November
2003 Anticrastination Tip Sheet
What's the opposite of Procrastination?
THE ANTICRASTINATION TIP SHEET
An Idea and Tip Sheet to Blast Away the
Procrastination Habit
From Rita Emmett
Author of The Procrastinator's Handbook
& The Procrastinating Child: A Handbook for Adults to Help
Children Stop Putting Things Off
__________________________________________________________
Quote For November
GOD CREATED COMPANY SO THE HOME GETS CLEANED
-- Rita Emmett, The Procrastinator's Handbook
__________________________________________________________
Don't you love that quote? It's now available exclusively through us on
a signed, limited edition Collectors cup.
This cup is gorgeous and would make a great gift for yourself, a
relative, neighbor, friend, coworker or anyone else in your life. Act
quickly - we've got a big supply, but once they're
gone, they're gone!
#1 Happy Deal
Signed, Limited Edition Collector's Mug for $9.77
BUT WAIT!
THERE'S MORE!
#2 Delightful Deal
1 Mug ($9.77 value) + 5 Special Reports ($48.85 value) which
has a total value of $58.62. Choose from either our WRITE YOUR BOOK NOW
collection or our CONQUER YOUR CLUTTER collection. All for the rock
bottom low bargain DELIGHTFUL price of $32.97
BUT WAIT!
THERE'S MORE!
#3 Outrageously Ecstatic Deal
1 mug ($9.77 value) + all Ten Reports ($97.70 value), which
has a total value of $107.47
all for the rock bottom low bargain OUTRAGEOUSLY ECSTATIC price of
$60.97
What are Special Reports About?
- The Author Series
(#1 - 5) leads you by the hand to writing your book (fast!), finding
an agent and publisher, promoting your book to become a best seller
and obtaining endorsements from best selling authors.
- The Clutter Series
(#6 - 10) gives help & hope, tips & techniques to eliminate your
clutter (including your paper and reading-clutter) and to prevent
Stealth Clutter from returning once you've de-cluttered. Plus one
complete report on Pack Rats.
BUT WAIT!
THERE'S MORE!
If you act now, as a valued reader of our Tip Sheet, you can get A
SPECIAL DEAL on our Special Deals.
Find your secret site with your special deal here:
Secret Site with
Special Deals
Don't Procrastinate. Operators are standing by <g>
__________________________________________________________
Message for November
Last month we began a discussion of causes of Stealth Clutter, which
appears after you've worked your poor fingers to the bone de-cluttering.
You glance away for 10 seconds, and when you look back, a whole bunch of
new clutter has appeared. Where does Stealth Clutter come from? How does
it get there?
______________________
Stealth Clutter Cause #1 is in last month's Tip Sheet.
INCOMING STEALTH CLUTTER CAUSE #2:
THE "JUST TOO BUSY" PLATEAU
This cause for clutter-slipping-in-under-the-radar is the belief that
"I'm so busy and in such a hurry that I don't have time to put things
away."
BOOM: You've got clutter.
The problem is, you don't have a realistic idea of how long something
takes. You might believe that something will take so long to put away
that it would make you late for work; when the reality could be that the
whole "putting away process" takes less than a minute.
SOLUTION: Get a stopwatch or a watch or clock that tells you how
many seconds are going by. Time yourself.
Go and perform an "Anti-clutter" activity and time it. For example, go
into the bathroom and time how long it takes to pick up the tube of
toothpaste, put the cap on it and place it where it belongs.
Time how long it takes to hang a towel where it goes instead of tossing
it on the floor.
Go into the bedroom. How long does it take to hang a shirt on a hanger
or to throw clothes into a clothes hamper?
No clothes hamper in the bedroom? Wellllllll, maybe that would be part
of the solution to this problem. Let us digress for a moment. Buy a
clothes hamper and wastebasket for every room where clutter appears and
see if that might stop some of that Stealth Clutter
from sneaking under your radar.
For example, I keep a large wastebasket in the garage right next to
where my car ends up. That is a HUGE help in keeping my car
clutter-free. As I exit the car, I look around for any papers or empty
cans or bottles or .... clutter ... and toss it into the wastebasket
before grabbing the groceries or briefcase or packages or whatever.
Then there's no reason for me to say, "I don't have the time to
de-clutter my car." The clutter was tossed out at the end of each trip
and it never had a chance to accumulate. That wastebasket was a great
investment. Since we put it there, it's been easy to keep
my car free of clutter.
The solution to this "Cause for Stealth Clutter" is an attitude change
about how long something actually takes. When we are rushing around like
maniacs, we need to remind ourselves that a 30 second pause to pick up
something, or to put something away will have NO impact on our time in
the long run, but will have ENORMOUS impact on our clutter.
NEXT MONTH: What to do when somebody else is the Clutter Culprit
__________________________________________________________
HIGH ADVENTURES
If you have a book in your heart, don't procrastinate in writing it. You
never know what adventures it will bring.
I just did a taping for a new Reality NBC TV show called Starting Over.
In most cities, it's on during the day. They put 6 women together in a
house in Chicago and help them re-invent their lives. I was honored go
for a one-time visit as a Procrastination Coach
for one woman.
Now, my one hour and 45 minute taping might be cut down to one minute or
might be cut out altogether, but it was really, really exciting and
interesting.
Also, this month Bruce and I fly to Guatemala. My client, Roberto, read
THE PROCRASTINATOR'S HANDBOOK and is bringing us down so I can speak to
the Young Entrepreneurs Organization. After the seminar, Roberto has
graciously invited us to stay for a few extra days and he will show us
around his beautiful country.
This book has brought so much new adventure to our lives. I thank God
every day for its success.
__________________________________________________________
