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Break It Down Again…

Posted on November 9, 2011 by LJ Earnest

We all know that to make a task more manageable you need to break it down. But how often do you not start a task because you think it can’t be broken down any further?

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How Simplifying Choices Can Save Time In the Morning

Posted on October 19, 2011 by LJ Earnest

I wrote a few weeks ago about Eliminating Choices to Get More Done as a way to simplify your life. I took that advice to heart and streamlined my morning routine by eliminating choices.

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Simplify Responding to Email

Posted on October 17, 2011 by LJ Earnest

We have been looking at how to simplify email in two past articles. (The Three-Step Process for Simple Email Processing, Dealing with Email and Filing). Today we’re going to look at simplifying responding to email, so you don’t lose track of the email going out.

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Get Rid of Clutter By Weeding Out Collections

Posted on October 12, 2011 by LJ Earnest

Do you have things around your living space that you keep around because they are part of a collection?

It’s really easy to hold onto things because they are part of a collection. And it’s just as easy to get rid of them, once you recognize why you are holding onto them.

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The Three-Step Process for Simple Email Processing

Posted on October 5, 2011 by LJ Earnest

One of the biggest hassles I hear about these days is the struggle to keep up with email. It’s like people figure it costs nothing to send, so they send out reams of email. Which leave those of us on the receiving end with stuffed inboxes and a sense that we will never get through it all.

But it is possible and fairly easy to use your email program and a few strategies to make email manageable and useful again.

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Maintaining A Level of Simplicity

Posted on September 28, 2011 by LJ Earnest

There are so many books out there on how to simplify your life. And they are good books. They give you step-by-step instructions on how to get rid of clutter, free your schedule and live a less-hectic life.

And then you put the book down, and slowly things creep back.

Here’s why, and what you can do:

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Minimize Cooking With Expanding Leftovers

Posted on September 23, 2011 by LJ Earnest

For those of us who work outside the home, meal time can be a major hassle. Come mid-week I don’t want to be standing in the kitchen at all! To solve this problem, I resort to planned leftovers.

Planned leftovers are not your mother’s leftovers. Not like warmed-over ick. Planned leftovers means taking ingredients from one meal and spinning it into other meals that only bear a minor resemblance to the original. Here are my favorites.

Photo by Ian Sane

Which Is Simpler? Doing It Yourself? Or Teaching?

Posted on September 21, 2011 by LJ Earnest

The old saying is “give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”

But sometimes it is extremely time consuming to teach the person to fish. And often times if we need something done quickly, it is easier to do it ourselves.