I’m passing my magic sword over your head, tapping you lightly on each shoulder and granting you permission.

Now:
You may donate the ugly sweater your mother in law gave you.
You may toss the dried up bottles of nail polish.
You may let go of the clothes that are two sizes to big
  and two sizes too small that you’ve been keeping for Justin Case.
You may recycle all the empty boxes from every small appliance you’ve purchased
  in the past five years.
You may say good by to your collection of unfinished craft projects, scrap book
  supplies and files of potential kid art projects (your kids are twenty five now…).
You may give away the linens you have to iron, the tea cups you’ll never use and
  the platter for the thirty pound turkey.

Lightning won’t strike, your great aunt’s ghost will not haunt you, you’ll have other great   
  ideas for art projects, and you’re still a nice person.

Holding onto items out of guilt or obligation, 
dragging too much of your past into your present,
and shoulding on yourself are forms of mental clutter.
And often then manifest as physical clutter.

Let go.
Make some space.
Live life on your terms.

If you take out your trash once a week,
that’s a total of about 52 bags a year.
That means that box of 200 trash bags from the box store is a four year supply…

And that’s just one example.

Bulk buying may be a good idea for some things,
under some circumstances.
But sometimes it’s merely bulk!
(as in bulky, space hogging)

No matter the size of your home,
you have a limited amount of square footage.
Your home and garage do not need to be warehouses.
Let your retailer have that job.
Let them store items until you need them,
and then buy an appropriate size for your needs.

Bigger isn’t always better.
And sometimes more is just more.

One of the most helpful tricks in keeping your home and life organized is to:
Keep like with like.

Store all your cold medicines on the same shelf.
Gather all your gardening supplies into one area in the garage.
Arrange all the pasta together in the pantry.
File all your important documents in one folder.
Hang long sleeve shirts in one section of the closet.
Put all the winter hats and gloves in one container.
You get the idea.

Bonus points:
Store the items where you use them.

If like items are organized together and stored where you need and use them,
you spend less time looking for things you know you have.
Seeing how much of something you have keeps you from buying duplicates.
Keeping things in the area where you use them simplifies tasks.

Spend less time looking for your stuff,
and more time doing what you love
with the people you care about.

Ah, the junk drawer.
Filled with random, but sometimes necessary bits, that one likes to have close at hand.

The problem is when the drawer becomes a dumping ground, or a disorganized mess.
Today’s challenge is to make the drawer functional.

First, clear a space on the table.
Upend the drawer on to said space.

Wipe out and clean the drawer then put it back in place.

Ah……a clean empty drawer.
Tempting to just leave it that way I know….
Enough dreaming.
Have your garbage and recycle cans close by.

Start sorting.
It’s easy to pick out the trash, the 2” pencils,
the broken rubber bands, the lonely screws.
Toss the dried up pens, the hard glue, the
dusty birthday candles and the random receipts.

Once the obvious throw away and recycle bits
have been cleaned out; start grabbing like items and
grouping them together.
All the keys, all the batteries, all the matches, all the
thumb drives, coins, chip clips, tools. You get the idea.
(Yes, I have been peeking in your drawers)

Keep sorting and tossing.
And setting things aside that actually have homes somewhere else in your house.

Once you’ve sorted through everything, and you have piles of like with like,
decide how many is enough?
Really, one pair of scissors accessible is a great idea.
Three pair in the drawer? A bit of overkill.
A couple pens but not ten.
One small flashlight, not three.

Now that you’ve narrowed it down to the keepers,
consider how you might corral like items within the drawer.
Do you have some plastic containers that you could repurpose for storage in the drawer?
Could part of an egg carton hold small random, but like things?
Look in your stash of small gift boxes and see if you can use some of them.

Think creatively.
Trying shopping your home before you go out and purchase containers.

If there’s nothing in the house you can use; measure the drawer,
measure what you’re going to put in the drawer and only
buy something that fits the space and the need.

Arrange the drawer so that the items you need most are the easiest to access.
Keep like items together.
Don’t overfill the space.

It isn’t junk if you know what’s in there, and you need and use 
those items to make your house a home.

There are two ways to get enough:
One is to continue to accumulate more and more.
The other is to desire less. G.K. Chesterton

An excellent way to deal with mental clutter is to make the choice to be kind.

A great deal of our inner dialogue is centered on our judgements, our fears,
our worries and our need to be right.
We want to justify our choices,  defend our positions, protect our dreams,
ward off being hurt.

What if we just choose to be kind?
What if we let someone else win?
How bad would it be to let someone else have the last word?
Maybe offering a thoughtful kind response would ease the tension,
let someone else feel seen and acknowledged,
and actually make your life easier and less stressful.

Not all clutter is visible.
Trying being kind, to yourself, as well as to others.
See what kind of space opens up………
 

Having an organized life is about things fitting.
And I don’t just mean the clothes in your closet.

It’s about organizing your space so that what you need, use and value fits
the storage areas you’ve designated.
It’s about the activities you choose fitting the life style that you want to be leading.
It’s about creating time to fit the people you care about into your schedule.

How well do your buying practices fit your beliefs about quality vs quantity?
Are you able to fit time into your daily life for moments of quiet reflection?

Life can be a complicated kind of puzzle.
Making activities, choices, relationships, and priorities fit together
in ways that are good for your head and heart can be a challenge.

Take the time to make sure that you’re comfortable with the fit.
Pay attention if things are rubbing you raw, feel sloppy, too tight or 
are out of proportion.

Only you can know and feel when the fit is just right.
Make adjustments as necessary…….

Store items where you use them.

Keep a small pair of scissors in your closet for cutting off price tags.
Store clean sheets in the room where the bed is they fit.
Stash a cleaning caddy under the sink in each bathroom.
Have a recycle container where you open the mail.
Hang the dog leash on a hook by the back door.
Carry your gift cards in your purse, wallet  or glove box.

What makes sense to you?
Where could you put something so it easy to grab
AND easy to put away?

What do you repeatedly reach for and come up empty handed?
How could relocating or reallocating something simplify your life?

Small changes add up to big improvements,
or at least less frustration.

Start with something easy.

Don’t decide to tackle the garage, 
  start with organizing your car’s glove box.
Don’t attempt the entire closet,
  start with your sock drawer.
Don’t empty every drawer in the kitchen,
  start with the shelf of mugs.

Start small.
Spend fifteen minutes, not three hours.
Sort, organize and prioritize one little space.
Be successful.
See the difference.
Practice letting go, one item at a time.

Little bites.
Small projects.
It’s a process, not a race.

Clutter is often a result of items we purchased which we wanted
but didn’t necessarily need.

We were tempted by the sale price,
or the perceived lure of its usefulness,
or the can’t remember if I already have this,
or maybe the having a back up would be a good idea,
or if it’s in bulk in must be a savings,
or, or, or.

Many times these purchases sit unopened in the bag
or unused on the shelf,
or end up necessitating a trip back to the store as a return.

We all shop for a variety of reasons,
however: 
Pause before you bring out your wallet.
Be clear on exactly what it is you think you are buying.
Where it will live in your home, and
how it supports the life you say you want to be living.

If you want to have less clutter and
a more organized home and life
you need to shop wisely.