Before

I was at Goodwill this week and found a $2 basket and I had an idea.

First, I got rid of the extra water bottles. How many did we even use? How many did we really need at any given time?

These I let go of

Then I put the remainder in the long basket facing the back. Now I could pull out the basket if I needed water bottles and they wouldn’t be tipping over all the time.

After

We found out that Superbowl Sunday is a great time to eat out as long as there aren’t any big TVs. We had the restaurant mainly to ourselves.

1. Spiritual renewal  – does your spiritual life need more time?
2. Where can you create a time for deep rest this week?
3. Do a couple declutter calendar areas you missed.
4. Plan for your spring holidays.
5. Look for the joys in today
6. What is your body saying to you right now?
7. Set a boundary in your life that will help you simplify.

Solutions

Declutter Calendar

I am so excited – the Declutter Calendar is now a real calendar! People have asked to have a calendar they can hang in their kitchen and now it’s here. TMy distributer says we can have it keep selling till Valentine’s Day now. Yea

THE
LOVELY 
DECLUTTER 
CALENDAR

NOW AVAILABLE FOR ORDERING.

Make 2012 the best year yet and be more organized than ever before
with this day-by-day guide to decluttering your life! Order here: http://www.lalovelyink.com/Lovely_Declutter_Calenda.html

ONLY

$24.00

with FREE SHIPPING!

This calendar is brought to you by My Simpler Life & La Lovely Ink.

So now in my calendar I have times to call my Mom, Grandma and Sister so I connect regularly.

I also have time on my calendar to plan time with friends. And I have a friends list where I keep people I want to keep in touch with. Don’t think you need a friend’s list? Have you ever realized a year has gone by and you haven’t gotten together with a friend? If people are important to you why not make it easier to stay connected?

This also helps with aquaintances that you would love to turn into friends. Studies show that the more people get together, the sooner they become closer friends. Even if it’s in a group. Who would you love to become closer with?

When we get busy, hanging out with friends is often the first thing to go. I like to have standing dates to get together with someone every other week for coffee. Or a monthly walking date with someone. It helps with the back and forth of planning time together.

And you can add friends to things you are doing anyway – exercising, eating, shopping, socializing after a meeting you have to attend.

For those of you already naturally sociable, how do you stay connected with the ones you love?

Before

The same Goodwill that I found the water bottle basket, I found a big, clear plastic tub. Perfect size for all my grains. Now instead of sorting through all the grains in the cabinet I pull down the tub and find the grain I want right away.

After

What needs containerizing in your cabinets?

http://www.encouragingcoach.com/articles/plan-valentines-day.htm

I’m also planning a trip to Washington D.C. in June with my daughter. Any suggestions of places to stay, restaurants to go to, and must see places? You can email me at .

1. Make a list of ebooks, books and courses you are taking so you don’t forget any.
2. Read some of those articles you clipped and write down any action steps.
3. Be present and pay attention more often this week.
4. Reflect on your year so far.
5. Plan Valentine’s Day.
6. Eat one less processed food a day.
7. What have you been trying not to know about yourself or a situation?

Solutions

Declutter Calendar

I am so excited – the Declutter Calendar is now a real calendar! People have asked to have a calendar they can hang in their kitchen and now it’s here. They will only be available until February.

THE
LOVELY 
DECLUTTER 
CALENDAR

NOW AVAILABLE FOR ORDERING.

Make 2012 the best year yet and be more organized than ever before
with this day-by-day guide to decluttering your life! Order here: http://www.lalovelyink.com/Lovely_Declutter_Calenda.html

ONLY

$24.00

with FREE SHIPPING!

This calendar is brought to you by My Simpler Life & La Lovely Ink.

Now I was on a roll, what else needed hot gluing? I hot glued the bird back on the fence of the decoration that is on my porch.

Then there was the piece of corkboard loose on my bulletin board and a rhinestone that had fallen out. I asked my daughter if she had anything she needed fixing. Round the house I went.

After 30 minutes, I had a multitude of items fixed that had been broken for months. And I had so much energy afterwards.

"What else?"  has become a habit. If I have a hot glue gun out, I’ll ask what else needs fixing. If the vacuum is out, I’ll ask what else needs vacuuming. If I have the window spray, what else might need spraying. If I am trekking down into the basement, what else can go?

I save time doing it this way and I keep up with upkeep better.

This week, try asking, "What else?"

If you have to get rid of things to make room in your home, things in storage are less valuable and less used than things in your living room or kitchen.

To keep yourself from going up and down the stairs as you declutter, make sure you have boxes for give away, keep, belonging to someone else and a bag for trash.

First, go through things not in boxes. These things have not been stored properly and may not even be useful now. You didn’t care enough about the object to keep it free from dust. Do you really still need it in your home?

Move on to the boxes not labeled. These are boxes you may not have opened for years. They are MISC. Go through them quickly getting rid of the obvious clutter. Consolidate what you can.

Go through seasonal as you put away the decorations each time. You’ll find you may not need 8 boxes of Christmas decorations. Just think what you could store in that space that you may use more than once a year.

Memorabilia is often the hardest. Photograph what you can. Or put them in scrapbooks. Decide how much of your present space you are willing to give to your past. 3 boxes? 5 boxes? Give yourself a limit. Keep a couple baby dresses, but not a whole wardrobe. Other children could be wearing them now if you give them away or sell them. Same with toys. You can hang memorabilia on walls. If it’s important to you, you may want to find a way to display it.

If you are storing your grown children’s stuff, it’s time to pick up the phone and have them get their stuff, if possible.

Don’t buy new storage boxes and shelving until you declutter. You may not need them after all.

Label any boxes you are keeping and keep like together ie gardening, memorabilia, holiday, camping, clothes, and tools.

I love using the basement as overflow storage. Things like cookie cutters, canning equipment and the yogurt maker can be stored there to free up room in the kitchen. Craft supplies stored in the basement can bring room to an office. Out of season clothing can be stored to make room in your closet and dressers.

But you can only do that, if you have purged the storage area of clutter you don’t like, will never use and is not in good shape anymore.

I had someone unsubscribe because they said they couldn’t see the pictures in this email. If you are in gmail what you do is look above the email to the blue text that says "Always display images from". Click that and you’ll be able to see the pictures.

1. Get a shredder or empty out your shredder (thanks, reader Bonnie!)
2. Clean off your computer desktop.
3. How are you doing on the taxes?
4. Slow down and have a real, cup of hot cocoa.
5. Give your bedroom some romantic touches.
6. If those plastic cups get lost in your cabinet. Try putting them in a long basket and place it so it takes up the least amount of room.
7. Connect with a friend or family member.

Solutions

Declutter Calendar

I am so excited – the Declutter Calendar is now a real calendar! People have asked to have a calendar they can hang in their kitchen and now it’s here. They will only be available until February.

THE
LOVELY 
DECLUTTER 
CALENDAR

NOW AVAILABLE FOR ORDERING.

Make 2012 the best year yet and be more organized than ever before
with this day-by-day guide to decluttering your life! Order here: http://www.lalovelyink.com/Lovely_Declutter_Calenda.html

ONLY

$24.00

with FREE SHIPPING!

This calendar is brought to you by My Simpler Life & La Lovely Ink.

***

I’ve seen pantry organization that looks like it belongs in a museum it’s so pretty. But, if you don’t have much time you might not want that as your goal. When it is you get stuck on, "My pantry just isn’t as lovely as theirs. I decluttered it and organized it and it still looks like a pantry." If it is usable that is the important thing right?

The same goes for complicated time systems. When the upkeep takes so much time, is it worth it?

I know people that are so particular in their filing that some files only have 1 or 2 pieces of paper in them. Broad categories are usually more efficient.

Where in your life has the quest for organization gotten out of hand? What is a simpler solution?