March 2005 Anticrastination Tip Sheet
What's the opposite of Procrastination?
THE ANTICRASTINATION TIP SHEET
An Idea 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
Life is not a having and a getting, but a being
and a doing.
--- anonymous
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Special For March
We received some nice comments from happy
customers who took advantage of our "Take Care of Yourself" Special last
month. So in honor of the High Holiday of the Year, St. Patrick's Day,
we are running it again.
There are two new Special Reports on our web site (RitaEmmett.com).
Special Report #6: WHILE YOU'RE TAKING CARE OF
OTHERS, WHO TAKES CARE OF YOU?: A Strategy to Prevent Burnout
and
Special Report #7: DOES YOUR PERFECTIONISM MAKE YOU NUTS?
If you buy one, you get the second one free. Isn't that a sweet
deal for you?
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
With ANY purchase from our web during the month of March, we'll send you
free "A 28 Minute Relaxation Break for Those Stress Filled Days" tape or
CD.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
In addition, we'll send you "Striving for
Perfection Can Drive You Nuts (and other thoughts on coping with
stress)" tape or CD.
To treat yourself to this special, go here
E-Specials
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March Message From Rita
In the Jan. Tip Sheet, I wrote that clutter does
NOT come from being messy, disorganized or lazy. I believe clutter comes
from 4 ... just 4 ... only 4 habits & working on any one of those habits
will reduce that jumble in your life.
Ironically, the first letters of each habit spell SINS. And you're
guaranteed to have clutter if you commit one or all of these Deadly
Sins of Clutter:
Save everything whether you need it or not
Insist on bringing things home whether you need them or not
Never assign a spot for things to be put
Set things down anywhere instead of putting them away
For this month, let's focus on the first one: Saving everything whether
you need it or not.
First, some background. Our generation (including everyone from grade
schoolers to retirees) has more "stuff" coming into our lives than any
previous generation. So our parents never taught us how to manage
clutter; they never taught us key questions to
ask ourselves.
If your habit is saving things you never need or use, ask "Why?" If
you're saving it because you (or someone) MIGHT need it some day, isn't
it true that when you DO need something, you forget that you have it
buried in your clutter? OR If you do remember
you have it, you can never find it anyway, right?
What to do with it? I'll never, ever ask Pack Rats to throw their
cherished junk in the trash. Because if they do, at night while we are
all snoozing, that Pack Rat will tippy-toe out to the trash and drag
back everything they discarded.
But if those Pack Rats know of someone or some organization that will
love and value their cherished clutter as much as they do, they often
find it easy to get rid of stuff. For that reason, in my
soon-to-be-released book, THE CLUTTER-BUSTING HANDBOOK,
I wrote a chapter called "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Clutter." The whole
chapter is devoted to people and organizations to whom you can donate
your stuff, and they will happily use it and love it.
(Such a sneaky way for me to plug my upcoming book:))
Back to the questions to ask yourself. Are you keeping it because they
are memories of a person or time in your life that is important?
Memories are in your mind and in your heart, not in a dusty box buried
under a ton of other boxes, that you never look at.
A few baby outfits and one or two pieces of your children's art projects
will work as well as several outfits & all of their art work. A few
photos in some albums or boxes that are manageable will work better than
tons of boxes containing millions of photos that you never look at.
Stop being "Clutter Numb" and start questioning everything that seems
like clutter.
- Will I really wear these old clothes if I ever
lose weight?
- Will I ever find time to read these old
magazines or catalogs?
- Do I have to keep every single piece of paper
that comes across my desk? Why?
- Is most of this stuff just junk? Why am I
keeping things that are broken, stained & ugly?
- If I don't like it or never use it, why am I
giving it valuable space?
If there's not enough room for all my stuff,
maybe I don't need more room, maybe I need less stuff.
You'll think of other questions to ask. And don't you agree that these
questions deserve to be answered? Aren't you sick & tired of being
smothered by clutter?
Today, try getting rid of just one thing you never need or use. You'll
be surprised to observe that the world doesn't come to an end.
Hmmmmmmm, I'm not sure why they've included my March schedule (below).
Maybe to warn you that the April Tip Sheet will be a bit late. When you
see the schedule, you'll understand.
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Where's Rita In March?
3/1&2 Sacramento, CA (Foster & Kinship Care Ed.)
3/9 St. Charles, IL (The Connections Conference)
3/10&11 Columbus, OH (Special Ed Professionals)
3/12-27 giving talks on a Panama Canal Cruise (IS SHE LUCKY OR WHAT??)
3/31-4/4 San Juan, Puerto Rico (World Entrepreneurs' Organization))
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