How’s this for a reality check?
Clutter is expensive:
- An average of ten dollars per square foot to store items in your house
- Almost ten percent of American households rent storage units, spending more than $1,000.00 annually in rent
- A quarter of people with two-car garages can’t even get their cars in there because they are storing their junk instead
- Twenty-three percent of us pay bills late and incur fees because we have lost the statements
- The average American spends one year of his or her life looking for lost or misplaced items, according to the National Association of Professional Organizers
- Get rid of the clutter and you will eliminate as much as forty percent of the housework in an average home
Did this make you stop and think?
Now let’s stop and be positive about this subject. No, you are not going to close the door on all that stuff you have!
Time to jumpstart the process.
What is one thing you could tackle to reduce your expenses (mentally, physically, and emotionally)? Just one thing, that’s it. Just one. Be kind to yourself.
Let’s see. I’ll be the guinea pig here and go first. I have a front hall closet that can’t fit another thing.
First thing to do is identify what’s in it. Games, coats, Christmas items, wrapping paper, ribbons, ugh! (Can I close the door now?)
Second, sort out what should be in the closet. Games on the shelf, Christmas wrappings only, leave space for guests to hang their coats.
Third, I made a dent. Now, what now gets out of the closet. Coats can go into the back hall where all the other ones are. Christmas items can go into the mudroom where all the others are stored.
Wow! I feel better already. I can see room, less clutter, and I FEEL BETTER.
I did a few things here that I want to share:
- I started to tackle one thing, something small
- I wrote down what it is I wanted to use the space/closet for
- I noted what I wanted to KEEP in the closet
- I listed what needs to be REMOVED from the closet to acquire more space
- I knew exactly where it was to be relocated
- If I needed to donate or toss anything, that would be taken care of
When you have a game plan and tackle something, use those SMART goals I always speak of: Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Oriented. Don’t kill yourself and do it over a weekend; do small steps! YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT YOUR POSITIVITY.
OK, your turn. What is one thing you can do in the next month? Then ask, “How will I do it?”
You will feel lighter in all respects.
As featured on ABC, NBC, CNN, and FOX News affiliates across the country, Sallie Felton is a life coach, international radio talk show host, author, facilitator, and inspirational speaker. For more on Sallie, please visit her website or follow her on Twitter.
