What space in your home annoys you?
Which area bugs you every time you have to deal with something there?
Where do you avoid because it’s just too much to even think about?

Too many shoes in the bottom of the closet?
No room to put things under the sink?
Piles of papers, bills, receipts, and to do lists on the desk?

This week identify one place in your home that you’ve been avoiding
and pay some attention to it.

Decide what would make it helpful instead of hopeless.
What really belongs in the space?  What has just ended up there?
How could you make the space useful?
What would you be only too happy to get out of your life?

Sort.
Prioritize.
Organize.

Clear it.
Clean it.
Use it.

Make space for a life you love.

The Unclutter recently had a great article about how retailers influence what you buy.

How retailer’s tricks contribute to clutter.

Pay attention next time you’re in a store.
Make conscious decisions about what you purchase and why.
Every purchase is a reflection of what you need, use, love and value.

We don’t find time for what matters-
We make time.   Anne Lamott

As one of my teachers used to say, “You are your results.”
Looking at your results: What is important to you?
How do you really spend your time and your money?

Where do you put your effort and attention?
How often do you walk your talk?

If an uncluttered life is truly important to you:
Put things away when you’re done with them.
Stop buying things you don’t really need.
Give experiences, not things.
Pay your bills when they are due.
Take care of the mail on a regular basis.

Spend your time, energy, money and heart
making the life your really want to be living…..
Start today.

Which things do you want more of in your life?
Which things less?

More time to spend making memories with people you love?
Less time spent taking care of the mechanics of daily living?

More space to be arty and crafty?
Less distraction from your technology?

More opportunities to get outside?
Less time watching tv?

More Laughing?
Less worrying?

A little less clutter and a little more organization can set the stage for you
to make the commitment to a life of more or less.

Getting organized isn’t the end.
Organization is a choice of daily actions.

Having homes for the items you use, need, love and value
contributes to being organized.
Making conscious decisions about what you buy and bring home
is part of being organized.
Putting things away, instead of just down,
handling paperwork in a timely and consistent manner,
being specific with others in your home about chores, tasks and expectations 
all are part of the daily mechanics of being organized.

Creating the habit of conscious decisions with regard to what you own,
why you have it, and where you’ll keep it will support you in having an organized and simpler life.

Is it more important to you to be right
or to be kind?

Winning the argument, 
having the last word,
proving your point.
What exactly have you won, ended or proven?

Much mental clutter is rehashing arguments,
replaying victims scenarios, and
practicing ‘shoulda saids’.

Try letting it go.
Try stepping back, biting your tongue,
and surrendering your need to win.

Decide when and where it really is important to
make your opinion known, share a relevant fact,
or end a discussion.

But really, most of the time
being kind is the best kind of winning.
Accept agreeing to disagree and let your 
relationship be more important than your opinion.

Walk away and let your kind actions be what people remember.

No wrapping necessary.

Leave your phone in your purse or pocket.
Be with the person in front of you.
Pay attention to the sounds, the smells, the music.

Be present in this moment, now.

The best gift you can give others
(and yourself)
is to pay attention to what is unfolding right this very minute.

Everyone longs to be seen and heard.
Give the gift of your most attentive self.

And may we all be Merry and Bright,
however that looks and feels to each of us……..

Take some time BEFORE the holiday to sort through your children’s toys.
Set aside the ones they have out grown, no longer play with, are broken,
missing pieces or may have never been opened.

Decide an appropriate way to let them go. (Donate or throw away)

Clearing out before the new arrivals means there will be space to store the new arrivals.

There may still be time to suggest to people that they give your children experiences
instead of more stuff.
Tickets to the Children’s Theatre.
An excursion to the Children’s Museum or Science Center.
Hiking in snow shoes.
A cooking class at PCC.
A tour of Theo’s chocolate factory.
A day at the Museum of Flight.

Relationships grow when people spend time together.
Bonds form around shared experiences.
Exposure breeds curiosity.

Most kids don’t need another toy, game, puzzle or pair of pjs.
They need to spend time with people who care about them,
and who engage their minds and their hearts.

Experiences will be remembered long after December 25^th.

No, not the kind in a box or gift bag.
The be here now kind.

The being present with the person right in front of you.
The being present with what you’re engaged in now: The wrapping, the cookie tasting, the decorating, the planning, the music, the smells, the lights; this very minute.

The Honor of your Presence is requested in the present.

Slow down.
Breathe.
Pay attention.

Give yourself the gift of connecting.
To your experience, your relationships,
your own sense of who you most truly, deeply are.

Your presence is a light in the world.

Standing in front of your clothes closet, donation bag at the ready;
starting on the left side take out anything you don’t like and 
are clear you’ll never wear again.
No need to spend time agonizing-you know which things need to go.
Set the empty hangers to the side.

When you reach the end of the rod, close the doors
and take the bag of donations to your car.
Put the empty hangers in the laundry room so
you’ll have them the next time you need them.

This is a fast and easy way to clear some space.

Even if you don’t decide to move on to a more complete sorting,
prioritizing and organizing project,
you now know that what’s left are clothes you like and will wear.

(Keeping a donation bag at the ready, both in the laundry and in the closet,
will make it easier to let go of other things as you realize they aren’t your style,
aren’t flattering, don’t fit the life you have now, or were buying errors)

Sometimes a speed sort is just what you need to make a little space,
feel a little less cluttered,
and get inspired to do a little more.