Welcome to Mission #4 of our 52 Get Organized Missions.
If you’ve got your finances sorted now after completing our previous mission (Get Organized Mission #3: Organize Your Bills) then you’ll be happy with this week’s change of pace.
This week’s task involves a mindset shift.
Our aim is to raise the barrier for accepting into your life a source of mental and physical clutter for many people – the ‘freebie’.
Your challenge this week is to spend your 30 minutes:
- Learning how to distinguish the freebies that add to your life in net terms
- Deciding to say NO to all the others.
Remember – you only have to spend 30 minutes to complete the basic mission. If you want to go further check out the Extended Organizing Mission Options below.
Ready?
Get Organized Mission #4: Forgo The Freebies
One of the fundamentals of the Get Organized Wizard philosophy is:
The less of anything you have, the easier it is to get organized and stay organized.
The problem with freebies is that although they may not cost you money, they always cost you in other ways, including time, added clutter and greater barriers to personal organization. Occasionally a freebie is worth the cost; most often it’s not.
Your mission this week is to adjust your mindset so that before you accept any freebie into your busy life, you ask yourself four questions:
Q1: How much money must I spend to get the freebie?
- Do I have to buy particular items or spend a certain amount to ‘qualify’ for the freebie?
- Is the qualifying purchase something I need?
- Is the qualifying purchase worth the price independently of the freebie?
Case Study:
- Don’t spend $100 on beauty products you don’t need to get a free $60 lipstick, if all you really want is the $60 free lipstick.
- Do simply buy and enjoy the $60 lipstick!
Q2: How much time must I spend to use the freebie?
- Do I have to read it, assemble it, learn how to use it, invest time to get value from it?
- How much benefit can I expect from investing that time?
- Is the benefit worth the time?
Case Study:
- Don’t pick up the magazine at the gym or department store just because it’s free if the information quality is poor or the articles are disguised advertorials. It will waste your precious time.
- Do borrow or buy a good book or magazine if you want quality information.
Q3: How much mental clutter will the freebie create?
- Will I feel pressured to use the freebie once I have it, even if it’s not something I’m immediately focused on?
- Will it add an item I don’t genuinely care about to my mental to-do list?
- Is the benefit of having the freebie worth the mental clutter?
Case Study:
- Don’t sign up for newsletters in exchange for free e-books, reports or PDFs on topics that aren’t already top-of-mind for you. Keep your focus on what’s important now to save yourself distraction and concentrate your precious mental energy.
- Do search – and pay, if necessary – for highly relevant, good quality information when you’re ready to use it. It will be worth it in terms of saved mental energy.
Q4: How much physical clutter will the freebie create?
- Will I need to store the freebie?
- Will it create visual clutter in my home, office or life?
- Is the benefit of having the freebie worth the physical and visual clutter?
Case Study:
- Don’t accept your friend’s discarded 237-piece Lladro collection just because ‘it would be a shame to let it go’. Unless you will use/love/enjoy it, it’s cluttro.
- Do let someone else with a yen for Lladro enjoy it, and fill your life with only things that you love.
Dos & Don’ts
- Don’t fret over losing out on stuff. Take a look around – you probably already have more stuff than you can use, read, slather on your face, or enjoy. More will come.
- Do enjoy the feeling of freedom and clarity you get from saying no to things that don’t earn their place in your life.
Extended Organizing Mission Options
Want to go beyond this 30-minute organizing mission?
- You can apply these principles to things on sale, too. Compare the sale price with the total cost:
TOTAL COST = MONEY COST + TIME COST + MENTAL CLUTTER COST + PHYSICAL CLUTTER COST. - If you have kids, this is an excellent mission to discuss with them. In this age of excess, teaching children to assess the value of things means equipping them with a useful skill.
- If you have a cache of free stuff languishing in drawers, the garage or your hard drive, why not take this opportunity to let it go. Create some extra time, space and clarity for yourself.
Ready, Set, Go!
Remember – move quickly, act fast, don’t overthink.
Before You Go – Please Check In
You’re now accountable to your organizing mission-mates! Once you’ve completed this week’s Get Organized Mission please add a comment to let us know you’ve done your assignment and you’re keeping your commitment.
(Click ‘Comment’ at the very top of this post or scroll down to the bottom. Depending on how you’re viewing this post, one of those options will be available for you.)
And see you back here next week!
Update
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Image by koka_sexton
RT @MicheleConnolly Srsly, how can you say no to a free tuba? http://wondermark.com/585/ PS Here's how: http://is.gd/8qpW5
RT @micheleconnolly: Srsly, how can you say no to a free tuba? http://wondermark.com/585/ PS Here's how: http://is.gd/8qpW5
A little late, but done
Freebies aren’t really a problem for me. I don’t take them or keep them if they aren’t something I use. I donate doorprizes I receive that I won’t use and my children’s happy meal toys are tossed after a few days, once they’ve enjoyed them.
This is difficult for me also, but I am learning how much more “stuff” I have to carry around in this head of mine when I go for the freebies. I promisd that I am going to stop this!
Good advice and a mission I started on last year actually when I had to renovate a very cluttered bathroom. I’ve chucked out lots of tiny face products and also got rid of about a thousand loyalty cards from my wallet. Those things are insidious esp the coffee cards.
This was easy. Already in the the paring down mindset. While I check ads and coupons, never buy more than I need. And I never say yes to anything I can’t find a use right away.
This is difficult for me, but I’m working on it. I did manage to get rid of a bunch of un-needed cosmetic-type samples, and have resisted an urge when presented with another sample opportunity:)
This is an interesting mission. I for one am guilty of grabbing something “just because its free”. And also holding on to things that were given to me just because I dont want to hurt anyones feelings. But I know thats not a good way to live, otherwise we’d be neck deep in stuff. I also can’t say this is “done” because it will be an ongoing battle but I will definitely think twice before I spend money to “save money”.
This has been a tough one for me. I am quite rational most of the time but when freebies are mentioned I lose all sensible thought and have an overwhelming urge to acquire. I suspect this will be an ongoing issue for me for quite some time but I really want to work at it
Done – I always look at the coupons and see if i need anything first, most of the time they end up in the bin – unused. However, i grabbed the coupons from the free calendars i was given and have put the January ones in my grocery purse – so i can pick them up if i need too.
not sure I can actually say this is ‘done’ but certainly good food for thought and a good goal to work toward.
I don’t like to shop… I only shop when I cannot con someone else to do it for me. Fortunately, my darling husband loves to shop and for the most part, is a smart shopper.
When I do shop, I shop from menus and lists. When I go shopping with my sisters (this is supposed to be a bonding experience), I know what I want, get it, and then I am ready to leave. My sisters have to look at EVERYTHING! They can tell you what is new on such-and-such shelf and which stores are selling what for the lowest prices. It drives me mad because they are both impulse shoppers.
Now we meet at a restaurant and chat over cups of tea and a nice salad. We REALLY visit! An added bonus is that they are saving money by not being exposed to the so-called bargins and my irritation level is… well… level!
This one is easy for me.
wooo wooo done
Working on it!
My freebie addiction is sale / coupon emails from companies. I don’t want to pay full price for something I need if I could have gotten it for cheaper. The solution I have come up with is:
I set up my sales and coupon emailss to automatically go to a coupons folder. Then I’m not cluttering up my main email with free coupons. However, if I am going out or have a purchase to make somewhere specific, I can review the folder to see if I have a current coupon for a place I was already going.
Cleaning up the folder is also easy, since generally anything more than a couple of weeks old is expired. This lets me delete older emails without ever having to waste my time reading them unless I actually needed it.
done
This was absolutely the hardest one for me and one that will take time for me to conquer. Here lately, I have not been partaking in freebies at all. Not stuff, anyway. I have done a fabulous job at “just saying no” to the free stuff. It’s the blogs and the good advice columns that I have trouble with. I have always been one to love knowledge in all forms, so I am always into a book, checking a blog, listening to audiobooks in my car, reading articles, or taking in other knowledge in my free time. Knowledge brings me joy.
So, I am subcribed to several blogs. I only subscribe to the ones that are beneficial and of interest, but I still have about 20. I just can’t seem to say no to the good ones because If I don’t subscribe, than I feel I may miss something.
Knowing that, what I have tried to do to conquer this mission, is to keep my blogs for now, and the ones that are the best of the best, I subscribe by email and read those daily. The ones that are not the best of the best, I peruse through the 2 liner summaries of those on my blog and see which one catches my attention. If none do, than I don’t even open them up. We all know what happens if I open it up anyway.
That’s a start until I get this freebie thing under control.
My next step is to monitor those blogs that I hardly open up. They are next on the clutter chopping block.
Have a good one!
@Rebecca,
I call it the OCI-OGO system – one come in, one goes out!
It’s an excellent habit for life.
M 🙂