by kathilipp | Jan 5, 2015 | Clutter Free |
Are you ready to be Clutter Free? Start the 21-Day Clutter Free challenge! Sign up now!
I gasp, freeze, and reach reverently for the small grey box.
I haven’t seen this for at least twenty years.
It’s Day 5 of The Great Gregory Garage Gutting, and I’m finally sorting through dozens of boxes that haven’t seen the light of day since our last move.
(Which was … <cough> … four years ago.)
I’m not going thru just any boxes. Oh no. I’m finally opening all the boxes marked “Misc. Stuff.”
Packed in desperation, each one is crammed with a psychotic disarray of our most precious belongings (which we’d saved to pack last) and chaotic clutter (which we’d refused to give up.)
It’s while slogging through the second-to-the-last “Misc. Stuff” box that I find this unexpected treasure, an item I’ve long since given up as lost and gone forever:
The gold pocket watch I gave Daniel as fifth anniversary gift more than twenty years ago. He loved it and wore it constantly.
When the battery gave out, he gave it to me to take care of. I set it aside for that mythical moment called “When I Have More Time.” Years passed, and eventually, I realized I had no clue where it was.
Lost?
Stolen?
Now, in a minor miracle, it’s right here.
One tiny treasure we truly value, rescued from mountains of “Misc. Stuff.”
As I look from the overflowing trash can to my tiny To Keep stack, the sickening truth hits me in the gut: the ratio of worthless to worthwhile is appalling.
We have invested so much time, energy, and money into packing and storing boxes upon boxes of “Misc. Stuff” that we haven’t have the time, energy, or money to take care of what we actually value.
This habit stops here.
I put the pocket watch in my purse and Google a local jewelry store. Later in the day, a kindly gentleman oohs and ahhhhs over the watch as he makes it shine and tick again.
And on this day, I declare an end to “Misc. Stuff” boxes once and for all.
“Misc. Stuff” boxes lure us into believing that we can “keep it all” without negative consequences.
But we can’t.
When we try to keep everything, we end up caring for nothing.
As Kathi says, “If you love it, keep it and enjoy it. If not, get rid of it and make room for the most important things in your life.”
So our family has adopted this new motto:
“We will keep only what we care for, and we will care for what we keep.”
You’re welcome to make it yours.
Did you enjoy Cheri’s post When Your Care Enough to Keep the Very Best? Cheri is doing a give-away of both Clutter Free and The Cure for the Perfect Life over on her blog. Don’t miss this chance to win these two books!
by kathilipp | Jan 2, 2015 | Christmas, Clutter Free, The Get Organized Project, Uncategorized |
OK – We’re keeping it simple today – all you have to do is take a quick inventory of what wrapping paper, ribbons, bows and gift bags you have. You can also inventory any paper plates, napkins cups if you’re family uses them. Put a note on your calendar for September or October (or whenever you get the itch to start stocking up) and put there what you will need for next year.
I was able to put on my calendar this year, “Don’t buy any Christmas wrap – you have plenty!” instead of guessing and buying more than I need.
Do you need new Christmas lights for next year? A tree bag? Whatever you need, either get it, or give your future self a clue and put it on your calendar!
Are you ready to be Clutter Free? Start the 21-Day Clutter Free challenge! Sign up now!
by kathilipp | Dec 30, 2014 | Clutter Free, Podcast, The Get Organized Project, tips and ideas |
Clutter Free in 2015!
Are you motivated to get (and keep) yourself organized this year? We talked to our own in-house clutter expert and the author of Clutter Free (yes, it’s Kathi) about going clutter free for 2015. Listen as Kathi tells you how to:
– Sort through your stuff to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
– Find a space for everything and a use for everything you have.
– Lead your family by example as you get your house organized.
– Get your life in order so that you can feel sane this year.
Listen in and then pick up a copy of Kathi’s new book, Clutter Free, and get started on a new and organized year.
Don’t forget to sign up for the 21-Day Clutter Free Challenge!
Cheri Gregory is a Certified Personality Trainer; contributor to multiple books, including Wired That Way and 21 Ways to Connect With Your Kids; and frequent speaker for MOPS groups, women’s retreats, parent workshops, and educational conferences. She’s been married to her college sweetheart, Daniel, for twenty-five years and they have two young adult children, Annemarie and Jonathon.
She blogs about expectations, “baditude”, and hope at www.CheriGregory.com. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
by kathilipp | Jun 9, 2014 | Clutter Free, Podcast |
In this episode of You’ve Got This! we sit down with blogger and author extraordinaire, Crystal Paine, and talk about how to move beyond surviving day to day and move into being excited about your life once again.
Crystal shares great secrets from her New York Times best-selling book Say Goodbye to Survival Mode: 9 Simple Strategies to Stress Less, Sleep More, and Restore Your Passion for Life, and gives specific encouragement for all of us women who have stopped living and moved into survival mode.
Just some of the wisdom that Crystal shares:
· Avoiding the trap of trying to “Just getting more organized”
· Going into the “No Zone”
· How to sort out your true friends from the users when you are trying to get out of survival mode
· How do you get to the other side of survival mode and overwhelmed to peace
· How to say no so you can say yes to what really matters
· Finding and fixing your mom “Achilles Heel”
Join Kathi and Crystal for the most info-packed, freeing, 20 minutes you will experience all week.
FREE DOWNLOAD
This packet includes more than 40 pages of helpful tools to help you say goodbye to survival mode.
- Cleaning lists
- Goal-setting worksheets
- Menu planning worksheets
- Stock-up price list worksheets
- Daily docket
- Reading lists
- A full 2014 calendar
- and much more!
Click here to download.
Additional resources Mentioned:
Say Goodbye to Survival Mode
Calling the super busy, the stressed out, the overtired.
You know you’re made for a more fulfilling life. With this book, you’ll know where to start.
You wake up tired. Your to-do list is too long. The commitments—and the laundry—are piling up, but your energy keeps dwindling. You feel like you’re simply making it through the days, not living or enjoying any part of them.
In Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, you’ll find both practical ideas and big-picture perspective that will inspire you to live life on purpose. As a wife, mother of three, and founder of the wildly successful blog MoneySavingMom.com, Crystal Paine has walked the road from barely surviving to living with intention.
Learn more about Saying Goodbye to Survival Mode
In addition to being a wife and homeschool mom of three, Crystal Paine is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, business consultant, and the founder of
MoneySavingMom.com. Started in 2007 as an offshoot of a mommy blog, it has since grown to be one of the top personal finance blogs on the web averaging over 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
As discussed in her book, Say Goodbye To Survival Mode, Crystal’s mission is to help women from all walks of life discover the freedom that comes from living with intention, simplicity, and generosity.
Learn more @ http://www.moneysavingmom.com.
by kathilipp | May 14, 2013 | Clutter Free, Home |
Every year, on May 15th, I like to remind women all over the world to clean out your purse, bag, backpack or computer bag. I’m passionate about this for several reasons:
- I’ve spent the better portion of my free time looking for car keys.
- I’ve also spent a large portion of my disposable (and not so disposable) income on chiropractors.
So I have a little passion around the topic.
So, I want you to take 5 minutes (truly) and clean out all the stuff that is physically and mentally weighing your down.
Follow our super-simple steps below, and then enter to win a set of the E-Bags Packing Cubes (that, if you read my blog or listen to my podcast, you know that I’m obsessed with…)
How to Clean Out Your Purse – 3 Simple Steps
I knew I had issues when I casually mentioned to Roger, “I wish they had purses with wheels on them.” His reply, “They do. They’re called suitcases – and you have a problem.”
I would love for you to have the feeling that wherever you go, you are not weighed down by “stuff”. (See my post Why Your Bag is a Reflection of Your Spiritual Life.)
Here’s my super-speedy way of cleaning out my bag.
Step 1 to Clean Out Your Purse: Sort It Out
I simply take my purse and dump it out into a plastic grocery bag. I sort the dump into Put Away, Put Back, and (in this case) Throw Away.
Put Away
Anything I want to keep that doesn’t belong in my purse gets put away. This is also when I go through receipts I’ve carefully placed in my wallet (or, more likely, the ones I’ve quickly thrown into my purse…) and random notes or other pieces of paper. If you’re away from home while you’re sorting, just put these items into another bag to put away when you get home. And when you get home, put them away in the right spot.
Put Back
If it belongs in your purse, go ahead and put it back into your purse.
Throw Away
Anything that’s left over in your plastic grocery bag (food wrappers, cash receipts you don’t care about, and so on,) is now garbage that gets recycled or thrown away.
The beauty of the grocery-bag organizing system is that you can do it anywhere, anytime. Just grab a grocery bag and start sorting while you’re waiting for your kids to get out of band practice or while you’re on the phone with your mom.
Step 2 to Clean Out Your Purse: Clean it Up
Give your purse a good shake and get out any stray bits, crumbs etc. I’ve even used a hand held vacuum to really get the bag clean.
Step 3 to Clean Out Your Purse: Label it and Put it Away
Assign a spot for everything that belongs in your purse, bag, or backpack. I use three zippered pouches. Everything goes into one of those three pouches or into your wallet (or in rare cases, onto your key chain). The fewer items you place in your purse, the easier it is to know what’s in there.
Wallet. I recommend you keep in your wallet only cash, receipts, checkbook, and credit, debit, and gift cards.
Pouch 1: Makeup bag
- Lipstick and gloss
- Eyeliner
- Powder
- Sunscreen stick
- Blush and brush
- Eyeglass cleaner wipes
- Hand sanitizer
Pouch 2: Emergency kit
- Fashion tape
- $20
- Needle and thread
- Nail glue
- Advil
- Couple of adhesive bandages
Pouch 3: Change Etc.
Other Things to Keep in Your Bag
- Sunglasses case
- Cell phone
- Keys
Keep It Up
Clean out your purse once a week and it really is easy to stay on top of it. It takes only a couple of minutes to keep it up, keep you organized, and keep you away from the chiropractor.
Do you have to do it exactly like this? No. I just want you to have a clean purse that is functional and doesn’t give you a hernia. So tell me here in the comments that you cleaned out your purse by May 18th (and I’d love to hear what the strangest thing you found in there was!), and here is what you could win:
The Grand Prize winner will receive this set of the E-Bags Packing Cubes.
And five runners up will receive a copy of The Get Yourself Organized Project (for you or a friend.)
Just comment below and you’ll be entered to win!!!
(US residents only.)
The gold pocket watch I gave Daniel as fifth anniversary gift more than twenty years ago. He loved it and wore it constantly.
