Clutter

Asking More Powerful Questions to Ease Decluttering

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We recently started what we hope will be our last round of home renovations.  As you know, the first stage of any renovation project is clearing everything out of the spaces being renovated.  I’m noticing that clearing out the master bath, guest room and my office is giving me a great opportunity to continue Phase Three of our minimizing process. You may recall that during Phases One and Two my husband and I whittled down our belongings by … Read More

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De-cluttering? Honor Who You Are Now & Who You’re Becoming

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I’d like to share a comment from a reader who played the #MinsGame in February.  She was excited to report the release of a significant number items and sent me the following message: Hi, Andrea – week one of the challenge – Collected things throughout the week and escorted them out of the house today. 28 items and 40 more pounds gone – YAY!!! Items included blouses/shirts, a mini trampoline, my cross-country skis (I used to have so much fun … Read More

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Commitment Clutter & the Arrival of Spring

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Spring has sprung and I wish I could say these beautiful blooms are residing in my garden, but alas, winter, not aware of the calendar, is too slowly releasing its grasp on the North Coast.  I am confident though that within the month spring flowers will be blooming somewhere along the shores of Lake Erie.  Wherever and whenever those spring blossoms burst forth for you, I wish for you the opportunity to enjoy those all-too-brief blooms. Sadly I’ve noticed over my … Read More

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What Are You Most Proud of Releasing in February?

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February has come and gone.  A number of you played the #MinsGame along with me in February, venturing to release 406 items over the course of 28 days. Today I’m anxious to hear your success stories!  What was it like attempting to meet this goal?  How many items did you end up letting go of?  What are you most proud of releasing?  What did you learn about yourself in the process? I’ll get us started. As I look back over … Read More

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Resources for Releasing That Are Better for the Planet

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This is a big month for releasing!  I’m playing the #MinsGame with a number of you this month.  If you’re like me and you value the environment it’s important to keep as many discards as possible out of the landfill.  Today I want to share a few of my favorite tools for more environmentally friendly disposal of your cast-offs. 1) One of my favorite tools for helping my local clients find an ideal release site is the Cuyahoga … Read More

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Gifts Received When We Release Clutter

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I recently received a call from my aunt.  It was a nice surprise, because we don’t speak on the phone very often.  She called to tell me about a special gift she had recently received.  She had just finished going through all of her Christmas and Holiday cards she’d been saving for the last 8 years and that she was donating the fronts to a local school for use in their art projects.  She also shared she … Read More

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Next Steps: Important for Keeping a Clear Desk

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How many pieces of paper are sitting on your desk right now? Have you given much thought to why they’re sitting there?  What’s keeping them from being processed / moving off of your desk? Typically when papers pile up on my desk or a client’s desk it’s because the next steps that need to be taken for each of those papers is either not identified or it has been identified but not yet taken.  I thought about this … Read More

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Even Organizers get Stuck: Dealing with those Longaberger Baskets…

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“Your baskets were a hit!  Thx so much.” That’s the message my sister texted me the day after her son’s elementary school PTO’s annual basket auction. The baskets she was referring to were about 25 various shapes and sizes of Longaberger Baskets that had been sitting packed away in my basement for the past six years.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Longaberger baskets, they are a collectible woven maple basket sold through home parties.  They … Read More

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Stopping Unsolicited Mail, Calls & Emails: Important information worth repeating…

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A client recently asked about how she could get her name off of mailing lists in order to reduce the volume of junk mail in her mailbox.  Her excellent question made me realize that I hadn’t posted on this topic since getting my new blog up and running last year. When  I last wrote about this topic years ago I had to point people to a number of different websites and provide a couple of different phone … Read More

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Back to Ready – What it Means to be Organized – Part 1

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Marilyn Paul introduced me to the concept of “getting to ready” in her book, It’s Hard to Make a Difference When you Can’t Find Your Keys. In her book, she describes being organized as: “a dynamic between a state of readiness for action and taking action. It is the rhythm of taking action, creating the natural disorder that comes with taking action, restoring order with helpful habits and useful systems, and thus returning to readiness for action.” … Read More

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