20) Don’t organize
By · Comments- You shoes- do you really need 10 or 20 or 80 pair of shoes
- Your books – see my previous blog post
- Your DVD’s or CD’s (guilty here) major sign of procrastination
- Your stamp collection unless you’re Hercule Poirot
- Anything that doesn’t lead to an increase in productivity or a simplification of life
In all seriousness it’s OK to organize some of these things but you must stop and ask yourself the following questions:
- Is this really procrastination?
- How will this lead to me saving time or adding measurable productivity to my life or work.
- Even if this needs to be organized is it a priority to do it right now?
If you’re stuck, then sometimes action of any kind will help you get moving and achieve little successes. In that case pull out the books and clean out the pantry. Take the dog for a walk or mow the grass. Lift some boxes and sweat a little, then quickly get back to the things that matter today.
I am terrible at this and that’s exactly why I’m writing it.
19) Organize Your Life-Simplify
By · CommentsThis is something a little different. It’s basically me talking (and rocking unfortunately) while I discuss four ways I simplify my life. The surprise ending has one thing I don’t do which simplifies my life. For those who read this blog but don’t know me, this will give you a little glimpse on the goofy side of me. You can also learn more here.
The question is why simplify life? For me it means more time to focus on the meaningful things. It means more time to pursue creativity and passions. For me it means more time with family, more volunteering and more time with my Lord, Jesus Christ. It means more time to change the world of politics, or health or business. It means more time to build the BOC and KOG. It doesn’t mean more time to sit around and focus on me or to watch TV or to play video games. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that”-hat tip Seinfeld.
Simplify Your Life from Bryce Raley on Vimeo.
18) Organize your Mac
By · CommentsI just bought a MAC about 3 months ago. So I’m not going to pretend to tell you how to organize a MAC. I am quite the amateur on a MAC. I am getting much better and learning a lot each day-so much so that sometimes I feel less comfortable working on my PC.
Still all that being said- if you read this blog and if you don’t have time to keep up with productivity type blogs, then here are a few links to get you started organizing and optimizing you MAC.
Merlin Mann takes you on a tour of his Menu bar and desktop on the MAC.
Lifehacker’s top 10 things you forgot your MAC could do.
Lifehacker’s guide for switching to a MAC.
16) Organize Your Memorabilia
By · Comments
Where do you store all of your memorabilia? If you’re like many, this could pass as your garage. Now amongst this mess of clutter surely there is more than just some keepsakes. The problem is that you fear losing the important because it is mixed in with the unimportant. So you do nothing.
My goal here is to give you a few tips to organize your memorabilia from a minimalist’s perspective.
Limit yourself to how much you can store away. If most of the items are small like books, framed pictures, binders, crafts or sports keepsakes; then pick too small Rubbermaid bins. You can either buy see-through ones or label them- your choice. I’m not splitting hairs here. If the items are larger get one large Rubbermaid bin, the kind people store Christmas trees in.
Take items like sports shirts, hats and jackets; cut out the emblem, logo or team name and give them all to someone who sews or knits. Have them create a blanket or throw rug. It doesn’t matter what, use your creativity.
Take items like papers, awards or certificates and capture them digitally; then have a backup strategy for your digital images. I’m not getting into this because there are a million ways- choose one and do it. Flickr, Picaso, backup with a flash drive, a second portable hard drive, just try something to start with and you can change it later.
My wife loves to scrapbook, so this helps us store lots of photos and purge down the rest. If you don’t like to scrapbook then people will do this for you for a fee.
I keep a file folder in our filing system and call it Posterity. I put golf score cards, pictures, travel information, kids art projects and many other things in there. Occasionally we go through and frame these things or scrapbook them.You could do the same.
As a minimalist type, I like to keep just the really neat memorabilia on the walls or out for decorations. The rest goes in the bins. The rest is sold or given away. If you put everything neat on the wall or the shelves then nothing gets noticed. Imagine walking into a room though with just one amazing mind blowing print. I bet your guests would mention it. Be hard not to.
