Is your business ready to go paperless?

First of all, lets begin by defining the term paperless. The definition of paperless involves the storage or communication of information in electronic form, rather than on paper.

This concept has triggered a lot of businesses to go paperless due to the benefits it creates. Not to mention, it’s environmentally friendly. As people adapted to the idea, the money market grabbed it and ran with it hence the Nook, scanning apps, and lets not forget, online banking.

Who knew there’d be a day we can take a photo of an endorsed check and it is deposited into our accounts with out stepping foot in a bank. Mind blown!

Paperless is definitely a great way to have access to your documents wherever you are plus, it gets your physical environment less cluttered. The real issue is, the theory in going paperless may not always be the best solution for everyone, especially if you haven’t done proper research. In order to convert, you must have the proper equipment, software and be willing to fully adapt into this lifestyle.

The idea of going paperless is an evolution to the way we manage paper, but the truth is one can never be 100% paperless.

Let’s dig in a little deeper and start with conversion.

If you want to convert all old/archive documents to electronic, it will take time.

Not just 1-2 days but more like 2-3 months (if that) of sorting, tossing, scanning and re-naming every single document to your storage system.

Once that is done, you’d need to include a backup system where you can frequently backup your documents (once a day, once a week or once a month). These systems include, hard drives and/or cloud based systems. With that said, you will need to have some knowledge of technology.

For example, I save all business related materials to my Google Drive and for my Mac user clients; I like to us Time Machine. Google Photos is also a great backup system that allows you to store your beloved photos! Memories!

In order to hop on the paperless movement, you’d also need to invest in a quality scanner. When it comes to scanning boxes of archives, having a great scanner will make the process easier and quicker.

The Fujitsu B005 Image Scanner ScanSnap iX500 (they also have an Evernote Edition), which can scan to either your Mac or PC, is a great one.

A less expensive but good scanner is the Canon CanoScan LiDE220 Photo and Document Scanner.

It’s easy to use and can send your documents straight to the Cloud with just a press of a button. If this is too much, thank goodness for the app world, if you don’t have loads of paper to scan, there are plenty of scanning apps like TurboScan and Scanner Pro that let you scan just with one click.

Because the idea of being completely paperless is still evolving, here are a couple of documents that are required to be in paper format: passports/licenses, tax returns/receipts for seven years, birth/death certificates, deeds/stock certificates, social security card, mortgage paperwork and wills/legal papers.

Therefore, as a business owner, it is important to keep the documents you can’t switch in a lockbox or safe.

These types of storages are great investments that help avoid damages due to natural disaster or from being stolen.

I can go on and on about the pros and cons of becoming paperless and give you tips on how to do it but at the end, it all depends on your comfort levels.

Effectively reducing the usage of paper isn’t a one-time thing and wont go into extinction for many years. As long as your goal is moving away from paper and creating an environment that encourages the morality of preventing environmental waste, your business will be on track.

Enhancing business practices to decrease paper usage is inevitable now, but implementing the proper tools will get your business closer to the goal of being paperless.

To avoid error as a business owner, I can’t stress this enough, it is crucial to maintain organization in all aspect of your business. Whether it be making your process fully digital to removing unnecessary clutter. Being organized will not only save you time but it will save you money.

Are you ready to receive the expert assistance, encouragement, and accountability on how to keep your Business in order?  Reserve your courtesy Organizing Breakthrough Session today!

©  2016 Rescue My Space  | Rescue My Space | RMS Team Email: http://info@rescuemyspace.com Subscribe to email updates to receive guidance, resources and tools to create a more Organized Business and Purposeful Lifestyle.

5 Important Tools For Keeping Your Business In Order

Businesses that discount the importance of internal organization may be placing themselves at a significant disadvantage. Disorganized working environments and operational processes that are inefficient or poorly designed can easily result in lost productivity, missed opportunities or obstacles that may keep employees and staff from being able to realize their full potential. The following five tools can all play a key role in ensuring that businesses are able to maintain a higher standard of organization and avoid many of the most common and costly problems caused by ineffective communication, outdated organizational methods or an inability to optimize the efficiency of everyday operations.

Task-management Resources

Tracking and managing important projects can be a far greater challenge for businesses that lack the right task-management resources. Software and digital applications make it easier to keep track of progress, organize tasks based on priority or deadlines, as well as ensure that all staff and departments involved in a project are able to be more effectively managed. Relying on conventional methods to manage and organize multiple tasks is rarely the most beneficial solution, and use of outdated task-management resources may be creating more problems than many businesses may realize.

Workflow Automation

Automating multiple workflow processes and various aspects of daily operations can provide a wide range of benefits. Highly-automated working environments make it possible for businesses to do any of the following:

• Maintain a smaller staff in order to reduce overhead and operational expenses;
• Maximize the efficiency of teams and departments; and,
• Reduce lost productivity caused by mistakes, inaccuracies and human error.

Software, programs and digital applications that allow employees to work smarter rather than harder can be an essential tool for improving and maintaining internal organization.

Cloud Storage and File-sharing Services

Maintaining an orderly and well-organized digital workspace is a consideration that no business or professional can afford to overlook. Limiting access to key files, specific applications and essential data to specific terminals that are only available to on-site employees can greatly complicate organizational efforts. Cloud storage solutions that provide workers with superior flexibility and the means to access digital infrastructure, applications and data from a wider range of environments ensures that minor organization issues can be more quickly and easily addressed and resolved. Limiting access to the digital working environment often means that relatively minor organizational concerns are far more likely to develop into larger more serious issues.

Financial Management Applications

Financial management and bookkeeping can often be one of the most important aspects of business organization. Financial resources that have been mismanaged may lead to issues and problems that impact daily operations. Utilizing bookkeeping software that allows for superior financial organization, more accurate bookkeeping or the generation of detailed financial reports and analytical materials ensures that businesses can more easily stay on top of their finances and accounts. Accounting inaccuracies stemming from poor financial organization have the potential to cause no end of problems and issues that businesses would be wise to avoid.

Communication Management Solutions

Improving communication between staff, departments and even entire operations can have a profound impact on business-wide organization. Employees who lack information that is both accurate and up to date may be unable to effectively resolve issues and are far more likely to suffer from impaired efficiency due to bottlenecks and duplication of efforts. Investing in a unified communications management system that ensures employees are able to send email, texts and even voicemail without issue can benefit several aspects of business organization and operation. Ensuring that employees and associates are able to benefit from improved communication can eliminate many organizational issues entirely.

Jessica Kane is a professional writer who has an interest in keeping things organized and in order. She currently writes for FlexCon, a leading vendor of corrugated plastic bins and boxes.

 Are you ready to receive the expert assistance, encouragement, and accountability on how to keep your business in order?  Reserve your courtesy Organizing Breakthrough Session today!

  ©  2016  Rescue My Space  | Rescue My Space|  RMS Team Email:  http://info@rescuemyspace.comSubscribe to email updates to receive guidance, resources and tools to create your own Purposeful Lifestyle.

7 Mobile Apps That Will Jumpstart Your Business

With the ever so changing society, the process in which businesses were ran has completely evolved.

Rather than having one department handle all expenditures, individual employees are taking full responsibilities of their own expenses as far as even getting contracts signed without the client being present.

Because of this, businesses are steadily increasing the way they maximize their productivity and function. The before no hands on process is becoming a full hands on practice where the entire business works together to become more successful.

Here are seven wonderful business apps that will both help organize your business and increase productivity.

1. Wrike

Wrike is an online project management software that sets priorities and aligns your team to work faster and smarter across your organization (effective time management).

With the increase in pace, collaborations and now remote workers, the app allows businesses to work efficiently without setbacks.

If for any reason work needs to be done outside of the workplace, Wrike makes the project management aspect of the project mobile.

2. Expensify

This is an app that makes calculating expenses simple.

Whether you are traveling, need to be reimbursed or even capture mileage, expensify takes the difficulty out of expense recording and makes the process exciting and most importantly stress-free.

3. Freshdesk

With a slogan geared towards the happiness of customers, freshdesk is a great app to have.

It was created to make it easy for businesses to communicate with their customers and vice versa.

With the increase importance in customer service, which we all know is crucial for a successful business, freshdesk takes the lead in how they promote the outlaw of bad customer service.

4. Evernote

What other great thing can I say about Evernote. Well one is they love elephants just like me!

On a serious note, Evernote has taken the way we write notes to another world. Keeping notes organized both business and personal at times has its challenges and with the numerous of notebooks and notepads available, our notes tend to get lost. This app not only helps you keep track of your notes, projects or pictures, you are able to access them instantly on all of your devices.

With the handy dandy search tool, you can find any information that was saved. Need I say more!

5. Audio Memos

Another note taker app but for the voice is Audio Memos.

With its intuitive interface, it is easy to use and has many features that include, pausing during incoming calls, no time limit on recordings, variable speed scrubbing (To go forward or backward in an audio) and usb file transfers and many more.

All voice recordings can be uploaded to Evernote! (mic dropped).

6. My Minutes

As mentioned in the previous blog post, in order to manage how you spend your time, it is necessary to use a time record (log).

This app makes the process of recording time seamless and takes the headache out of remembering.

My Minutes also allows you to create personal goals, set the days your tasks repeat and notifies you when you’ve hit your goal.

As you continue hitting your goals, the app incorporates green streaks that reminds you of your accomplishments as well as motivates you to keep on going.

7. Dropbox Business

One of the most secured file sharing and storage solution that keeps all files in one place and with the proper space, ensures everything is always backed up.

With it’s sharing capabilities, your team is able to share, sync, and organize files instantly and quickly.

One of the best features Dropbox has is their file recovery.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called because a client has lost a file. The panic in their voice was enough for me to recommend this awesome app.

 Are you ready to receive the expert assistance, encouragement, and accountability to incorporate organizational skills into your business?  Reserve your courtesy Organizing Breakthrough Session today!

  ©  2016  Rescue My Space  | Rescue My Space|  RMS Team Email:  http://info@rescuemyspace.comSubscribe to email updates to receive guidance, resources and tools to create your own Purposeful Lifestyle.

8 Time Management Tips for the Workplace and your Life

“Time management helps you sow more and better so you can reap more and better”

-Brian Tracy

All accomplishment requires time. Whether it be finishing an essay or learning how to ride a bike, time is needed. Time is irreplaceable and there is no substitute for it, therefore, once it’s gone it’s gone. Time management develops judgment and self-disciple, which is a quality of great leader.

Time management helps you work smarter and not harder, and increase the quality and quantity of your output. Time management is the most important skill adding to the success of an individual or a business. Successful people use their time well making their ability to earn more revenue accessible. Below are tips on how to use time management in the workplace. It is crucial you use these tips systematically to increase your overall life. Remember, time lost can never be regained.

Before you begin reading ask yourself, what is the most valuable use of your time?

Tip #1: Plan Plan Plan

Plan each day, week and month in advance. Make a list of tasks or ideas that need to be done and accomplished. For each day, plan the night before.

Plan during the weekend for the upcoming week and in the beginning of the month for the month ahead.

Doing so gives you a good overview of how the day, week or month will flow to prevent you from veering off or getting distracted.

Tip #2: Set Priorities for each task

Be clear on which of your tasks are important (valuable not urgent) and complete it. Furthermore, for those tasks, determine the time you’d like to complete the important tasks and be sure you work that one task until it is complete.

Once it’s complete, you can move on to the next one.

Tip #3: Breakdown tasks into small steps

Procrastination is usually derived from the overwhelming feeling of your major tasks at hand. To overcome this, try breaking down tasks into simple small steps and do it one step at a time.

If your task/goal is to prepare a speech, try breaking down the speech into small categories you’d like to talk about rather than as a whole.

Tip #4: Clarify your Goals

Similar to setting priorities to each task, this tip dissects your goals even further.

Write down all of your goals in your notepad, planner or agenda and determine which of these goals take precedence.

Next to each goal letter it with either an “M” (most important) “N” (not too important) or an “L” (less important), designating the goals that are most important and less important.

Once those goals are determined, organize those goals that have a “M” next to them, a “N” next to them and so on. Once you’ve finished this step, in each category number each goal starting from one and write it next to the category.

When you determine the most important goal on your list (this is the goal that determines how you accomplish all of your goals on your list) write down all of the actions it will take to finish this goal.

Tip #5: Concentrate

Learning how to concentrate is an essential key to success.

When you are able to concentrate on a high priority task, you are then filled with energy and once it’s complete, that same energy transforms into excitement which is brought on due to the accomplishment you’ve experienced.

Tip #6: Eliminate Distractions

With social media and electronics being easily accessible, the levels of distraction are at an all time high.

To prevent time wasting, remove all elements around you that cause distractions.

For example, put your phone on “do not disturb” when you are working on an important task. Avoid answering emails, voicemails or IMs.

Delete all your social media accounts from your browser to prevent you from checking them. Control human interruptions by either putting a sign outside of your door saying “Busy”or locking your door to avoid intrusions.

Tip #7: Create a Time Record

Allocate where your time is going and keep track of what you’re spending all of your time on. Each time you do something, log the time you spent on that task.

Whether it is answering a phone call, time spent at a meeting or even socializing, log your time and analyze how you’re spending your time.

Ask yourself, if the time you are spending is consistent with your goals, or if you’re spending it on things that are important to you. If you see that your time is not being used wisely, keep modifying your plan.

Tip #8: Delegate

Give/Outsource everything you can to someone else. It is important not to waste your time doing low priority tasks if success is your goal.

Delegating them out to someone who can do the work at a less price allows you to focus on those tasks that have a higher return. When you delegate a task, first think through what you need done.

Then, give the task to the right person. Next make sure the task is clearly defined (include a deadline).

Last, check it to make sure it was done right and on time.

Are you ready to receive the expert assistance, encouragement, and accountability to increase your time management skills?  Reserve your courtesy Organizing Breakthrough Sessiontoday!

Subscribe to email updates to receive guidance, resources and tools to create your own Purposeful Lifestyle. Email:  http://info@rescuemyspace.com.

© 2016  Rescue My Space  | Rescue My Space|  RMS Team

Tips for Getting Organized at the Workplace

So we all know when work gets hectic, the first thing that appears out of order is our workspace.

Deadlines are missed, meetings go over its allotted time and paperwork … don’t let me start on paperwork.

As time passes, the chaos is put on the back burner and now your workplace turns into frustration no one wants to deal with.

The thing is, as long as you continue ignoring the pandemonium around you, your business begins its downward spiral.

Time management goes out the door, you begin to lose focus and worst of all you lose money.

The good news is the moment you come to the realization of the disarray, you can  turn it around and start fresh again.

Lets go through some tips on how to effectively organize your workplace.

1. Determine work “Regions”

Establish what type of action happens in each area of your office. This includes your main workspace, a reference area and a supply area. It is important to make sure the appropriate equipment and supplies are located in the proper area as much as possible. This is to make sure after use each item is in its place.

2. Focus on the Important and Urgent Tasks

If your tasks are neither important nor urgent try not to focus on such tasks. Make sure the important tasks are in fact important and work on those first. When complete, focus on the urgent tasks. All others can be dealt with on your spare time (emails, voicemails). Before your day starts, make a list of tasks you need to accomplish before you leave for the day.

3. Use an Organizer/Calendar

When it comes to listing your daily tasks, try using an organizer to jot them down. This keeps everything in one location which not only prevents you from forgetting what's important but it also helps you accomplish your goals. 

4. File weekly

Avoid letting your filing pile accumulate. A great rule of thumb is to place all completed paperwork in a “To be Filed” folder or storage bin and file everything once a week. Do not skip on this step because with consistency, it will help minimize the build up of paperwork on your desk and around the workplace.

5. Make a “Conference” folder

Put all items that need to be discussed, handed out, as well as next week’s topic in this folder. It’ll help you be prepared for meetings, effectively guide you through the meeting and keep everyone included in the meeting up-to-date on the latest information regarding the meeting.

6. Create an “Awaiting/Pending Response” (APR) folder

A lot of the paperwork we have on our desk are the prime cause to the clutter at work. They are usually put on hold until someone else responds or acts. Placing such papers in an APR folder will keep them at one place making it easy to get to when this stage is completed. Try checking it every 2-3 days for unresolved actions you may need to follow-up on.

7. Straighten your desk

At the end of every workday other than writing down the next day's tasks,  straighten your desk so you have a fresh start the next day. Discard what you do not need, place important documents in a designated folder and most importantly keep everything in its proper place. Because a messy desk makes it difficult for individuals to concentrate, keeping a clean desk will increase focus, boost morale and decrease stress levels.

Are ready to receive the expert assistance, encouragement, and accountability on how to keep your workplace organized?

Reserve your courtesy Organizing Breakthrough Session today!

©  2016  Rescue My Space  |Rescue My Space|  RMS Team Email:  http://info@rescuemyspace.com

Subscribe to email updates to receive guidance, resources and tools to create your own Purposeful & Organized Lifestyle.

Continue being Beautiful

Judi

Ready to be the best YOU? Incorporate these 4 life changers.

So just a few years ago I found myself clawing for perfection. The way I spoke, behaved, and looked had to be perfect. Not perfect like no strands out of place, but more so like Nicole Kidman in The Stepford Wives ... a robot! The idea of coloring outside of the line scared the shit out of me and the thought of not being the best at everything wasn’t even an option.

During this time work was going haywire, school felt like a battlefield and family – lets just say we could’ve been better. Everything was chaotic!

My space was in shambles, my mind was emotionally cluttered and life just sucked.

I discovered that the lack of creating order in my physical environment was affecting my entire life. The moment I began to get everything in order, I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Though the light was at a great distance, it was still there. It may sound bizarre but what I’ve learned over the years is that a cluttered, dirty, or confusing environment can cause us to feel worried, sad, helpless and out of control.

Instead of throwing in the towel, I decided to get a grip and organize. Here is what you need to be the best you.

1. Clear your Mind

As we all know, where there’s chaos, clarity does not exist and clarity is necessary to evaluate every situation we are in. When your space is in order and it exudes beauty, stress diminishes and you are able to focus more.

2. Create Order around You

As mentioned before, order helps remove chaos in all its glory. As much as we hated when our parents told us what to do growing up, order had to be present for us to mold into civilized individuals.

If you hadn’t noticed organizing has been present in your life since birth.

Though it may not seem as though we were taught to categorize or systematize our existence, without it we’d be lost.

3. Calm your Spirit

In the center of our body is this wonderful magnificent entity called our soul. When you surround yourself in an environment that allows your soul to speak through you, the wonders it creates is out of this world.

Meditation is a powerful act that sanctions the body and soul to be one.

The power of organizing creates a space that makes the act of meditating achievable.

4. Invite in Money

As you probably know, I love everything about Feng Shui and what I have found us by using its techniques, it can bring in money as well.

As mentioned in my previous blog post, adding specific colors in your corners, according to the Bagua Map, can exemplify the energy that flows through it.

This method also works in your money corner aka Power & Wealth.

Purple is a color that is associated with royalty, nobility, luxury and power so be sure to incorporate purple in your money corner and see what happens!

Are you ready to receive the expert assistance, encouragement, and accountability to gain back control of your life?  Reserve your courtesy Organizing Breakthrough Session today!

Subscribe to email updates to receive guidance, resources and tools to create your own Purposeful Lifestyle.

 Continue being beautiful!

Judi

How to truly live & be rich

How’d you like to learn how to organize all of your financial documents and live rich? Better yet, what if I showed you how to efficiently sort all of your documents in different categories, which will in turn alleviate all of your money problems? If either of these questions interests you and you’re ready to change your life then you may want to continue reading.  

I know! Just the thought of coming up with a system for organizing all of your financial papers is a task we usually put on the back burner. Who wants to spend their weekend rumbling through documents that involve money and lack there of. Though this process is daunting, it’s probably the most important thing you could ever do in your life. Not only that, it can take you from being average to being rich (or your definition of rich). If you are always in a blur about where your money goes and need to finally stop it from running your life, then this is for you. If you are living paycheck to paycheck and is constantly afraid of getting fired, then this is for you? If you are unsure of what will happen to your family after you die, then this is for you. And finally, if you are tired of searching for a “Get Rich” system and are ready to discover a system (created by you) that actually works, then this really is for you. Just remember, this is a process and will take some time but at the end it will all be worth it.

Items you’ll need:

• 11 Hanging folders
• 40-50 File folders
• A glass of wine (optional)

Ok so lets get started!

Hanging Folder #1 Tax Returns

This folder will have eight file folders where each folder will house all tax returns documents dating back seven years including this year (2009-2016). Documents include W-2 forms, 1099, 1040EZ and etc. — you get the idea! For example, folder one will be labeled 2009 and folder eight will be labeled 2016. It is important that you find all of your tax returns and put them in this folder because this is usually how far the IRS can go when they decide to audit you.

Hanging Folder #2 Retirement Accounts

This folder will have all of your retirement statements from your IRAs to your 401K. Depending on the number of accounts you have will determine the amount of file folders to add. For every account you have, make sure you keep every quarterly statement you receive. This helps you keep track of what’s going on with your accounts and how your money is growing.

Hanging Folder #3 Social Security

This folder will only maintain your most recent social security statement. If you are not receiving social security as of 2014 you should be receiving statements three months before your birthday. For more information visit https://www.ssa.gov or contact them at 1-800-772-1213.

Hanging Folder #4 Investment Accounts

This folder will hold all of your investment account documents. For every account you have, create a file folder.

Hanging Folder #5 Savings and Checking Accounts

Create separate file folders for both accounts if applicable. Because it’s best to update your statements monthly, at the end of the year you should have 12 statements for each account you possess. If you online bank and prefer the paperless process, I’d recommend you put a note in this assigned account folder stating you’ve saved that month’s statement via online.

Hanging Folder #6 Household Accounts

This folder will contain file folders for your House title, Home Improvements (all the receipts for all home improvement work) and Mortgage (monthly statements). Be sure you constantly check your mortgage statements so that you are not surprised by charges you are unaware of. If you are renting, this folder will contain your lease, your deposit receipt and your rental payment invoices.

Hanging Folder #7 Credit Card Debt

The scary “D” word. In this folder you will create file folders for every credit card you have and house all of your monthly statements. As mentioned before, if you online bank, make sure you record your monthly statement and keep a note in its folder. This allows you to see all of the charges on your accounts and shows you your progress or your regression.

Hanging Folder #8 Other Liabilities or Loans

In this folder you will include all of your loans with the exception of your mortgage or credit card debt and put each loan in their own individual file folder. These loans include: personal loans, car loans, school loans, you get the gist!

Hanging Folder #9 Insurance

This folder will include all of the statements of your insurance policies including car, life, health, homeowners, etc.

Hanging Folder #10 Family Will or Trust

This folder will hold a copy of your will or trust. If you haven’t created a will, go do it now. You will thank me later.

Hanging Folder #11 Children’s Accounts

If you don’t have children yet then you don’t have to worry about this folder. If you do, this folder will house college savings account records and investments for your children.

Yay! We are finally at the end. How does it feel? It may feel a bit overwhelming but I promise you it is all worth it. As long as you begin this system, you have already made a difference in your life. Remember you don’t have to do it all in one day and it will take some time to master it. If you have any questions about any step or just need help creating one, please feel free to contact me.

Also, be sure to read Smart Couples Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Creating a Rich Future for You and Your Partner by David Bach. I’ve utilized his system (mentioned above) for one year now and it has transformed the way I view money and has allowed me to know how my money is working for me. I am on my way to becoming rich $$$.

“You don’t have to be rich to live rich”

Be Wonderful!

How to effectively downsize to an Assisted Living Community

Have you ever had to make the heart wrenching decision to send your parents to an assisted living community? Did they take the news well? The idea of downsizing period can be a difficult topic to discuss. Downsizing can be particularly difficult for seniors because of the of accumulated possessions they’ve held on to over the years. The fact is, they will not only be leaving a home that held so many memories, they will be losing tons of both space and storage space. Whether you or a loved one is downsizing, here are some tips on how to make downsizing positive and less stressful.

Arrange the new bedroom to resemble your old room

The goal of making your new space feel like home is to arrange your new space to look like the room from your previous home. For instance, arrange the bedroom so that when you wake up, you will see the same bookshelves, books, souvenirs, and family photos as it was in your previous home. Just be sure that the room has the space for it. Because the goal is to prevent new clutter from reoccurring, it is important to leave out the items that have not been used, touched or thought about.

Draw up a floor plan of the new place

Measure exactly how much closet, cabinet space and square footage the new place has (assisted living communities will provide this information if you ask) and us the comparable space as a visual guide. This will help you decide which pieces of furniture will work best in the new space and help with deciding what will fit into the new space. It also makes it easier to imagine what it will look like when moved in.

Let it go

It is easier to let go of things if we feel they are going to benefit someone else. Being a blessing to someone in need helps the process letting go more meaningful. Let go of what no longer holds value in your life. Here are three questions to ask yourself when deciding if an item adds value to your life.

1. Does it bring happiness?
2. If I went to a store, would I buy it today?
3. Will it make me rich?

If you’ve answered question 1 with a NO, then it may be time to let that item go. If you’ve answered question 2 with a NO then its time to get rid of it. If you’ve answered question 3 with a YES then “Sale It”.

Start with the unsentimental stuff

Beginning the process of downsizing is already a difficult task therefore it is important to start with the unsentimental items first to lessen the difficulties of parting ways. So if the bedroom or kitchen holds a sentimental value, the best place to start would be either the garage or bathroom.

Get help

Having trusted friends and family help your loved one clear their years of clutter can be a massive help when downsizing. This makes the process less stressful because everyone around is able to take part in memories, which help make the process less uncomfortable. In a way, it turns a not so happy situation into a time for your loved one(s) to go down memory lane and share their past experiences. Also, due to their stage in life, seniors are at that age where they’re physically unable to work through task of high volume. If you’re less likely to get help from friends and family, your best bet would be to hire a professional. Professional Organizers, Clutter Coaches or Clutter Consultants are individuals that can help with the process. They are trained to deal with clutter of all sizes and understand what it takes when making a transition.

Happy Downsizing!