January is a depressing month, and many people counteract it by making life changes. Of course, making these changes often requires money and one of the most frequent questions I am asked at this time of year is “How do I increase my income?” As a matter of fact it is one of the most frequent questions I ask myself.

So with that in mind, I am going to draw a single card for everyone who wants some advice today, including me, on how to increase the flow of money this year. I’m not going to cheat and turn another if I don’t get a card that *answers the question*, I’m going to go with it, take what I’m given and try to incorporate the message from the tarot even if it’s only for today. Here goes…

Page of Pentacles – whoohoo! At least the card and question are related this time!

All the pages relate to the initial stages of something, and the Page of Pentacles is related to the physical, practical manifestation of ideas and knowledge. She takes the thoughts of Swords, the feelings of Cups and the enthusiasm of Wands and makes them real. In this case, we want her to generate knowledge of how to get the dosh flowing to us.

She suggests that we might already have the ideas but that we need to move them along a bit. Perhaps it is time to improve a skill, or do some research? How about taking a baby step to put the idea into action? For example, you might have an idea for a small business, so perhaps you could take the plunge and start a blog on that idea? If it’s a service that you can perform for money, then offer that service to someone you know for free, on condition they tell a friend.

Maybe you have everything in place but, like me, you are a bit of a procrastinator? I watched a video yesterday that explained that procrastination is a good thing and that there are two ways to deal with it. The first method is the ‘Fifteen minute way’. The video says 20, but I say, 15. Take 15 minutes of time to do partially that thing you think you should be doing. Then stop. That wasn’t too bad and getting started was the hardest part, so try another 15 minutes, either right now, or tomorrow. The second method is ‘The list’. Make a list of all the great things you could do around that subject, so say you’ve set yourself the task of writing an article or blog post, then the list might consist of:

• Write down a great list of possible titles
• Do 15 minutes of off-the-top-of-the-head free-writing
• Go for a walk and take some photos you might be able to use
• Bake a cake and take photos of it
• Find a question that needs answering and make that the subject of your article
• Watch a YouTube video related to your topic.

There you go… positive procrastination. Pick one and do it, and you are one step closer to getting that piece written. Finally getting it done is merely the next logical step, rather than a mountain to be climbed. You can use this method for anything that you have been putting off. Instead of meeting the task head-on, you can sidle up to it; take the ski-lift to the summit. The Page of Pentacles would approve, I’m sure.

I actually know what my problem is… organisation. I have income, even what you would call passive income, but it needs tending to. I have articles that need editing and updating and new ones to write. Quite a big task because there are a couple of hundred. I’ve been putting it off for months. My organisational skills are crap. I have two home-schooled teens, a house that needs keeping and a guide-dog puppy who needs training. My days, when we’re at home, take on a random shape. For example, today in no particular order, I answered a reading request on this site. I helped my 12 year-old with maths, I accessed HMRC (Inland Revenue) on behalf of my accountant step-dad (Oh, I do bookkeeping work for him as well), I took the puppy out, I drank three mugs of coffee, I watched a bit of TV news and started writing this. It’s not lunchtime yet, I’ve done lots but not really achieved much in the way of generating income. No organisation, no plan.

I need help, Page of Pentacles, help me now!

Okay, so in the great tradition of master procrastinators, I’ll start with a list of what needs to get organised. It’ll go something like this:

• Housework
• Dog walking/training
• Writing
• Editing
• Art – I need to do this, A. for my sanity, B. for an online course I’m taking, C. Two of my blogs and D. I also write a lot of art-related articles.
• Factor in the random stuff – telephone calls, maths assistance, talking to kids 😀 , feeding people, eating, laundry, poop picking, etc.

I’m going to set an hour aside later and work on organisation. If I do, then I can see that spending time on my existing articles, maintaining my blogs and writing and creating new material will increase the flow of money for sure. I know that I can’t fit in any more or I will be overwhelmed. I’m pretty much whelmed at the moment.

Thank you, Page of Pentacles for helping me get some ideas into shape.

Now for the rest of you, I’m going to throw a suggestion out. Go Google ‘Virtual Assistant’. Perhaps you have skills that might be useful to someone else? There’s a good article here in the Guardian.

If you are not working and need to find an idea, try this great book on Kindle by Marianne Cantwell.