This is my first business blog, and I’m excited to start the new year off by helping people get organized and less stressed! So here goes…
Do you ever get overwhelmed? Ok, it’s a dumb question because I know the answer to it already. But just by asking the question, I’ve gotten you thinking about all the things that overwhelm you. What are some of those things? For me, it’s stuff. I have more than some people and less than others, and, while I know I’m never going to have the most, I also know I’ll probably never have the least amount of stuff either.
By starting my business, I have learned that the key is simplifying, and this means keeping track of what you have. If you have more than you can keep track of, it’s time to start getting rid of some stuff. For example, owning 3 mice (mouses? meece?) for your computer. Who needs 3 if you only have one you use? I know, they were on sale, and you thought you needed backups. But you don’t need them. They go unused, and they take up space in your drawer and your head because every time you see them you wonder why you still have them. Right? So here’s what you do, right now! Check to see if they all work, donate the one’s that do (except for the one you’re using; otherwise you’ll need to buy more) and throw away the ones that don’t. Yes, if you have a wireless mouse you can keep a wired one as a spare, but that’s it. Once you do this, you will have an immediate rush of relief! Try it!
You may be saying to yourself…”I don’t have anything in multiples; everything is unique”. Even if you just have one of a lot of things, do you really need it all? That’s the question to ask yourself – “Do I need it?”, “Do I/Will I use it?”, and “Does it serve a purpose, for me?”. If you can’t clearly answer these simple questions, you can live without it. And live better! When I go shopping and am drawn in by shiny things (ooooo), before I put them in my cart, I ask – “Do I have one already?”, “Do I need a new one?”, and “What will I do with the old one?”. And the last and maybe most important question is – “Why am I looking at buying something I was not intending to buy today?” According to an August, 2010 online survey commissioned by the National Endowment for Financial Education® and conducted by Harris Interactive, 4 in 5 American adults say they’ve made impulse purchases in the past year, and 66% of those people later regretted it! It’s easy to get drawn in, but that popular saying that goes ‘whoever dies with the most toys, wins’ was made up by people trying to sell you stuff!
The moral here is don’t buy stuff just to buy stuff, and look at the stuff you have to see what stuff you need and what stuff you can do without!