about what bothers me, not an arbitrary schedule because it should be done. If I try to do that then it gets overwhelming and I don't care. If I do it at my pace then I can maintain because the image of a clean house inspires me. So just do what you can do and don't worry about the rest. It will come. (Thanks to this sharing and insightful Messie.) ----------------------------- 8. More Info This is a simple program. We stick with the basics as they are presented in these messages. Keep reading. Keep adding one part of the program at a time. Repetition is important. Forward to friends if desired but not to other sites. Read this whole posting or only what you can take in today, then delete it. Don't forget the daily reminders!!! The daily Reminders and How-To's are found on our website at "How to Begin" http://www.messies.com ------------------------------------------- 9. Extra Help Are you hitting a wall with your organizing? Jackie said, “It’s the hitting the wall that makes this class work. We get stuck, you get us unstuck, and we keep going.” Learn more about the Organizing Mastery class here. Click here If you'd like to speak to an organizer about your clutter problem. ------------------------------------------- 10. Free YouTube Videos Learn how to get organized with Marsha's (FREE) YouTube videos! ------------------------------------------- Are you at home thinking about the organizing you need to get done? Take a look at our SOS program designed to jumpstart your organizing immediately. Buy now: https://sortitout.thinkific.com/courses/SOS-Organizing-Program For more information: http://www.sortitout.net/sos-solutions-solutions-program-sf Reminder: You can edit your membership at Yahoo Groups home page https://groups.yahoo.com/neo or to unsubscribe, click on the word "unsubscribe" at the very bottom of this post if it arrived in your email inbox ---------------------------------------- MESSIES ANONYMOUS SLOGAN Please memorize this slogan and post it on your wall. The secret to success is making very small, yet very consistent, changes. Or to make it short, "Baby steps, baby steps" in the right direction. "Never underestimate the inevitability of gradualness." Anonymous 26 © 2010 Sandra Felton THE ORGANIZER LADY® is a registered trademark of Sandra Felton, founder of Messies Anonymous.