You’re never going to wear that sweater your mom gave you for your birthday-five years ago.
You’ll never need plates and flatware for 20 people at once.
Your downhill skiing days are far behind you.
You don’t even still have the laptop/toaster oven/printer that go with the boxes you’ve been saving, just in case.
You won’t be do anymore hikes that involve a pack and three man tent.
You don’t need five pairs of old jeans, baggy tee shirts or holey pull overs for paint clothes.
You no longer decorate every room in the house for Christmas.
All those free, sample, or give aways might be small, but they’re still cluttering up the drawer.

Be honest with yourself.
Let some of it go.
That was then. This is now.

Open up some room and some space in your home and life.
It’s time.

Keep it simple.
Make it easy.

The easier you make the system the more likely you are to comply.
The fewer the steps, the more likely you are to complete the task.
Limiting the options makes choosing easier.

As examples:
Use hooks instead of hangers.
File in broad general categories.
Always have a donation bag in the laundry room.
Sort the mail over the recycle bin.
Put your keys in the same place, everyday.
Pay your bills on line.
Don’t put something down, put it away.
Say no; without guilt or explanations.
Move on.

Make the mechanics of daily living as simple and effortless as possible.
Put your energy into the relationships and activities that matter most to you.
Make choices that support the life you really want to be living.

Improving your relationship with your partner,
your family, your friends, your coworkers
and people you interact with on a daily basis
gets rid of mental and emotional clutter.

Three things you can start giving today: 
1.  Give someone the benefit of the doubt.
      Assume that everyone is just trying to do the best they can.
      No one and nothing is against you.
2.  Give someone your full attention.
      Listen without considering your next comment.
      Turn off your phone during the meal.
      Don’t offer advice, a solution or one up with a story of your own.
3.  Give up the need to be right.
      Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?
      A day, a week, a year from now; how important will having been ‘right’ be?

And if those three aren’t enough,
Give someone a compliment.
Give someone else the close parking spot.
Give a little more than someone is expecting.
Give someone five minutes of your assistance to make their job easier.
Give thanks.  (You really do have a pretty amazing life)

Consider what you would most like to receive from others:
Try giving that………

Interested in learning more about the power of giving?
Check out, Adam Grant, a professor at Wharton business college and his book, Give and Take

“You don’t need endless time and perfect conditions.
Do it now. Do it today.
Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating.”

―Barbara Sher

There will never be endless time.  (There may never even be an extra half an hour)
The conditions will never be perfect.  (Not sure we’d recognize them even if they were)

Stop waiting.
Quit overthinking.
Give up needing permission or approval.

Decide to start.
Make an effort.
Focus on the process and not the results.

Organize one shelf.
Attend one yoga class.
Sort a single box of photos.
Meditate for five minutes.

You know exactly what it is you’ve been wanting to do.
Stop waiting.
Take one step forward.

Two Minute Rule:
If you can do something in two minutes or less,
do it now.

Or,
You can quickly do a little now, 
or a lot more later.

You can deal with today’s four pieces of mail now
or you can pile them on the desk and deal with a lot more later in the week.

You can hang up your coat now,
or you can fling it over the chair,
add a sweater tomorrow,
another jacket the next day,
and have a huge pile to deal with at the end of the week.

You could put your dirty cup into the dishwasher now,
or set it on the counter,
next to a bowl from breakfast
maybe the plate from a snack,
and slowly fill the counter.

Clutter has magnetic properties.
Stuff attracts stuff.
Piles grow.

By dealing with items in a timely manner, 
habitually returning things to their homes,
and making habits of the mechanics of daily living;
clutter and disorganization don’t have a chance
to establish themselves.

Do a little now,
and have a lot more time later
to do what you love
and spend time with people who matter to you.

Letting go of some things takes little or no effort.
We realize we no longer need, use or value an item.
It doesn’t fit, our taste and style has changed, we already have enough.
We recognize that was then, and this is now.

But then, we come across something that although logically we know 
it is not longer part of the life we are living
and it doesn’t have a place in the life we are working to create; somehow we just can’t let it go.
Our heart lurches a bit, we feel a twinge of guilt, 
a tiny voice in our heads says “You’ll be sorry.”

Okay, pause. Take a breath.
Ask yourself why this item presents a challenge.
Ask yourself why you feel  so attached to this particular thing.
Did someone you care deeply about give you this?
Are you keeping it out of guilt or obligation?
Does this represent some activity you feel you ‘should’ be doing?
Does it reflect a conflict between who you are now and who you used to be?
Did you spend a lot of money for it?

Okay, take another breath.
First, it is just a thing.
The only reason it has meaning or importance is the story that you choose to tell about it.
Could you tell yourself a different story?
Could you let go of the shoulds?
Could you release yourself from the guilt or obligation?
Could you accept the person you are now, the life you’re currently living?
Do you see that the money is gone, and holding on to the item
doesn’t get your money back?

Maybe you can change how you think about this item.
Maybe you can’t.
If you can, and you’re willing and able, let the item go.
If not, it’s okay.
Keep it.
Perhaps in the future you’ll revisit it and have different feelings and reactions.

They are your stories,
your things,
your decisions
and  your choices.
You get to decide what lives in your home,
which items you want surrounding you.

I’m a big fan and proponent of using a very broad and general filing system.
Why bother taking time to separate out individual categories of paid bills or
medical claims or even important documents?
When and if (and most of the time that’s a pretty big if) you need to locate a specific paper,
receipt, or form you can look through the broad category file and locate the needed paper.

One of the best uses of this system is for Taxes.
Create one folder at the beginning of the year.
(It’s okay if you do it today, it’s still early in the year)
Label it Taxes 2016, and
put it in the front of your file drawer.
As the year progresses any receipts, paperwork, forms, notes,
or paperwork that you will need to prepare your taxes get slipped into that folder.
Come the following April, no searching through other files, or boxes,
or the bottom of your purse, or some pile on the desk.

It is a simple and effective way to practice storing like with like.

Life and taxes are complicated enough,
simplify where you are able.

Although this math question could apply to many items in your home,
drawers, closets or garage; today consider it in regard to plastic storage containers.
Your Tupperware heaven, Rubbermaid hell.

I understand the theory:  You may need something to hold leftovers,
a container for tomorrow’s lunch,
the extra potatoes from the big family dinner.

But really, at any one time how many leftovers do you have?
How many lunches?
Does anyone really eat left over mashed potatoes?

Chances are you have allocated an entire shelf or drawer to the storage of plastic containers.
Many more than you really need or will ever use.

Open up valuable kitchen real estate by sorting through this space.
Remove every container and lid.
Immediately toss any that are warped, stained or don’t have a matching bottom/top.
Keep only the clear ones.
(If you can’t see what’s inside, chances are you will never remember what’s in there)

Sort the keepers like size with like size.

Now do the math.
Realistically how many do you need to keep?
(Would using ziplock bags as an alternative be a better option?)
Keep a few less than you’ve talked yourself into.
You can always use a small bowl-and eat the leftover right out of it!
(Why dirty more dishes?)

No matter the size of your kitchen, your space is limited.
Don’t use up valuable space storing items for Justin Case.

Cost and value are not the same thing.

What we pay for something doesn’t necessarily determine its value.

Cheap things usually are.
Many free items aren’t.
Just because something is expensive,
doesn’t always mean that you will value it.

Some moments and experiences cost us nothing, yet
the memories they create stay in our hearts our entire lives.
At times spending more buys us better quality, more versatility and
saves us having to replace items in the future.

By paying closer attention to not just the cost of the items we bring into our homes,
the activities we choose to engage in, and how and where we spend our time and money;
we will become more aware of the value of things, and not just the price.

Consider the cost.
Consider the value.
Make choices that give you the biggest bang for your buck, and
the most joy for your spending,

Every dollar I spend is a statement about the kind of world I want
and the quality of life I value.                 Center for a New American Dream 

The majority of our clutter starts with a purchase.
If we want to reduce or eliminate the clutter in our homes and lives
we need to pay attention at the source.
Be mindful how you shop, where you shop, and what you purchase.

Do you want it or need it?
Will it replace something you already own?
How will you feel about it in a week?  A month?  Six months?
Is it literally cheap?
Is it a planned purchase or an impulse buy?

Spending a few moments considering the whys of your spending habits
may lead you to buy less, and feel you have a richer life.