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Blog: Minimizing Financial Clutter
 The Pot of Gold at the Beginning of the Rainbow
Several of my clients complained (loudly) to me this week about their mail: Too much junk. Too many advertisements disguised as "official" documents that warn of severe fines and/or imprisonment if someone other than the intended recipient opens them. Too many periodicals that they have repeatedly asked to no longer receive. Pesky "convenience checks" from credit card companies that must be shredded. Solicitations for even more credit cards. Too many things that take their time and attention away from what they would really rather be doing.
It's funny though… Nobody complained about having to open an envelope that contained a check. Nobody complained about receiving a birthday card from a relative. Nobody complained about getting a reply to a letter. Maybe opening the mail isn't such a chore after all. Sometimes there are nuggets of gold among the lumps of coal.
Legend says that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I say that the pot of gold is actually at the beginning of the rainbow. Because that's where the unknown possibilities reside. Imagine that there is a rainbow painted across the top of your desk. The "pot" is the stack of mail that appears in your mailbox every day. Retrieve the mail, and put it on the left-hand corner of the rainbow. Now you're ready to search for gold!
There are just 3 "gold-mining rules":
1. You have to pick up and open one piece of mail at a time,
2. Once you pick up and open a piece of mail you have to put it somewhere on the rainbow, and
3. You can't put it back on the left-hand corner of the rainbow!
Now, imagine that there are three small "pots" along the rainbow. The small pots have the following names:
· DELEGATE IT (give it to someone else)
· DEAL WITH IT (pay the bill, answer the letter, make the call, take it to the bank, etc.)
· DISTRIBUTE IT (file papers you need to keep)
You'll put your mail in the appropriate pot as you open each piece. You've found the gold, and you've put each nugget in a safe place. Now…what about the lumps of coal, the "junk" that irritates you so much? Well, they go in the last pot, at the other end of the rainbow:
· DUMP IT (toss, shred or recycle things you don't need or want)
Instead of looking at the day's mail as a "pot of pains in the neck", when you take your mail out of the mailbox, why not try to eagerly anticipate the pleasurable possibilities that you might just find? You never know what nuggets of gold may reside in the pot at the beginning of your rainbow.
posted on: 3/16/2008 11:30:00 AM by Katherine Trezise
category: Finances
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Minimizing Financial Clutter
by Katherine Trezise
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About Katherine:
Katherine Trezise is president of Absolutely Organized, based in Baltimore, MD. She is president-elect of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. Katherine holds a masters degree in business administration, is a Certified Professional Organizer® and a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization®. Absolutely Organized specializes in helping people organize their homes, paperwork and financial records to make room in their lives for the things, people and activities that are most important to them.
Katherine's Website:
www.absolutely-organized.com
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