“You will never change your life
until you change something you do daily.”  
                                                                                                                     John C. Maxwell

Moving is the perfect opportunity to decide which items in your life you use, value and love.

Every item you decide to move will need to be packed, moved, unpacked and stored in your new home.
Every box you take ‘costs’ you. In time, moving fees, and square footage in your new place.

How much of your old life do you want to make space for in your new life?

Which pieces of furniture really fit?
What hobby supplies will you really need and use?
How many souvenirs, mementos and tee shirts are necessary?
Would you buy this item now?
Where will it actually live in the new place?

Once you decide about what you want to pack up and take with you,
instead of just packing up each room, marking the boxes with room names and brief content descriptions:
Try this method instead.
Set up an A, B, C box for each space/room you are packing.
    Use the C box for items you want to keep, but use infrequently. (Think Christmas cookie cutters, platters for entertaining, oddly shaped vases……)

    The B box gets packed with items you use regularly but not necessarily on a daily or weekly basis. (Muffin pans, table runners, extra linens)

    The A boxes get packed with the items you use all the time.
The things you need to make you feel settled and moved in right from the beginning.
(Usually the items you will pack up at the end of the process)

All these boxes will still need to be marked with room locations as well as contents.

The advantage to this system is that when you get to the new place
you only need open the A boxes.
You don’t have to spend time opening all the kitchen boxes to find the cups and coffee pot to have breakfast on day one.
They are in an A box.

Plus, by opening the A boxes first, those items will get the prime real estate/storage locations in the new space.

Then you can move to the B boxes, finding storage for those items.

And finally, if and when you get around to it, you can open the C boxes.

Or just store the C boxes and when you need an item from those boxes you can retrieve it. Or after a few months (or years) of the boxes being unopened, you can just donate them!

 Moving should be an adventure.
A chance to create a new place that looks and feels like home to you.
Only pack and move things that make you happy.

Your life, your home, your choices.

There’s a reason that windshields are so much larger than rear view mirrors…

True, it can be helpful to look at what’s behind us, what we’ve moved beyond;
but the place we need to be paying attention to is what is in front of us.
This life we are creating today.
The choices that are being presented to us now.

We are in the driver’s seat.
Where do we want to go?
What experiences will have the most meaning?
Who do we want to invite along on the ride?

Pack light.
Don’t cram the trunk full of clutter.
You’ll be able to get what you need.
I promise.

Have a fabulous adventure.

“It’s easier to act ourselves into a new way of thinking, than it is to think ourselves into a new way of acting. You just start where you are.“  Udaya Patnaik 

You can read books and articles, think about the whys and hows, consider the hoped for results, imagine your life looking and functioning in new ways, but until you
put things away when you finish with them,
deal with your mail on a consistent basis,
stop saving things for Justin Case,
or wait until you have the perfect storage containers;
your life will still be cluttered and disorganized.

You may also have told yourself that you’ll try to do things differently.
You’ll try to not buy so much.
You’ll try to hang up your coat.
You’ll try to stop adding to the piles.

“Do.  Or do not.  There is no try.”  Yoda

All the thinking and trying  won’t change a thing, 
you have to act.

This week take action.
Start where you are.

Your life.  Your choices.

Taking advantage of the unused vertical spaces in your home is a great way to maximize your storage possibilities.

One of my favorite ways to do that is by using clear over the door shoe organizers.
Accessible, and with the contents visible, you can store a variety of items near where you use them.

Inexpensive, readily available, and easy to install, they are the perfect solutions in a variety of locations.
For example:
  Coat closet: Hats, mittens, scarves, sunglasses, dog leashes, flip flops…
  Pantry:  Kid’s snacks, seasoning packets, small cans or boxes, spice jars…
  Linen closet:  Cloth napkins, votive candles, small candle holders, napkin rings…
  Kid’s room:  Toy cars and trucks, dolls, or socks and shoes, underwear….
  Adult bedrooms:  Scarves, belts, jewelry, hose, special occasion shoes, clutch purses..
  Home office:  Back stock of pens and pencils, staples, toner cartridges, Post its…
  Bathroom:  Washcloths, cotton balls, extra shampoo, soaps, razors, lotions…
  Laundry room:  Cleaning supplies, rags, spot remover, sponges, rubber gloves…
  Door to the garage:  Tape measure, duct tape, screw drivers, small hammer, glues… 
  Garage wall:  Gardening supplies-seeds, gloves, plant markers, fertilizers, nozzles…

That’s just a few possibilities.
Use your imagination and circumstances to create solutions that work for you.

Give things homes here you use them,
make it easy to access items and
easy put them away.

Simple, inexpensive solutions can produce great results.
    

To wrap up this theme of our stuff and the stories we tell about it,
let me gently remind you, 
(or nag if that would be more appropriate),
experiences make the best stories and memories of all.

We all have enough time to spend doing what we love, 
hanging out with the people we care about
if we choose to make that a priority.
Sharing experiences; from conversations to big adventures,
have far more meaning than any stuff we could buy.

When your final story is told do you want it to be about
how big your house was,
how new your car,
how vast your wardrobe, or
how extensive your collections?

Or do you want people to tell stories about how you made them laugh,
the hikes you took together,
the meals you shared,
how you encouraged them to dream and
be creative, and
how you always made time for them?

Your choices write your story.

In addition to the stories we associate with our ‘stuff’,  there are the stories we have about people and events in our lives.
Many of these stores have become mental or emotional clutter.

Some we have told ourselves (and others) so often their delivery includes pauses for dramatic effect.
It only takes a small reminder or single word and suddenly we’re launched into the narrative and find ourselves sucked into the circling vortex of the thoughts and emotions the story holds for us.

What if we could let the story go?
Does retelling the same event over and over make us feel better or worse?  Sad or happy?
Do we really want to devote mental and emotional space and energy to telling ourselves the tale one more time?

Just as holding on to too many physical items from our past limits the space we have for the life we are now living and hoping to create, so is devoting mental and emotional energy to repetitious tales from our past limiting.

Start to pay attention to the voice in your head.
Pause, and give yourself permission to turn the page.
Close the mental book on stories that no longer serve you.

Make the story in your head one of connections, compassion and supporting yourself and others to make space for an open and heartfelt life.

Your choices create your life.

I love a good story.
One of the things I like most about my job as an Organizer is getting to hear my client’s stories.
The narratives they share about their lives, the back story on their things, the account of how they ended up working with me.

Our lives are made up of stories: Threads we weave together, conversations we repeat, moments we hold  in our minds.
We give meaning to our lives and the things in our lives by the stories we tell about them.

Sometimes when it is challenging to let go of something, it’s because of the story we’ve attached to that item.
Who gave it to us,
how much we spent,
the length of time it has been in our life,
what we hope the item says about us, or
how someone else would feel if we were to let the item go.

But you know, the story and the item are two completely different things.
Being able to recognize and separate the two is what allows us to make good choices about what has real meaning and value in our lives
and what is just stuff.
Letting go of the thing doesn’t mean we have to forget the story, or the memories we may have attached to the item.  
Although sometimes that can be exactly what we may want and need to do!

The money is gone, holding onto the thing doesn’t get us the money back.
Just because we’ve had the book for ten years doesn’t mean we need to keep it for another ten.
People are far more impressed by what you do and say than anything you may have in your home.
And you can’t control anyone else’s feelings.  Hopefully your best relationships aren’t predicated on you displaying gifts that person gave you.

Start paying attention to the stories you tell yourself.
About your stuff.
About others.
About yourself.
You’re the one that gives the story its meaning and power.

Honor your time and your life by filling your home and your heart
with stories of connection and whole heartedness.

What if instead of focusing your decluttering energy on what you are willing to let go, 
you focused on what you want to keep?

What clothes look great on you?
Which books are you really going to read or reread?
How much of that yarn are you going to take the time and energy to knit?
What art work inspires you?
Which kitchen tools get used on a regular basis?
How many sheets and towels are necessary?

Each room in your home holds items that have meaning,
use and value to you.
Start with recognizing those.
Not every item on a shelf, or in a drawer, or hanging in a closet
is necessary or appropriate for the life you are living now.
Or the life you are consciously trying to create as you go forward.

As you focus on the real keepers,
and you work from “what do I really want?”,
deciding what to let go of becomes easier and more obvious.

Consciously choosing what has meaning,
and what you want to be surrounded by
creates gratitude
for the people and things filling your life.
Gratitude allows you to feel you have enough.
You experience a sense of abundance and are able to
let go of the extras, the duplicates, and the Justin Case.

It’s your life
and your choices.

It’s a fact:  Your space is limited.
As is your time and your energy.

However, you get to decide how to
fill your space,
use your time and
spend your energy.

How full do you want your space to look and feel?
What do you want to devote your time to accomplish?
How tired do you want to be at the end of each day?

How much space, time and energy in your life is taken up
by your past?
How many physical items from that life surround you?
How much time do you spend rethinking decisions,
  retelling stories, reliving conversations?
How much energy does ‘then’ take away from your present?

There is certainly nothing wrong with memories, or sentimental items
or holding on to things that reflect what you love and value.
But, if there is so much of the past that it crowds out the present,
or leaves you little time and energy for moving forward, 
or is a constant reminder of unfinished projects-
let those things go.

That was then.
This is now.

Letting go of things, ideas, supplies, beliefs,  and relationships that no longer serve us
frees up space and energy for this life.  Now.

A full rich life, has space in it.
Breathing room.
Free time.
Energy for the activities and people we love.

Create some space.
See how full your present life can really be.