Think About It Thursday

I'm a big fan of Michael Hyatt, well-known speaker and author of the NY Times best-selling book "Platform".  He recently had an excellent article about minimizing your to-do list.  What?!?!?  My sacred, hold it tightly, mile-long security blanket to-do list?????  I broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about it... especially since the wedding is only 9 days away!!!  I recommend you read it for yourself - here's the link:

http://michaelhyatt.com/

He shared a book that he felt really addressed the concept well:  "Essentialism:  The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" by Greg McKeown.  I've highlighted it as our book of the month for June - Kindle version (much more frugal).  Click on the title to purchase now.  Talk about a great summer read - and if you're a book person, here's the link to get it hard copy:  ESSENTIALISM

However, the point is that today I want you to think about how you can declutter and minimalize some things on your to-do list, in your closet, in your home, and in your life.  Just as you regularly clean your home, it's always a good habit to clean your routine/habits and "stuff".  I'm always amazed at how good I feel when I get rid of things - I feel lighter, less mentally and internally cluttered.  It's great and doesn't cost a THING.

So today, take a few moments to exercise your inner minimalist and clear out, cross off, toss out and declutter some little area of your life - take 15 minutes and pick one area, maybe even a hard look at that ominous to-do list that will take you until 2020 to complete (if it looks anything like mine, and I'm sure it does).  You'll be so glad you did.  Let's hear a big, collective "Ahhhhhhh...."  Yeah... that's better!

Blessings,

Coach Linda

Free It Friday

What do you need to release?  What are you holding onto tightly that is cluttering your home?  Your heart?  Your life? Your future? 

There’s a television show about people who are known as hoarders.  These people may have started as innocent savers/collectors, but something went terribly wrong and now they are so cluttered, surrounded and paralyzed by their own stuff that they can barely move within their own homes.  It’s tragic to watch.  But I’ll tell you what – if you're anything like me, you jump up as soon as the episode is done, take a deep breath start tossing things out because you’re horrified at even the small portion of clutter you may have somewhere!!!  All I need to motivate me to clean is 10 minutes of this show, believe me!

There’s a great cleaning/organizing web called www.flylady.net that teaches you how to clean room-by-room and one of the exercises they use is called “27 fling boogie”.  Basically, you set your kitchen alarm for 15 minutes and toss 27 things away.  I began reading this web years ago, and it’s a great site that I recommend to help you begin what can be the arduous and often overwhelming task of cleaning.

Just as importantly as releasing items from your purse, your home, your closet/wardrobe and shelves, however, is the need to release things from your heart.  What old memories are you holding onto that are cluttering the path to your growth today?  What old belief systems are chained to your soul and holding you back from your future?  What past negative life experiences are you still grasping that keep you from embracing the blessings before you today?  What people do you need to forgive and release in order to liberate your own soul and allow you to breath deep into the miracles that await you?  What bitterness, anger and sorrow are paralyzing you and keeping you in their prison? 

It’s time to open those clenched fists… that hard spirit… that bruised/battered and aching heart…

I’m not saying this flippantly or casually, dear reader.  Releasing is one of the hardest muscles in life to exercise, whether it is something tangible or from within.  But until you clear the clutter you won’t have space to breath or live or move into the moment, let alone take the next step on the path of your beautiful journey. 

Today, this is your exercise – begin the process of letting go whatever is holding you captive.  Take that breath, say a prayer, and set it in motion.  Like the old quote says, “It’s the first day of the rest of your life.”  Take that step toward freedom!

Blessings,
Coach Linda 

Messy Monday

I don’t know about you, but my internal clutter is reflected in my external life. I tend to get a bit messy or lax when I’m juggling too much and racing around. I don’t put things away as well as I normally do, and it just makes life that more difficult for me. The shoes get tossed in the closet, the mail on the desk, and the messier it gets, the more frustrated and internally messy and unorganized I feel. You know those shows on TV where they go in and try to help hoarders clean up their lives? Well, while my house/car/desk aren’t like that, sometimes I feel as if my mind is – little pathways to the main events, with stacks of thoughts piled sky high on either side.

Today let’s work on exercising our unclutter muscles. Take one or two 15-minute blocks of time and declutter your desk, kitchen, office, bedroom – wherever it’s looming at you the hardest – and declutter. Then… get a pad and paper and write down/declutter your brain with things that you need to do. At least that way you’ll have it written down – oh yes, and make sure it’s all written in one notebook, or phone – NOT on sticky notes or a bit of paper here or there!!

Start the week off right, because it’s only going to get more hectic with each passing day for awhile. Breath, declutter and feel internally and externally lighter.

Blessings,
Linda

(illustration by Paul Foreman)

Fling 15 Friday

Time to exercise your decluttering muscles! Today, in the spirit of many of the best cleaning and organizing experts, grab a bag and start going around your home and get to tossin’!!! It’s not very hard once you get started – look in your closets, in your dresser drawer, in the kitchen junk drawer… once you begin it will be hard to stop! Start with thinking about five items, then another five, until you get to 15, but I’ll bet you won’t stop there! Make it fun with the kids – have them do the same thing in their rooms. On your mark, get set, start tossin’!!!

Trim Tuesday

For many of you, today is an unusually hectic Tuesday. It may be the kids’ first day back at school. It’s the official “end of summer” Tuesday after a long weekend, which is a sad time for those beach-loving ladies! And if you’re on the east coast, yes, it’s raining again. But it's also a fresh new school year, a new month, and a great time to start a new little project that is easy, manageable, and will help ease your stress level.

Today’s suggestion is this – exercise your ability to declutter. Now I don’t just mean that kitchen junk drawer that has who-knows-what in it from before electricity was invented. A very smart and do-able lesson I learned from a great website called www.flylady.com was to take a timer (like a kitchen timer), set it for 15 minutes, and tackle one little clutter spot in your home. Go at it like gangbusters, and after 15 minutes – RING! You’re done! It is a terrific sense of “I started it” accomplishment, but in a manageable moment.

You choose your area – kitchen table, desk, closet, basement – the area that just drains the life out of you every time you look at it! It’s amazing how good you feel after only 15 little minutes. Most of us can do pretty much anything for 15 minutes, right? And while you’re at it, if you are already uncluttered, set that timer and do 15 minutes of exercise! Or, look at your calendar for the month of September and declutter those days by logging in 15 minutes a day for a non-negotiable appointment with YOU - to breath, pray, walk, and just BE.

C’mon now, get ready, get set, timer on – GO FOR IT!!!!
Blessings!