Tag: DIY

Garage! Take Care of Your Car, Not Your Clutter!

Alternate titles for this week’s article involved fun with spelling:  

“Garbage / Garage”, or  “Take Care of Your Car, Not Your Crap”.  I stuck with the least offensive, please see above.

This warm weather we’re having offers a great opportunity to clear out and Organize Your Garage Before Winter!  We need to take care of our cars instead of our clutter!

Our garages can sometime be a place of wonder.  Not “Wow, how Wonderful”, but,  instead,

  • “I wonder what That is?” or
  • “I wonder what happened to the (fill in the blank here)?” or
  • “Hmm,  I wonder how that got here?” or
  • “I wonder who that belongs to?” or
  • “I wonder how to get rid of that?”

It is time to answer these questions and restore some order in your garage this week!

  • First things first, purge the garbage / recycling / donations.  And pull out the cars while you work!
  • Next, break down boxes.  It’s astonishing how much space is taken up by empty boxes.  I know, it’s tough to decide  do we keep the box the vacuum / lamp / appliance came in or recycle it? However, we’ve discovered that if we do need to pack the item up or return it, we can find another box (more come all the time!) or return the item without it.  If you just can’t part with the boxes, break them down and store them flat.
  • Now, Pick A Spot To Start.  Just one spot.  And just start.
    Work methodically clockwise around the room, so you know where to focus your efforts.  Garages are big spaces, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.  Pick just one spot, and start making decisions about what to purge, what to keep and where to keep it.
  • Corral the yard implements.
    In two recent garage projects, we made lots of progress by simply gathering up the brooms / shovels / rakes / etc., that were leaning against (read BLOCKING) everything!  Vertical storage for such items, like wall hooks or a peg board, would be best, but if you don’t have that, a re-purposed garbage can will work.
  • Consider and store kid / adult toys.
    I took a batch of stuff to Play It Again Sports this summer.  I walked in with a bag of my sons’ outgrown sports items, chose to leave the items there (instead of hassling with selling them on consignment), they cut me a check.  Beautiful!   Try listing outgrown bikes and scooters on Facebook sell pages, there is a market for such things!  And, thinking vertically again – install some hooks on the walls or beams, to get those summer toys and bikes off the garage floor for winter!
  • Recycle!
    E-Waste (old computers, TVs, etc.) and other household items: Keep your eyes open for local E-Waste collections, very popular this time of year!   And try the ultimate recycling tactic – if you have an item that someone else may want (furniture, scrap metal, etc.), put it out early the day before trash day.  That sort of stuff is usually gone by the next morning!
  • Paint and other Hazardous Waste.
    I’ve gotten the “what do I do with old paint / paint cans?” question  a lot lately.  Here is the answer:  If the paint is dried, toss it in the regular trash.  If the paint is even a little wet?  Water based paint will dry out eventually if you pry off the top and leave the cans open to air (be careful of pets and small children).  If you want to speed up the process, or if your paint is oil-based, you can buy packets of paint thickener at a home Improvement store like Home Depot, or add kitty litter to dry up the paint quickly.  Once the paint is hardened, with the thickener or kitty litter, it is safe to toss on the regular trash.  In addition, many communities have Hazardous Waste collections in the Fall and Spring, so keep an eye out for local events to collect paint and other hazardous waste.

Get out there this week, and clear some clutter from one of your hardest working spaces – the garage!

To:

Receive more ideas and suggestions like these;
Book time with me in person or virtually;
Arrange a presentation for your upcoming event; or
Discover the benefits of Organizational Coaching;

Please contact me.

Call / text 708.790.1940
Online at  http://peaceofmindpo.com
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How High Are Your Eyes? (a.k.a. Where to keep the canned tuna?)

Last week, I unloaded boxes of nonperishable food into my new cabinets and helped some friends settle into their new home.

I was reminded of a rule of thumb for cabinet storage, and I want to share it with you.  Before I  get ahead of myself,  though, I need to tell you that I’m short.

For anyone reading this who knows me, this is not news.  In my above- average-height family, I am definitely the runt.  I blame / attribute this to my 5’1″ grandmothers.  But I digress.

Being short means that I make strategic decisions about how to utilize my cabinet space, maximizing the shelves I CAN reach.  When my kids were younger, I thought I was keeping our most used items low in the cabinets for their sake, but now I’m shortest in the house again, so it’s all about me.  🙂

If you would like to maximize your cabinet space, too:

Consider the lowest shelf of the upper cabinet your highly coveted beach-front property. Dedicate this prime real estate to the items that you use all the time every day.  When we were putting things away last week, my son asked if we could make more room on the bottom shelf for snacks and things (the every day items for him) – brilliant!  To make room on the bottom shelf, I put the canned tuna (used much less often, and only by me) up a shelf or two.

Move up from there.  If you have three shelves, use the “every day (1st shelf) / every week (2nd) / every month (3rd)” guide to help you make decisions.  We now have 4 shelves – yes our cabinets now go all the way to the ceiling and I am giddy about this! – so we may use the use the “every day (1st shelf) / every week (2nd) / every month (3rd) / every year (4th)” to make our decisions about where to store our items.

As my very organized friend put away her dishes in her new kitchen last week, she knew to put the special occasion dishes on the highest shelf, and keep the everyday dishes at eye level.  It is so obvious in that context, and we can use that lesson in every cabinet.  Even if you are not short like me, grouping your cabinet items, whether food or dishes, around how often you use them may help you access and maintain your stuff more readily.

A final tip, when you store items on your upper shelves, contain small items in baskets or bins so they don’t get lost in the back of the cabinet.   For example, think water bottles and lids and straws, or seasonal baking items like small bottles of extract or sprinkles.

Look at your kitchen with new eyes, keeping your most used items at eye level and moving onward and upward from there!

When Reality Meets the To-Do List: It’s Time To Act!

Last week, I found myself on the phone actually agreeing to a Demolition Date for my kitchen.  

Demo Date.  That’s what it is called.

I arranged for a team of people to come in and disassemble our kitchen as we know it, so it can be reassembled with hardwood floors, new cabinets and appliances, paint and lighting.

I’m very excited about these improvements.  And terrified.  And just a wee bit overwhelmed (especially considering that now the demo date is now just hours away).

In conversation with a friend over the weekend, she mentioned that Saturday was the day “Reality meets the list”.  For a week, she had jotted down ideas, planned, imagined, strategized, categorized, prioritized, etc., but now it was time for action.

As I packed up the kitchen this afternoon, my Reality Met My List, too.  No more planning and lists and thinking.  Now it was time to open the cabinets and finish putting things in boxes and baskets for the next few weeks.

So, if you are working on projects, whether at home or at work, professionally or personally, there comes a moment when we need to implement our plan.  Commit.  Execute.  DO!

Don’t Act Too Early.  
I found myself saying “I leaped before I looked” to my son when I asked him to help me move something while my arms were full of stuff.  So, Act, but don’t Act Too Soon!

On the Other Hand…

Don’t Think Too Long.
Have you heard the term “The Paralysis of Analysis”?  We can overthink something for so long that opportunities pass or situations change before we ever get to act or travel or grow.  My Dad says “Do SOMETHING, even if it’s wrong!”.  I wouldn’t want to be wrong, but the point is to DO something.

See the paint shown to the right?  I want a dark color for the kitchen walls, but I’m a little nervous. So the best way to figure out if we will like it was to buy a sample and paint the wall.  I can wonder all I want, but to make a decision and make progress, we needed ACTION (and I like it!)!

Be Reasonable.
My to-list contains EVERYTHING I need to do, and sometimes I just use it as a dumping place for my ideas and tasks, which means the list for any given day can be ridiculously long and unrealistic.  Putting 28 hours worth of work or tasks on the list for a 24 hour period is dooming myself to failure.

Make the list, but also look at your day and week and month, and determine what you can reasonably get done.

Just Do It. Implementation is Key.
We can plan and discuss and research a topic until we are blue in the face, but without action, it remains just a topic.

And now… I need to go and pack!

To:

Receive more ideas and suggestions like these;
Book time with me in person or virtually;
Arrange a presentation for your upcoming event; or
Discover the benefits of Organizational Coaching;

Please contact me.

Call / text 708.790.1940
Online at  http://peaceofmindpo.com
www.Facebook.com/MColleenKlimczakCPO
Via Twitter, @ColleenCPO

What Do You Want to Clear Out This Week?

(Original Post from November, 2016!)

downloadBaseball season’s over (Go Cubs!), the clocks have Fallen back, and this election year ard2015-logo-noborderwill soon be one for the history books.  The leaves are flying around the yard today, with a chilly wind.  It feels like November!  And November is a great time to de-clutter, clear the decks, close the door on summer and open up the flannel sheets and hot chocolate.  Conveniently, with November comes America Recycles Day on November 15th!

America Recycles Day, https://americarecyclesday.org/ , is a national initiative of Keep America Beautiful.  Follow the link, then click Attend an Event and plug in your zip code to search for recycling events in your neighborhood.

Looking for more ideas?  Here are 5 things to purge / recycle / donate / re-purpose / etc. this week, to get ready for colder weather and the holidays!

Shoes!  Go through that pile by the door.  Yes, THAT pile.  
Purge the icky shoes (those 4 pairs of old sneakers someone keeps around for “yardwork”?) and the singles (ah, flip flops, missing either a flip or a flop). Donate the too-small ones or never-again ones, and, as it’s November, friends, put the rest of the warm weather shoes away in each owners’ closet.
If you are looking for places to recycle your shoes, just google “shoe recycling”.  There are lots of options out there (for example, Nike recycles shoes to create running tracks and playgrounds).  Locally, check out http://shareyoursoles.org/, a great not-for-profit that shares shoes with under-served populations.
And, won’t it be nice to not trip over shoes every time you come in the door?!

Put Away the Halloween Decor (and the summer stuff, too, if it’s still lingering on).  
Mid-November, friends.  Purge the summer and Halloween decor.  Box it up, label it well, put it AWAY with your other seasonal stuff.  Do not spend your cold weather months tripping over off-season stuff.
Enjoy clean and uncluttered surfaces for a few weeks, before the Christmas stuff starts creeping out!

Catalogs and Magazines.  
I recently had an epiphany, and decided to cut myself some slack when it comes to my burgeoning reading pile.  There are days and stages of our lives when we read voraciously, and there are days and stages when reading books or magazines regularly just isn’t meant to be.  My life is currently in the latter stage and the reading pile grows quickly out of control.  Last week, I reviewed my catalog and magazine backlog, and – considering it’s November – I tossed anything from October or before.
You can recycle them, of course, or you can share the magazines with a local doctor or dentist office, or senior centers and nursing homes.

Cardboard.
Ah, yes, cardboard.  Now is the time to purge cardboard.  I don’t know why We (and I mean a global “We” and not just the Klimczaks) all seem to hold on to cardboard boxes longer than necessary.  If you have to keep boxes, break down the tape and store the boxes flat so they take up less space.
We are coming into Christmas season, however, which could be sub-titled “Amazon Prime is awesome and UPS drops off boxes often” season.  As soon as I start our Christmas shopping, more boxes will come.  So, I would challenge you to part with most, if not all, of your cardboard boxes, safe in the knowledge that more will arrive soon.  Break it down flat, and send it out with the recycling this week!

Expectations.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda.
I’ll rarely tell you that you Should Do Something, or Must Do Something else.
We’ve got just a couple months left of 2016.  It’s time to take a look at our current status, look ahead at the next 8 weeks or so, decide…
What Needs to Happen: friends, family, wellness, Holidays, faith, professional efforts?
And
What Does Not Need to Happen: ???
Last week, I completed some long-suffering tasks on my to-do list.  It felt so good to finally complete them and cross them off for good!  What else can go?  Completed tasks, yet, but also unrealistic or unnecessary expectations for yourself or others?

So, embrace America Recycles Day, check out events in your area, and let go of some clutter this week!

What If… Your Halloween Decor is Scary, But Not In a Good Way?

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In preparation of posting this blog, I just zip-tied a scarecrow to my front stair railing.  And threw away 3 tattered Fall colored dried flower… things.005

This may sound odd, but this week is a GREAT TIME to get rid of your Halloween Decorations. And Easter, and Independence Day and Arbor Day (though I don’t believe we decorate much for Arbor Day), etc.

Look around your home this week.  Are you decorated for Halloween?  Or for Fall, in general?

Yes?  Great.

Are there still Halloween  / Autumn themed items in the bins/ boxes/corner of the basement or garage where you store such things?

Yes?

Why?  Why are you keeping decorations you don’t use? If your house is decorated satisfactorily, and there are leftover decorations that did not get used this year, please take the time to think about just WHY you are still keeping these leftovers. Let me be the voice of reason here, and suggest that if these decorations didn’t make the cut this year, they are even less likely to be the Decorations of Choice in years to come.

True?  Yes, you know it is.

The same logic can be applied to other holidays, too!  Don’t tackle Christmas decor this week, though, the other holidays are enough for now, and Christmas Decor tends to be a much bigger project!  It’s easy to be objective about your Easter and Spring decor in October, trust me. This week, look at your items – REALLY look at them – and decide now if you want them to stay or go. Bag them up, donate them, sell them on FB, etc., just make the clutter leave your home.

003We, and our seasonal decor, have evolved over time.  These days, seasonal decor runs toward cut flowers in a favorite vase, door wreaths, table runners, linens and scented candles.  The last two Christmas grab-bag exchanges have kept me well supplied with festive dish towels, see photo (thank you, family! These make me laugh!). All are: easy to transition; easy to store; appealing to the senses (smell, sight, touch); and personal, collected with care over time.

Check out your seasonal decorations this week, and toss all the left-over and unloved seasonal decor.  Clearing the clutter now will make putting away your Halloween and Autumn decor so much easier, and will ease the transition into the next season.

“If You Call It a Junk Drawer, Guess What Ends Up Inside?”

Last week, a friend reached out to me, sharing pictures of her morning’s organizing projects. (I love that!) The conversation went like this:after

Friend:  (Below a picture of school papers) “Making Decisions.”
Me:  “Ooh, those are tough, I know.”
Friend: “Yes, well, once you explained clutter as unmade decisions [Barbara Hemphill], I have been able to get rid of most of it.  This mess was from my China / @##$@ cabinet.”
Me: (laughing) “Decisions are tough, but making them strengthens our decision muscles – it does get easier!”
Friend: “It is laughbable.  I had 6 junk drawers.  Down to 2 now.”
Me: “Woo hoo!  And never call them junk drawers, as, well, that’s what will end up in them! Better to name it, whether its a “school supply drawer”, “household hardware” or “party and baking drawer”!
Friend: “Yes. Good Tip”.
Me:  “Hmm, maybe that should be my next blog topic!”
Friend: “Yes, it should.  I’m buying a label maker today.”

Inspired by this exchange, I asked my FB friends to share photos of their junk drawers for this article (In no particular order, and with no identifying tags!).  And for the friends who asked if junk corners or junk rooms counted, these same suggestions will apply to those spaces, too!!

Just start!  Drawers are great and rewarding little projects!  You can make a lot of progress in little pieces!

Grab a garbage bag and a note-pad to jot down ideas that come to you.  Then set a timer for 20 minutes or so, if you’d like, and get to it!  If the drawer is dirty, dump the contents out on the counter and wipe / wash out the drawer before you put anything back.

The Organizing Process is the same (per Julie Morgenstern), whether a small drawer or a big room:

  1. Sort Your Stuff.  Common categories of junk drawer contents:
  • pens / pencils / markers (working and not)junk-drawer-1
  • paper clips, safety pins, clips of all sizes
  • coupons, expired and not
  • recipes, good and not
  • take-out menus, old and current
  • toothpicks
  • paper clips
  • random photos
  • note paper and post-its, used and unused, and business cards
  • hardware, screws, tacks, small tools
  • snacks, gum, candy (edible and not, who knows which is which?!)
  • glue, tape, string, rubber bands
  • first aid items, band-aids, inhalers, nail files
  • small toys, broken jewelry, hair ties, etc.
  • candles and matches
  • plastic silverware and old napkins
  • How am I doing?  Sound familiar?  Sort what is there, and then head to the next step – purging.

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2. Purging.  This is where that garbage bags come in handy.  We can all agree, much of what is in a junk drawer is probably, well, junk, and can therefore be tossed.  So part with the old papers, dried out pens, questionable food items and anything else that you don’t need or love.  Sometimes, the stuff can stay but it needs to go elsewhere in your home.

 

3.  Assign a Home.   Decide what categories you have present, and what categories of stuff you want to keep and where.  Consider where you use certain items, or how often you need to access those certain items.  NAME YOUR DRAWER, for goodness sake.  And let everyone in your house know what the drawer’s name and purpose is!  I have said this before, a space009 needs a name and a purpose.  If you call your drawer a junk drawer, or your room a junk room, junk will end up there.  So, as you assign a home for your items, group them logically and by purpose.  Perhaps you end up with:

  • A meal-planning drawer, with: menus; gift certificates and coupons; and recipes.
  • An office or school supply drawer, with: tapa and glue; pens, pencils and markers; notepads and post-its; paperclips, etc.
  • A tool and household drawer with: tools, heavy-duty tape, flashlights.
  • An extra utensil drawer, with: the kitchen items you want to keep but don’t use regularly. Or
  • Some other category you choose.  Just name it, and stick with it.

 

4.  Containerize.   Look around your house, you probably have containers you can use to corral your items in your newly cleaned and NAMED drawers.  (Finally, a use for some of those mismatched storage containers?)  And I snapped a picture of the new containers on a client’s table, she loves the dollar store for inexpensive drawer inserts.  If you can’t track down old check boxes or small cardboard jewelry boxes around the house, trays similar to the photo below (of my desk drawer) can be found at home stores like Target, or office supply stores like Office Depot or Staples.
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5.  Finally, the 5th step is Equalize, which is Julie Morgenstern’s snazzy word for MAINTENANCE! Once your drawers are organized, keeping them that way takes a lot less time and hassle. You can maintain them every day by putting stuff away in the right drawer and space.  And once in a while, if you pull open a drawer and it has gotten a little messy, setting it back to rights takes just a few minutes, using the same Sort / Purge / Assign a Home / Containerize / Maintain process.

Tackle this small but awesome project this week!

 

To:

Receive more ideas and suggestions like these;
Book time with me in person or virtually;
Arrange a presentation for your upcoming event; or
Discover the benefits of Organizational Coaching;

Please contact me.

Call / text 708.790.1940
Online at  http://peaceofmindpo.com
www.Facebook.com/MColleenKlimczakCPO
Via Twitter, @ColleenCPO

 

It’s Your Turn to Choose. What’ll It Be?

This week, it’s your turn.

pink magic 8 ball

Labor Day / Back to School provides a re-start button, whether you sent yourself or kids back to  school or not.  We just started a new month, we’re in the last third of 2016. What will it hold for you?  It’s your turn to start fresh, make changes, clear mental or real clutter, set goals, dream big!

It’s your chance to choose.  Here are a handful of ideas, to jump-start the process:

Spend a  little time with your clothes and closet.
This morning, I refreshed my closet a bit.  I set aside items that I know I won’t wear again this season, even though it is 92 degrees today in Chicago!   I also thought about the other closets in the house, and added a few problem-solvers (a tie hanger for the teenager, over-sized Command Hooks ) to the Target shopping list.

What can you do this week to streamline your closet and clothes?

Plan your Menu for the next few weeks.

It may be warm today, but my thoughts (and taste buds) are turning to soups and stews!  Inventory your cabinets and freezer, check out your schedule for the next few weeks, and write down 7-10 dinners you have the ingredients for and want to make.  Leave the list where you can see it, and save yourself time and energy, while eating better and saving $$.  Win win win!  What’s for Dinner?

Strategize for for your house projects, inside and out.

Fall is a great time to complete those house projects!  It’s not too hot or too cold to work outside, and there are many community shred and recycle events to utilize, as people clean out for Fall.  Walk around your house, inside and out, this week with a clipboard and make notes for what needs to be accomplished.  Then, note some upcoming Saturday mornings for completing those projects.  You’ll be happy they’re done, with cold weather and the holidays coming sooner than we think!  What’s the first project to tackle?

Set Goals.

     I took this very simple step last week, with amazing results.  I decided to set Goals for the rest of 2016 for the business, to help me focus and measure success.  I stated I wanted to book 10 more presentations for 2017 in the next month.  And I booked 8 in a 24 hour period.  The POWER of Goal Setting!
The other side of Goal setting is determining what we DO NOT want to do.  We set our goals to achieve positive outcomes.  Once we know what we seek to achieve, we can look at our habits or obligations, and make sure that how we live and act supports our Goals (and can clean out habits and obligations that don’t support those positive outcomes!).  Make sure the How and Who you spend your time on is in sync with your goals.

Focus on your Health and Wellness this week.
This is a great time to schedule your health and wellness appointments for the rest of 2016 (for example, I need to have my cholesterol checked again and will need a flu shot in October).  Set up your appointments, or check out a local yoga class or gym membership (before the weather gets cold!).  A conversation with a family member over the weekend inspired me to think differently about health and wellness, and with my birthday coming up, I set some health goals this morning to work towards.  Goals order our steps, and illuminate our paths.

So, this week it’s your turn to start fresh, set goals and dream big.  What will it be?  It’s Your Turn, Take It!

To:

Receive more ideas and suggestions like these;
Book time with me in person or virtually;
Arrange a presentation for your upcoming event; or
Discover the benefits of Organizational Coaching;

Please contact me.

Call / text 708.790.1940
Online at  http://peaceofmindpo.com
www.Facebook.com/MColleenKlimczakCPO
Via Twitter, @ColleenCPO
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15 Minutes and $30. Chrome Shelves – 5 Solutions!

Chrome storage shelf unit, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways!  Chrome storage / shelf units are:

  • Sturdy (we’re talking – able to hold hundreds of pounds);1170bb44-bd15-4b8a-a37f-a79d6fc1b4dd_400
  • Aesthetically pleasing (they look nice);
  • Water and weather proof (ideal for garage and outdoor use);
  • Good for ventilation, with the open spacing;
  • Easily dis-assembled and re-assembled, if necessary, for ease in moving from home to home; and
  • Adjustable and flexible, coming in a wide range of sizes with feet that can be adjusted for uneven floors (like my sloping laundry room floor) or wheels to be added.

Over the years, I have assembled dozens of shelving units like these for clients and myself.  These sets are inexpensive, utilitarian and attractive, and can be set up in no time at all.

What organizational challenges or underutilized spaces could use a Chrome Shelving cure?

My personal favorite, a storage unit as a printer stand on the counter extension next to my desk (30″ H x 24″ W).

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Here, we use the shelves to hold luggage and extra bedding in a summer cottage bedroom
(30″ H x 36″ W).

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The shelves are great for adding storage to awkward areas, like the small space between my wash tub and wall in my laundry room, or shown here as storage in an empty corner of a bathroom in need of a linen closet  (30″ H x 36″ W).

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Ok, so these larger shelves cost more than $29.99 + tax, but they still were a snap to assemble, and a really great storage solution.  These two photos are taken of 6′ tall chrome shelving units, with the optional wheels added so we can maneuver the units.  One of my clients has 4 of these 6′ x 4′ units on wheels in her garage, and we can move them around based on need and convenience.  The photo on the left shows area rug and off-season houseware storage.  The photo on the right shows my own garage, with the shelves waiting for donation and recycling items that come and go from my clients.

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So, what organizational challenge can you solve with this simple solution this week?  Give it a try!

As Maggie Says, Now There’s More Room to Dance!

Last week, I talked to two clients about productivity and time management.  Both are struggling to get more done, personally and professionally.  These high-performing individuals, Bob and Sue, have systems in place to take care of their personal and professional tasks.  But they, and we, often get distracted from maintaining those systems.

Sue, one of these two wonderful, productive and hard-working people, went so far as to say she was “lazy’.

I have a problem with the word ‘lazy’. Actually, it makes me cringe.  I never assume a person is lazy, but I think we all lack motivation, focus or a plan sometimes.  And I try to be more positive.  No, dear client and dear readers, you’re not lazy.  What is more likely is that life got in the way, as it often does, of being productive.  So let’s talk MAINTENANCE!!!

We have systems, we know what we “should” do, to move ourselves and our homes and our careers forward.  But we often get caught up in survival mode, and forget about taking a little time once or twice a day or week, to get back to the small tasks that helps us maintain order in our lives.  Bob has great time management tools that he’s used successfully (time blocking, face to face communications, email strategies), but he has fallen away from using them with some office changes this month.  Re-committing to proven, effective strategies is a lot easier than coming up with new strategies!

I got a wonderful email today from Sue about her maintenance efforts over the weekend with her family.  She said I could quote her, and since she says it best, I will!

“’Maintenance isn’t happening’ is a kind way of saying we’re lazy.  It’s true, and we’re teaching the kids bad habits by our example.  My new mindset is to keep removing the clutter, even if it’s in little steps.

Yesterday…I set a timer and cleaned for about 1.5 hours, giving us enough time to get ready for church and not be late.  After Mass we played in the snow, and then I cleaned the living room.  I met family for dinner around 3 pm, then came home and cleaned the dining room.  Hubby got rid of stuff while I was gone and Maggie worked at her stuff too.  Little pieces of cleaning made ALL the difference in my world yesterday.  Instead of complaining, I worked the problem until it was finished.  … We still need systems in a few areas, but there were more pressing jobs that needed done first, like getting cleaned up and cleared out so that we can start fresh habits from clean and organized spaces. 

I’ve decided to get to work, with Maggie working at my side.  Hubby tackles 1 or 2 small jobs before he goes to work each day because I know that works for him.  Weeknights are full with full time work, dinner and homework, so weekends work best for me for Maintenance.  I really took to heart your comments about finding out what day / time works best to deal with household maintenance chores and embrace it.  It’s ok to not go gang-busters during the week, but maintenance must be done during the time that’s been assigned to it.

You certainly got me rethinking my shredding/recycling locations while I was cleaning/de-cluttering my first floor.  Plus, after we took out the leaves in the dining room and put away the extra chairs, it was amazing at how much larger the space was…even Maggie noticed and said it was more room for her to dance in. 

 We just did some redecorating… the next job is getting some new area rugs, but the best part is seeing the space when it’s clean and clutter free with enough room for us to dance.  It’s so calming when it’s like that and because I know this, I know it’s up to all of us to keep it that way.  Doing even little things each day with help us all live better, less stressful lives.”  (Thanks, S!!!)

Indeed.

Working with a client yesterday, I mentioned this week’s blog topic.  We had just cleared out her large coat closet and entry way, and restored order.  We hung up things that had fallen, set aside things to be dropped off with errands and donations, and generally maintained the organization we had established on previous visits.  We agreed that she knew what she “should” do, but had just fallen behind on actually doing it.  We cleared clutter, and indeed, Maggie, Now There is More Room To Dance!