RAN A MARATHON

LISTS OF GOALS COMPLETED TO DATE:

#s 1, 2, 3, 7, 15, 21, 22, 26, 30

NEW GOALS COMPLETED IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS TO BE ADDED TO THE ABOVE:

# 17 all garden beds are simplified

# 9 the painting for the kitchen, breakfast room, den, back-hall are all scheduled for the late fall

# 8 I have a buyer for the hot tub!

# 13 the potting shed is completely cleaned and all extra supplies have been freecycled

# 16 all bushes and trees have been pruned

Yes, one could say the weather could not have been more perfect for me to get the grubby clothes on and hit the dirt running. With shovels, loppers, water and good nights sleeping….every bit of energy has been spent outside. In New England the weather can change in an instant. Remember in some of my past blogs I stressed to make sure a priority is time. Exactly, for me, choosing to work outdoors in the good weather is picking time and place critically. I could say I still needed to work inside, but the summer weather will be hotter and I will be able to accomplish inside whatever is on the list during the heat or rain.

WHAT I LEARNED:

Even though it was 60 degrees this past week, in the attic of the garage it was 85 degrees and getting hotter. Smart to work on uncluttering that area while I could feeling energized. I realized that this area needs to be accomplished much earlier in the Spring season. So this will be next on my list.

(what I also learned…proofread again for spelling mistakes in my blogs!!! lol)

RENEW, REUSE, RECYCLE:

My husband is quite worried.I am running a marathon. Whatever I clean out, I put on freecycle.org. It is fast paced and hard to keep up. By the time I post what I want to declutter on the site, there is someone who wants it. Beat my own personal record…posted the item and within 2 minutes it was spoken for!!! I LOVE IT. Makes my day to know it will be used. This is addicting. Challenges me even more. There are 24 articles that will be picked up here today. 24 items that will not go in the landfill! 24 items that will be renewed and reused…all because of recycling.

so check the site out: freecycle.org or craigslist

WHAT’S NEXT:

1. Decluttering the other half of the garage attic

2. Cleaning out another cabinet in the living room

3. Taking newer items to the consignment store

4. Freecycling items that are up in the loft

whew….I AM DRUMMING FASTER THAN THE ENERGIZER BUNNY!!!

How are you all doing??

Sallie

www.salliefeltonlifecoach.com

www.salliefelton.blogspot.com

sallie@salliefeltonlifecoach.com

 

SPRING FEVER FRENZIE

 

LISTS OF GOALS COMPLETED TO DATE:

#s 1, 2, 3, 7, 15, 21, 22, 26, 30

Accountability:

In the past week I have:

1. Kept my desk free and clear of “breding” piles of papers

2. No clutter is left on the kitchen or dining room tables, NOTHING!

3. Freecycled all the old record albums that I have not listened to in 30 years….so why did I save them, memories!

4. Dug out the potting shed and the tool shed.

5. Raked out all the gardens and simplified.

WHAT I LEARNED:

When I think back and wonder why we keep articles or items that we no longer use, why do we do it?

When it came to my records, I kept it because it reminded me of my youth, great days, freedom of responsibility. However, I still can here many of those songs on the radio today.  Being a creature who does like change, having them sprinkled amongst today’s “listening pleasures” are OK with me. So I Freecycle.com the group and out they went to someone who really wanted them. I wanted the memories and no one can ever take those away.

HINT: remember

freecycle.org or craigslist…both great places to declutter

WHAT’S NEXT:

1. Finish up on the potting shed

2. Do one more cabinet in the living room…three to go

3. UGH…better do the loft above the mudroom before the painters get here. That will be an undertaking unto itself.

So fun to hear from readers, let me know where you are in your own projects. Let me know if I can help.

With tremendous Spring Fever,

Sallie

978-626-0090

www.salliefeltonlifecoach.com

sallie@salliefeltonlifecoach.com

http://salliefelton.blogspot.com

http://www.boomercoffeehouse.com/index.php/self_expression/category/C20/

I AM ON A ROLL!

Accountability:

In the past week I have:

1. I have collated, hole punched all articles and photos of our son’s last 5 years on the professional freeskiing circuit. This has been something that I have wanted to complete for so long, but kept putting it off because it looked so daunting. And now here it is, labeled with tabs, so any other information can be easily entered. What a great feeling!!!!

2. All business files are done and each night before I leave the office the paper is filed

THIS IS CREATING A GOOD HABIT!!

3. All books in my office have been organized by author’s name and categorized by topics

4. OFFICE COMPLETED!!

5. Tackled one of the cabinets in the living room. I stored financial papers which are no longer necessary to keep. Shredded them all. One cabinet down…three more to go.

6. Put four items on the freecycle list in the morning ….by the afternoon they were all gone, and picked up here at the house.

I am on a roll…………….

What I Learned:

One Step at a time….I know I keep saying that, but it is true. A little bit…just being able to reorganize all the books in my office, was a huge undertaking. But I did one shelf at a time. Less daunting to me that to take all the books out and see them in a huge pile. So figure out what works best for YOU.

Cannot believe the freedom I feel with having people take what I don’t want. Knowing that they can use them only spurs me on to do more!!! Even my husband is a bit scared to come home now, fearing what might not be here!

Hints: Recycling all the shredding materials to use as packing materials. Put them all in a see-through container or garbage bag (labelled) and store in the basement or by packing supplies. Will use it around the Holidays.

What’s Next:

1. Today is a warmer day, so I am going out into the Tool Shed, Goal #13 and working at freecyling all those extra garden supplies I do not need. If you don’t want to freecycle use Craigslist.org.

2. Will do another cabinet in the living room.

How are you all coming along with your projects?

Warmly and with motivation,

Sallie

www.salliefeltonlifecoach.com

sallie@salliefeltonlifecoach.com

978-626-0090

WOW, FREER AND LOVING IT

LIST OF GOALS COMPLETED TO DATE:

#21, #1, #7, #2, #30, #15, #22, #26, #3, #7 ongoing weekly

 What I Learned:

I am amazed that nine of my goals for 2008 have already been complete. That is 9 out of 30!! Not bad and it is already March. The momentum continues and as I gather the next group of goals, I find myself like a steam engine…..this can be contageous.

 Accountability:

#1 goal of Redoing my entire filing system for my business is now COMPLETE! Recycled 8 paper bags of paper!

#7 goal taking those unneeded items to be donated or on freecycle are constantly being tended too. Posted items on freecycle and they were gone in 24 hours….

Donated Sarah’s blue prom dress and an ecru chifon skirt. Took them to the dry cleaners where they are having a drive for prom dresses, they loved them! What a wonderful feeling to know that some girl will be able to go because of Sarah’s generosity.

Hints/Tips: Do a little at a time…one shelf, one drawer, one closet…take your time. It will get done.

Recycke:Remember to donate: here is a place for your books!!

www.gotbooks.com/troops

What’s Next:

Have begun to tackle one shelf at a time in my office. By tonight I should be finished.

Living Room, downstairs bathroom, dining room will be next…one shelf, one draw, one closet at a time

So how are you doing?

Sallie

One Step At a Time

Can’t believe that my last entry was 3.08.08, but then again, yes I can.

What I Learned:

Life can play funny tricks on us. I never thought I would feel so drained by the death of this friend. So here I am now, pulling up the boot straps and putting one foot in-front of the other. ONE STEP AT A TIME. I am being kind to myself and doing what it is that I can with the energy that I have left at the end of the day.

Accountability:

#21 shred unwanted house files……….DONE, DONE, DONE

 ….finished that last night in-front of the fire. Can’t tell you how nice it is to now have my fingers bleed as I tried in the past to cram one more thing into one of the “house files”. Realistically took me two weeks to get through this, but then again I found estimates from work to be done on the house going back to 1977.

#1 Redo filing system for the business… 1/2 way done

…again, great to sit by the fire and go through these files. Not been tended to since 2004. Reorganized, consolidated, recycled and reused back sides of paper.

#7 took unneeded items to an auction house and will receive a check this week…SWEET!

Hints/Tips:

Go slowly when you have no energy. Be kind to yourself. Do one small thing to accomplish just one of your goals. You can do it!

Reuse/Recycle

What’s Next:

I am going to finish #1 goal tonight…YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, another one down! and start on #5…cleaning out every closet in the house. We have a cleaner here who is taking worn, good condition prom dresses. I asked our daughter Sarah if she would “recycle” any of hers. She said that I could take 2 of them, but to leave her favorite PINK one. Thank you Sarah….it will be appreciated by some lucky girl.

How are your goals coming along???

Struggling

To all of you out there, this has been a long and sad week for me. A very dear friend and old tennis coach of mine died of cancer this past week. To say that I have felt down is an understatement. I apologize for the delay in logging and posting my accomplishments.

What I Learned:

Sometimes when we make a promise to others and want to be accountable for doing that action, life gets in the way. Case in point, the death of my dear friend. How has it affected me and my goals…I have felt tired, withdrawn and not my usual upbeat self. This past Sunday, I participated in a wonderful celebration of women and their empowerment (WINGS) at the Marriott Hotel in Quincy, MA. The gathering was fruitful, amazing to watch, but I was not at my very best. My mind kept jumping back to Ric, knowing there was a celebration of his life taking place that day and I was not able to be there. I am attending his funeral today. My heart is heavy this morning as I write this. I share this with you because it goes to show that things do get in our way of progress and taking action. Situations happen which we have no control over; however, it is also the reason to not jump ship and give up on a goal. Yes, my week was full of lows, but it did not deter me from continuing on little by little to regain the steam of the earlier weeks. Remember, one step at a time…be kind to yourself. You will continue.

Accountability:

#15, Replace Screens is done! We are all ready for the Spring.

#30, Changing Bad Habits…yes, I continue to jump out of bed, make it and begin my day as if the bow on the present was beautifully tied. It feels more complete to me…and it is becoming a better habit.

#7, Took items to the Consignment shop last couple of weeks…and I received a check in the mail. SWEET!

#2, 21, 22 Files, discarded to the recycling pile all unneeded Paint charts from my Paint file, Kept any important info from my My Computer file, only one left to go in the two long drawer file cabinet is House files…here we go!

Hints/Tips: Reuse paper. When I sorted through my files I noticed there would be blank backs of 8-1/2  x 11 paper. Instead of recycling that, I chose to use it for copy paper. This copy paper would be for my personal use only. There was nothing personal or important on the other side; therefore, I could REUSE. How am I helping the planet?  On copy paper, trees, processing, fuel, trucking, and stocking etc…So instead of copying multiple single sheets…

Recycle: Reuse use both sides of paper! Cut paper in half to make shopping lists, telephone messages, reminders

What’s Next:

Hmmmmm.

#5 Think I will begin to go through each of the closets, one by one…Spring is coming and it will feel good to recycle, remove and regain space. It is nice to be able to vary the goals from week to week. I can still continue to work on the paper filing again during the evening hours watching the news. That has worked well for me and it has not become drudgery.

#9 Calling Painters to get estimates to paint the kitchen, den and back hall. Better to do it now when the painters are not able to head outside for summer jobs.

Vacation Over, Back To Work

“The fun is over”…time to go back to work. You must think that I have been slacking for the past two weeks. Well, to tell the truth, the first week I was on vacation with my adult sons and daughter…the second week, getting back on schedule.

Accountability: While away, in the back of my head I made a list of what HABITS I WANTED TO CHANGE. The first was:

1. To re-establish a morning schedule

2. To make myself commit to this action, even when disctracted by something that I would otherwise wish to do

Job Done: First thing was simply to make sure that our bed was made in the morning. Simple, yes, but not when I have a husband that likes to plop back on top of the bed to read his book before he heads out to work.

What I Learned: I timed myself, it would take me exactly 3 minutes to make the bed. Why was this three minutes so hard to come by….answer: there are so many other things that I want to do than to make a bed….a lot more exciting things to do. However, there was something that I noticed when the bed was not made, I never felt quite put together. You know the feeling….something is not just right. I have made it a point now for the past week to get up and not leave our room until the bed is made. I have to confess that it does make a difference in my attitude for the day. I am ready to go…knowing that I accomplished something that has been so hard for me to recomitt to. I shall keep working on it and it will become a habit.

Hint/Tips: In changing a habit, start with something small. Make sure that it is attainable. For me just these small three minutes each morning will begin to be a habit, something that I will want to continue to do. How lucky I have been to be able to have another pair of hands on the other side to share the chore….now it is down to one and a half minutes!!

Tomorrow: another look at the goals…and habits, working at whittling away the files.

let me know your thoughts

email me at sallie@salliefeltonlifecoach.com

www.salliefeltonlifecoach.com

HOW TO PRIORITIZE/COMBINING YOUR GOALS

Accountability: (Goal #2) Last night before I connected with my FREE Conquer Clutter class, I sat in the den with my husband watching the news. Knowing that I needed to keep whittling away at the warranty, appliances, and vacation files, I found the time sitting by the fire to be a masterful way of multitasking. Job done, length of time….one hour. Files back into the file drawer labeled on the outside, “Household, Pets, Kids, Travel, Airlines, Important Documents, Computer.” 

What did I learn: When trying to accomplish a task that I don’t particularly like to do: especially the warranty and appliance folders (can’t get more boring than those), I felt more energized to be in the company of someone else. My husband and dog were there which made the chore less of a drudgery.

Hints/Tips: Throw out all those warranties that are outdated or appliance instructions for the appliance that you no longer own. Time to review what is in there. If you have the appliance, mark on the instruction page what the MODEL and SERIAL number are…if you have the date  when you purchased it (and even better, the receipt) staple those all together.

Recycle: When I came to doing the vacation file, I found I did not need three ski maps of a mountain or a brochure dated 1998. What to do? I use those for wrapping paper! Yup, I put them in the bottom of a bureau drawer which contains all wrapping paper, tags, ribbons, scissor, and tape. Perfect for some of those small presents. I love to see something different and cleverly recycled.

How To Prioritize/Combining Goals:

Pull up “My Goals” blog and take a look at the list. I will share with you how I begin to review the prioritization process of my own. Here is my thinking process:

1. what season are you in…what can be done now?

2. what can you do inside of your house that you can’t do outside?

3. make a notation by your goals of the month  this will be done

4. if there is a repair, which season do you need it for. Ex: screens needing repair? Fix in the winter, ready for the summer

5. paint rooms, do in the winter: less expensive and painters are looking for inside jobs

6. think of spring cleaning: fresh…renewed…go through closets and drawers

7. outside work waits until the late spring, like me if you live in the northeast

I review my list and make a notation of what needs to be finished by a certain SEASON. For example, #15, screens in my office. What a perfect time now to call and have them fixed, as I don’t open up the windows up here in the Northeast during the winter. Therefore, I make a notation of the Month that these will be repaired; March. They will all set and ready to go in the Spring.

Notice that some of the items can be done in the summer (# 12, garage is not going to be cleaned or sorted through in -2 degrees winter weather; I am hearty, but NOT my priority to freeze out there) therefore, I make a notation next to garage, do in the early summer months: May, June early July. # 24 and #25 will be completed with the Garage at the same-time. #13, tool shed to be cleaned out, same method applies, early summer. Again can be done even in the rain. These two jobs can be done one after another. Mark that. In the filing category: #2, #3, #21, #22 all have the same theme…just different jobs to be done. They could all be combined at the same time. For me this is a seasonal priority. I can do this while being snowed in!

Get the picture? If you are stuck, email me at sallie@salliefeltonlifecoach.com

Taking the Weekend off, more next week: #29 schedule and make time for old friend, #30 redesign early morning routine…make habit forming

Furiously Finishing

ONE GROUP DOWN!!!

As of last night, I finished our youngest child’s personal folder/files. It felt great to be able to have completed this task. I lightened the load and the file cabinet actually breathes!

What I learned: When first opening the file drawer and seeing all the files dealing with our three kids, immediately I instinctively wanted to shut it. There was so much and I waited this long, what is another couple of years going to do!

Who was talking? My inner critic…the one that we all have. So what to do? Let the inner critic know this is something  you have wanted to tackle and accomplish for a long time. Look to the vision…down the road, visualize what this file drawer will look like, how it is going to make you feel.  Now piles of paper gone…my kids will appreciate it when I give them their own file back someday….very soon!

Hints and Tips: Do a little bit at a time!

Recycle: Don’t just toss those papers: use for kindling, shred them (store for packaging material) or recycle with your plain papers.

What’s next: Warranty, Appliances, Vacation/Destinations

I am scheduling three hours for this one! Ugh…I will do the warranty and appliance files first, then reward myself with looking over the vacation/destination…. “Calgon, take me away.”

Working steadily,

Sallie

Furious Filing

And you thought that I was not doing anything!! Never, not me. Want to tell you that the other night I collected all the personal files of two of our three young adult’s elementary schools,  high schools, colleges, etc. When lifting it up, my first thought was, “Oh my gosh, this box is so heavy there is going to be so much to do.” I took a deep breath. This was a choice I was making, and I was on a roll…. to keep going with this project.

Here is what happened: with a cup of coffee, fireplace burning next to me and the news at hand I was able to get through that box. 

 Hints and Tips:

1. Have a title heading “Your Child’s Name” at the top of your folder

2. Have a sub folder for those items that are dealing with your child and title each one

3. Here is an example: school report cards, special essays/letters, college, health, banking

4. Document, Important: copies of  passport, birth certificate, social security, health cards, etc.. (the originals should be in a safe

5. Grandparents: special letters/correspondence, photos

Recycle: Use some of those papers for kindling if needed, shred in the shredder (this is great as package filling), or recycle with your plain papers. As it is personal information, I would either shred or burn.

What did I learned?

I was very aware of how heavy the box of files felt as I carried it. Metaphorically speaking, it weighed on my shoulders as well. It was exciting to see the pile of discarded papers piling up…higher and higher! There was a real jolt of accomplishment and something that I had wanted to finish for such a long time. When all was completed, the remaining folders were lighter…readily returned to the file cabinet for my adult children to inherit. Yeah me!

Tonight I will do the third child’s folders.