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Master Your Life One Paper Clip At A Time


Which is most important in Mastering your day?


  • arriving on time

  • finding what you need in time

  • doing what you need and want to do

  • being clutter-free

  • being thoughtfully decisive

  • enjoying the satisfaction that comes from knowing you’re organized enough to do all that



I hope you answered thoughtfully decisive.


But what do these clips have to do with naming what’s most important in Mastering your day? This is no ordinary pile of paper clips.


Each clip resulted from a client’s decisions to discard pieces of paper. It was satisfying to watch the pile grow as she decided what served her and what didn’t. She felt more and more comfortable letting things go as we reviewed each file. We scanned some of the documents to save space. She tossed papers from projects that were finished and reference material that wasn’t relevant anymore.


At the end of the session, she looked at the paper clip pile and saw proof of her thoughtful but decisive work toward creating physical and mental space for her next project.


Making decisions can be tough. No one can predict with absolute certainty that you won’t need a paper or item again, or that the choice you make will ultimately be the best one. Emotions can divert attention.




  • Will I look stupid if I’m wrong?

  • Will it cost me time or money if I don’t have this thing or paper?

  • Shouldn’t I spend time on something more important?




Being thoughtfully and masterfully decisive doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes. The person who says they don’t is already mistaken.


But avoiding making decisions creates clutter, chaos, and stagnation.


The best decisions are the ones you make when you know what your priorities are concerning your time, money, credibility, space, relationships, and values.


In terms of information, good decisions rely on knowing your legal, financial, medical obligations. Read more here: Information is Powerful.


Being confident in your decisions also means accepting the consequences of either having or not having something. What's the worst that can happen? Because we can't know everything or predict the future, sometimes it comes down to doing the best you can with what you have.


Decision making in general is a broad and deep subject and we’ll touch on it again and again as we all work toward being thoughtfully decisive in mastering our days and our lives.


Now, go create your own pile of paperclips. If you need help, be sure to reach out!

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