How to reduce what comes into your life
Recycling information
Email tips
Social media tips
Paper tips for mail
Time management tips
Space management tips
How to reduce what comes into your life
Here are some good ways to lessen the amount of extraneous information that comes into your life and lessen the amount of “stuff” in your life:
1. Unwanted calls.
If you never got around to it, sign up for the National Do Not Call List.
It used to expire after a few years but no longer does – YESSSS!
2. Junk mail (option 1)
The following website allows you to opt out of receiving catalogs, coupons, credit offers, phone books, fliers, circulars, newsletters, and other unsolicited mail.
https://www.catalogchoice.org/
For junk mail of this type that I receive, I go to the website, log in, search on the company, and using the exact mailing info, request that I do not receive this item anymore. Once done, I shred any page with personal info on it and recycle the item.
Not all companies participate, and it won’t happen immediately, but my catalog receipt alone has gone down from hundreds per year to a handful. Ahhhhh! A warning: if you later order something from a catalog, you’ll likely end back up on several mailing lists.
Also – I’ve decided to shop locally whenever I can – it’s better for our community anyway!
3. Junk mail (option 2)
Another option for reducing junk mail is by going to the Direct Marketing Association’s mail preference service website:
https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action
This will be good for 5 years.
4. Unwanted credit card offers.
To put a stop to many of those “pre-approved” credit card offers, you can go here:
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t
This will be good for 5 years.
5. Things you no longer want, but may not be worth putting on eBay or a garage-sale effort.
Freecycle! If you haven’t heard of it, this is a great website where you can offer things for free to people who need or want them, so they don’t end up in the landfill!
http://groups.freecycle.org/AustinFreecycle/description
One man’s trash really is another’s treasure – you would be surprised at what others will want and can use!
6. Carefully consider whether to accept giveaways from companies or “FREE stuff” from other people.
Is it really free? Think twice before accepting anything for free. Everything you allow into your life and home requires time, money, space, and energy to maintain, and may “crowd out” something you really want!
Recycling information
Places in the Austin area where you can take common items:
General items
City of Round Rock Deepwood Recycling Center
310 Deepwood Dr
http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/home/index.asp?page=1055
The above page has a lot of great information on recycling options, including motor oil and other hard-to-dispose-of items.
City of Austin Landfill Recycling Diversion Center
They collect items that are too large for your garbage cart during specially-scheduled bulk collections. They sometimes offer free mulch!
512-243-1894 for recycling
512-243-3325 for free mulch
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/sws/residential_bulk.htm
Ecology Action
9th & I-35
http://www.ecology-action.org/
Baby items / maternity items (gently used)
Any Baby Can
1121 E. 7th
http://www.abcaus.org/
Batteries (household, not car)
Batteries Plus
7915 Burnet Rd
http://www.batteriesplus.com/store_details/142.aspx
Books
Recycled Reads (used bookstore operated by Austin Public Library)
Donate Thursdays-Sundays from 12.00 – 6.00 pm at:
5335 Burnet Road
512-323-5123
http://www.recycledreads.org/
Boxes (for moving, new or used), peanuts, bubble wrap
Ecobox
Drop-off or home pick-up! (See website for details)
Round Rock, central, and south locations
http://www.ecobox.com/
Cell phones
Safe Place
512-267-7233
http://www.safeplace.org/
Clothing (women’s, career appropriate)
Dress for Success Austin
701 Tillery Street, Ste. A-5
A little tricky to get to – see ‘Directions and Hours’ on the website
http://www.dressforsuccess.org/affiliate.aspx?sisid=95&pageid=1
Computers, accessories, electronics
Austin Free-Net
512-236-8225
http://www.austinfree.net/
Axcess Technologies
“Axcess Technologies is the one stop solution for all your excess, obsolete or scrap electronic inventory needs”
http://www.axcesstech.net/
Computers for Kids
2928 Manor Road
http://www.c4ktx.org/
Goodwill Computerworks
1015 Norwood Park Blvd.
http://www.austincomputerworks.org/
Household interior/exterior items in good condition (cabinets, hardware, lumber, plumbing supplies, wallpaper, tile, lighting fixtures, etc.)
Austin Habitat for Humanity Re-store
310 Comal St
http://www.re-store.com/
Ink
Office Max – if you are a member of MaxPerks, you can earn $3 in rewards for each qualifying visibly undamaged HP, Dell or Lexmark ink or toner cartridge dropped off in an OfficeMax store location. 10 locations in the greater Austin area.
http://www.officemax.com/storelocator/storeLocatorHome.jsp
Metal
Commercial Metals Company
North – 1704 Howard Lane
South – 710 Industrial Blvd (near I-35 and Ben White)
http://www.cmc.com/Locations.aspx
Recover / Remarket / Recycle
CDN Systems
12510 Trails End Rd, Leander, TX 78641
http://www.cdnsystems.com/
Email tips
- Do NOT have your email open all the time. Instead, have times during the day dedicated to reading and answering your email, and make sure your contacts know this. Let them know what to do if it is truly urgent to contact you.
- If you use a foldering approach in email, you can put an exclamation point (i.e. !) at the start of a folder name to make it sort to the top. This is a good way to flag important folders.
Social media tips
- Make sure your LinkedIn profile is robust, up-to-date, and error-free. It is your resume to the world!
- Build your network BEFORE you need it. If you wait until you are job-hunting or looking for clients to contact people, they may feel taken advantage of and/or sense the desperation.
- Constantly and consciously cultivate your network by sharing information of interest with others, and by contacting people on their birthdays or important days. Keep track of what is going on with their lives so that you can ask relevant questions and let them know you really do pay attention and care!
Paper tips for mail
- Use a NICE container that you will enjoy seeing and using – one that is big enough to hold the volume of mail that accumulates between your sorts.
- Place the container wherever you drop things when you get home.
Time management tips
- Each day, decide on your top 3 High Value Activities (HVAs) for the day – stated in such a way that you can answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as to whether you completed them at the end of the day.
- Each day, answer honestly about whether you accomplished your HVAs or not – consistency will trump heroics every time.
Space management tips
- For each room, decide what activity or activities you do in that room and zone the room using furniture and rugs.
- Store the items for each activity within the zone so that they are easy to retrieve, use, and put away! Be sure to label each item or container and where things go if two or more people use the space.
