2004 March 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
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Quote for March
The wise man does not lay up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others, the more he has found his own.
-- Lao Tzu
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Calling all Authors and Hope-to-be-Authors
I will be in Atlanta, GA March 25-28 at Mark Victor Hansen's "Mega Book
Marketing University". This is what I attended before my first book was
published, and if you come and join us, you'll learn more about
promoting your book to become a best seller than most publishers.
If you attend, be sure to introduce yourself to me. I love meeting
readers of the Tip Sheet and my books. We can hang out together.
Instead of calling me for details (I'll be working a cruise and out of
contact with emails and phones till 3/15) CALL LISA AT 800-433-2314
Ex.101.
Tell her I told you to call and promised that she would take very good
care of you. I delight in making Lisa crazy. Tell her I encouraged you
to ask for a discount.
Hope to see you in Atlanta. This will be the best investment you've ever
made in your writing career.
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Dear Readers - I tried to come up with "50 ways to leave your clutter",
but screeched to a halt at #44. Do you have any ways to get rid of
clutter that aren't included here?
There must be Fifty Ways to Leave Your Clutter
~~ Ways You Can Sell, Nell ~~
- garage sale
- garage sale with the whole block (as many houses as possible)
- garage sale with several friends all together at one location
- eBay (on computer)
- estate sale or rummage sale
- classified ad
- tell friends, neighbors, family or co-workers about what is for sale
and let them stop over whenever they like
Warning: If you give a garage sale, that means you might be going to
them and that means you are buying other people’s clutter. You are just
trading clutter!
~~ Choose to Donate, Kate ~~
Donations won’t make money, but you might get a receipt to use as a tax
deduction. Whatever you give out comes back to you. If you give things
away with kindness and a generous heart, kindness and generosity will
come back to you. Maybe not from the same place you gave your things to,
but it will come back to you from somewhere.
Some places that would love your donations:
~~ Get Rid of the Mess, Tess ~~
Before you can conquer your clutter, you need to
make an important decision: Where will you get rid of everything that is
too good to toss out? Once you decide to give your beloved stuff to some
place where it will be loved and appreciated, it won’t be so painful to
say good-bye to it.
~~ Ways You Can Sell, Nell ~~
- Salvation Army
- Goodwill, Inc.
- Churches
- Synagogues
- Thrift shops that raise funds for worthy causes
- Homeless Shelters
- Shelters for Battered or Abused Women
- St. Vincent DePaul Society
- local charity or Family Service Center (Suggest they have a
rummage sale as a fund-raiser)
~~ They’ll Come Out to You, Lou ~~
You will have to bring your give-aways to most places. However, in
many areas, there are some groups that will put you on their calling
list and phone you every six weeks or so, when their truck will be
in your area. All you have to do is put your bags or boxes of stuff
outside and they will pick it up. Three groups that I know of are:
- Disabled Veterans
- Viet Nam Veterans
- Purple Heart Veterans
~~ Call People Who Know, Beau ~~
If you don't know how to find a worthy cause in your area:
- Call those folks who know, such as:
- Librarians
- Village or Town Clerk
- Clergy
- Community Leaders
- Aldermen
- Family Service Center
~~ Just Give It Away, Ray ~~
Here you won’t get a tax deduction, but you’ll have the satisfaction
of helping someone and expecting nothing in return. Plus good things
will come back to you. Here’s a poem quoted by Joe Vitale in The
Greatest Money-Making Secret in History:
A man there was, and they called him mad,
The more he gave, the more he had
So just give it way to:
- someone you know who needs it
- a family member
- a friend
- a co-worker
- a neighbor
~~ Give It a Toss, Ross ~~
Remember, the poor deserve dignity. If something is broken, missing
parts, stained or dirty, if it isn’t good enough to be used by you or
your family, get rid of it.
- throw it in the trash
- rent a dumpster and shovel the stuff into it
- ask friends or local scouts or call a local church and ask if
someone will come and help you dig out. Don’t be embarrassed. They
will be so proud of you for finally getting rid of all that stuff.
~~ Get Rid of Those Clothes, Rose ~~
You might find a charity that means so much to you that you genuinely
enjoy passing on your clothes to them.
Marge, a pharmaceutical sales woman, found an organization that
collects business clothes for low-income women (many trying to get
off welfare) entering the workplace.
At first, Marge folded her donations and stuffed them into a big
plastic bag.
When she decided to clean out her closet again, she called the group
to see if they still needed woman’s clothes. The receptionist told her
the exciting story of a woman who wore one of Marge’s outfits to an
interview. The woman looked and felt terrific in the outfit and she
did land the job.
This time Marge hung the outfits on hangers when she delivered them.
Each time she called to check if they still needed clothes, she heard
another great story. Now she loves cleaning out her closets and puts
each outfit in a box, with the matching shoes and accessories.
No, you don’t have to go to that trouble, but you – like Marge – may
find that you actually enjoy the process of weeding out old clothes
because you are happy to help those less fortunate. How to dispose of
them?
- sell at a second-hand store
- donate to a worthwhile cause
- invite your friends over who are about the same size and style as
you. Put out the clothes and let everyone swap. Donate the leftovers.
- Find a family with smaller children than yours. Offer to regularly
give them hand-me- downs. Don’t ask the clothes to be returned. That
spoils it for everyone.
~~ That Could Be Art, Bart ~~
Gather up anything that has craft-project potential, including
magazines, empty thread spools, buttons, pictures, small plastic
thingys, and donate to:
- Scouts
- art teachers
- pre-school, primary or Sunday school teachers
- most doctors offices could use a change in magazines
~~ Give Food Away, Kay ~~
Do you have 28 cans of kidney beans that you bought on sale and never
used? A half a shelf full of dog food and you haven’t had a dog in nine
years?
- toss it if it’s opened
- ask around if there is a family having a hard time financially.
It might be fun to leave a basket of food at their door
- maybe one of your relatives would appreciate some of what you
aren’t using
- put all the food you don’t want in one place and whenever someone
comes over, let them help themselves. Could be fun.
- donate to a food pantry. Call the “people who know” at the start
of this chapter
~~ Write Down a Date, Nate ~~
Take everything you haven't used in the past year and put it in a box.
Mark the date of 6 months or a year from now. When the time is up:
- Toss is out.
- Donate it.
- Ask a friend to take it away. Let them do with it what they will.
How about it, Readers? Got any favorite ways to get rid of clutter that
I didn't cover? Send me your ideas.
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