Dear Friends,

Happy Anti-Procrastination Day! What are you going to do today that you have been putting off? Hopefully, you are looking forward to Wednesday each week because it means you are making progress on the things that you have been procrastinating.

Your zone mission today is to declutter the things from the top of your nightstand that do not belong on it. Even if you do not need to do a lot of decluttering in this regard, spend a few minutes dusting and straightening it up. I know that I sleep better without a pile of stuff beside of my head.

If you don’t use your full 15 minutes, you can deal with other flat surfaces in your bedroom, or you can do some quick decluttering from your dresser drawers. The main thing is to keep this to 15 minutes and not let it lead into more and more little projects.

Distraction can often derail attempts at decluttering. You start in one area, and before you know it, you have roamed all around the house and not finished the area that you started. This is why it is important to use a box or basket for items to put away. You can put several items in the basket as you declutter, and in the last 5 minutes of your session, you can work your way around the house putting them away.

Check on your children’s rooms today, too. How do their flat surfaces look? Provide them with clear instructions, a trash can, and a basket for items to put away. Ask them to bring you items they want to give away, so you can make a final decision on those items. Use the timer and some fun music.

You really can have fun and declutter at the same time. It is a matter of your attitude. Your attitude will spread to your children. Think about that for a minute. Yes, your good attitude or a bad attitude will spread throughout your home. Determine that today’s zone mission is going to be fun and share that with your children.

We are well into the fourth week of January. Have you started gathering papers for your 2018 taxes? Do you have your files set up? A little tip I can pass on to you is that I set up my yearly tax files at the beginning of the year, so I have a place to file things as they happen throughout the year. This helps me so much when I am working on taxes each year.

Each family has different circumstances regarding taxes, but I can give you a list of files that I think are handy to have each year.

I also have a file for each year’s tax return, W-2’s, 1099’s, etc.

You do not need a complicated system to keep track of your papers for your tax return, but there are certain papers you want to have handy when you are gathering information for your tax preparer.

Your Zone Mission today is to declutter unnecessary items from the top of your nightstand and dust.

Your Home Blessing for today is to wipe windows and mirrors.

My menu plan for Wednesday is chicken.

Have a blessed day!