Be Neat, Be Clean, Be Orderly

My husband, John’s “word” for this year is ‘SIMPLIFY’. I’m thrilled. We need to simplify—everything: our work, our schedule, our travel, and our home.

Each week, for the past year, I have had a goal of eliminating 4 things from the house—my closet, a drawer, or something. And, I have done that for the past year. However, it doesn’t look like I have eliminated a thing!!! We have accumulated “stuff” over the years and have not eliminated at the same rate that we have added!!! Sound familiar?

So, this year, I am eliminating at least 8 things each week. (or more). I am trying to be merciless. I am asking myself, “Do I really need this? Have I worn this in the past year (or in the past 2 years?). This is hard. Sometimes I really love something, but if I haven’t worn it for 2 years—am I ever going to wear it again? I can console myself by asking myself, “Is there someone who could really benefit from this a lot more than I can? Most of the time, the answer is yes, and away it goes to a new home.

Simplify can be about organizing closets, drawers, cabinets, bookshelves, your desk, your garage, your patio—wherever you spend time. The truth is that a cluttered area saps your energy. While you may not think disarray or clutter are not disparaging, your mind works to organize for you and that takes internal energy.

If one of your goals is to gain more energy for your family, friends, exercise, hobbies, work activities that get put on the back burner, healthy cooking, reading—whatever, remember that the accessing of energy is cumulative. One must first discover what is needed to gain energy and do more of that. Then, determine what saps energy and make necessary changes to stop that drainage.

Be neat. Organize in the first place so that you don’t have to reorganize. Be clean. Why waste energy cleaning up a mess when you can put something in order in the first place? Be orderly. Eliminate the frustration of looking for something that has been misplaced.

Now let me assure you that I am writing this for myself as much as I am writing this for you. In fact, I think I will work on those files this evening that have been in a pile next to my desk for several months. They are driving me crazy and wasting my energy!!!!