Blog: Organizing For Special Needs
Information Overload!

In this age of information, we can find ourselves buried with junk mail, catalogs, magazines, bills, emails and unsolicited phone calls.

What can you do to reduce these distractions, simplify our lives, and respond to what really needs our attention?

MAIL GLUTTONY

1) Contact www.catalogchoice.org to stop catalogs in your mailbox.
Doing it now will eliminate something from your "To-Do" list.

2) If you don't need the yellow pages, then look at the marketing number and call to stop delivery.
It's that simple, and you wont' have to haul them out to the recycle bin again, while thinking about the tremendous amount of wasted paper.

3) Request to get your bills online, and keep your access information in one easy to use spot.
You might write your PINS on the back of your favorite postcard, and pin it to the bulletin board near where you pay your bills, or some other clever way to keep them secure but handy.

4) Enroll in automatic bill pay through your bank. What an amazing time and money saver! You can set it up so that bills can be paid monthly, bi-monthly, and at some banks bi-weekly. I have never had a missed payment, and you don't have to pay for postage.

5) Never let the junk mail touch any surfaces in your home. We keep a recycling basket right next to our mailbox. We drop grocery store flyers, catalogs we won't be needing, donation requests we won't pay this month (don't worry they'll ask again), and other random junk mail directly into this recycling bin.

6) Do you read all of those magazines? Save money, paper, time, and guilt by eliminating unread subscriptions. You can always give the little girl on your doorstep a cash donation for her school, rather than buying 2 more magazines to clutter your house. What is the value of your time, and how much of it is used shuffling paperwork around from one spot to another?

I like to keep an attractive rectangular basket in my kitchen. In it I put all my bills to be paid, and other items I will take care of this month, but not today. I also keep stamps and a pen in this basket.
On the day I choose to pay bills, I make a cup of tea and take my basket to the couch along with my recycle bin. As I pay my bills, I also read and empty what I don't need out of the basket.

If you are keeping track of medical costs, be sure to make note of these as you pay. There are many computer programs that can help you track your expenses, but if you are doing it yourself you can ask your tax preparers advice about how best to save your records. You might use plastic colored envelopes for receipts, or keep a medical file/s that you can easily drop your records inside, to be dealt with at the beginning of the new year.

PHONE ASSAULT

1) Eliminate unwanted solicitors. Contact the "DO NOT CALL" line at 1-888-382-1222. If someone still calls, say you are on the DO NOT CALL list, and ask to please be removed.
Remember to be nice, they are most likely just "the messenger" in a call center, making minimum wage, not the actual company calling you.

EMAIL ATTACK

1) The less that goes out, the less that comes in. Eliminate unnecessary email responses.
2) Change the subject line! This helps you quickly scan and eliminate what mail you don't need.
3) Change your junk mail filter for your incoming mail. It can be set to eliminate any incoming address you don't know.
Add any "Contacts" you want mailing you to your address book. Remember to quickly browse your junk mail occasionally to be sure you're not missing anyone.
You might want more than one email account, one just for family and friends or work, and the other account for shopping or gathering information from companies.


With less coming in to distract us, we have more time for QUALITY in our lives.


Our fondest memories generally include people and places, not random "stuff."

How can we appreciate the small things, like a simple flower in a vase, or having a friend over for a cup of tea ....when the whole table is buried in old junk that we dread dealing with?

Take a little bit of time to deal with information as it comes in , and you will find yourself enjoying a bit of sweet freedom that you didn't expect.

It is definitely worth it!

Lisa Alishio, COTA/L
Clarity Home Consulting

Live Well in Your Home

posted on: 1/9/2008 12:30:00 PM by Lisa Alishio
category: Special Populations

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Organizing For Special Needs

by Lisa Alishio

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About Lisa:

Lisa Alishio, COTA/L, is a professional organizer with a background in pediatric and adult occupational therapy. Her intention is to help people of all ages and abilities to "Live Well in their Home".

Lisa's Website:

clarityhomeconsulting.com