Welcome to my STILL untitled newsletter. “The Purge” was a big front-runner, but my scientific three-person market research on the title brought forth all sorts of less-than-pleasant images of purging, so we remain untitled. Send your ideas people! The mission of my newsletter is to offer you some helpful organizing and productivity tips, share useful tools, fun stuff, and occasional random Anne insight based on whatever shiny objects I happen to be chasing at the time. Enjoy!

April 2021 - Hello Spring!

Oh, how the sun makes everything so much better! Spring has arrived and its warmth gives such a jolt to the senses. I’ve become motivated to do all sorts of things from trim bushes to reorganize the linen closet. The concept of spring cleaning never gets old and gives us all a chance to reset. Decluttering is often a big part of that. One of the biggest hurdles many face when doing this is first letting go of things, and then figuring out what to do with the things you decide to part with. This is what I often hear from my organizing clients struggling to part with something.

“I paid so much money for this…”
“This thing still works, fits, is nice, etc…”
“I don’t want to see this go into the landfill!”

Sound familiar? You are not alone. Here’s how I encourage you to consider these questions as you go through your decluttering/minimizing process.

“I paid so much money for this.”
The money is gone. If you don’t use the item, it’s worthless.

“This thing still works, fits, is nice…”
If you don’t use it or love it, it’s just taking up space.

“I don’t want to see this go into the landfill.”
Neither do I!

There are so many places to donate and recycle your items, most of your things don’t have to end up there. Let’s talk charities — how do you choose? When you struggle with parting with things of value, look inward. Find a charity that aligns with your values and you’ll notice how much easier it becomes to send those items off. Want a faith-based way to help adults in recovery? Donate to the Salvation Army. Are you all about social progress and protecting the environment? Those yellow Planet Aid bins you see in parking lots do just that (bonus points for them — they take clothing in ANY condition as long as it’s clean). Women in domestic violence shelters need your bras, your old work clothes, maybe even those elementary school workbooks you’ve been holding onto. Passionate about your own neighborhood? Every community has worthwhile charities if you do a little research. Bonus points for locals — drop-offs are often super easy and they often take things the big ones can’t.

Check out this guide I created full of ideas for recycling & donating all sorts of items.

Spring Cleaning for Productivity

How about spring cleaning your productivity a little, too? Get into that inbox and do some deleting and unsubscribing. Gmail has a useful built-in “unsubscribe” feature right inside many emails. When you see it - click it and start reducing what comes in. Google’s powerful search function also makes it easy for you to purge many emails at once. I created a few mini-videos of how to do this that you can check out at these links.

April Product Spotlight

Organizing Product of the Month

Duct tape, post-it notes, sharpies, chalk. Never quite the perfect labeling tool for your storage bins. That’s why I’m a big fan of label pockets like these. They adhere strongly to plastic bins and hold a basic 3x5 card. That way if what you’ve got in the bin changes, you just swap out the card.

Productivity Product of the Month

Your desire to spring clean may involve many projects with moving parts. Sometimes a big old whiteboard is the very best way to keep track of what you need to do. And you get that wonderful satisfaction of crossing or wiping off the completed tasks. More of a digital person? Try Trello, a highly visual project management app that can give you the same effect.

Anne’s Thoughts & Observations

Last month I talked about what I was taking away from two books I was reading: Washington, A Life by Ron Chernow, and Atomic Habits by James Clear. Well, the two came together for me this month as the daily 6 am reading habit I created got me through the 800+ page Washington biography. It’s insane how proud I am of this feat.

News About StepOne

New Services

Do you struggle with managing your time? Do you have a million projects swirling about at work or at home that you can’t seem to get traction on? Still trying to find that elusive work-life balance? I can help. I now offer productivity consulting services to help you with prioritizing your tasks, establishing routines, organizing your space and your time to help you get more done. Over a series of six online sessions, we find the tools and techniques best suited for you to help you get and maintain that “productive day feeling.” If you’d like to learn more, you can schedule a free discovery call with me here.

COVID Protocols

At this time I am serving clients in-person and virtually. I only work in-person when social distancing guidelines of six to ten feet of separation can be maintained, and I am always double-masked. In many instances, I work independently in a space, conferring with clients only at the start and end of a session or via phone or video. Virtual organizing and productivity consulting are excellent alternatives, with clients working hands-on with step-by-step guidance from me along the way. Questions about working together? Send me an email, let’s chat!

Next month’s newsletter will be all about paper management. The tax deadline is a great time to review how you deal with your important paper. (You know it moved to May 15 right? If not, you’re welcome. NOW DON’T FORGET — SEND ME SOME NAME IDEAS FOR THIS OPUS. If I choose your name, I’ll give you a free 1-hour consult!