My book, Become An Idea Machine, has just launched so I thought…

What best way to share the joy of the message than to show my own 10 ideas of the day?

Here is my list – for today – on which I am thinking of ten ways to declutter and live in the home I want:

1. Throw Things Out:

I want to go through my house and look at all the things that “don’t bring me joy,” as Marie Kondo, author of the book “The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” says.

I want joy!

I want to declutter

I never put it together that perhaps joy = declutter

home room = mind room…

She is onto something.

Reading her book opened me up to new ways of looking at things around me and I highly recommend it. All ten ideas are inspired by her.

2. Visualize What It Would Look Like: 

There is a closet at the entrance of my house that has so many things it is ridiculous.

I think it has old rackets we never use, for a game we never played, a kite, five umbrellas, old shoes from people I don’t even know, a bag pack I never used, an old computer, blankets, and on and on.

I did this visualization and I saw it as a beautiful closet, with decorations on the wall, nice lighting, and just two blankets on top, two umbrellas in a nice umbrella holder and a few coats. Then empty hangers. It looks beautiful, spacious, huge, in my imagination.

3. Donate Things to Charity:

The Vietnam Vets are great in the north east, they pick up from your doorstep any appliances or clothes, or things, in working order, which you don’t use anymore. I think it would be good to give things in good condition to them.

4. Clean up: 

A while ago I used an organic liquid to fend off spiders. Unfortunately the organic side had a bad side effect, which is that it got the walls looking darker, with lines of liquid glued to the wall. I’d like to clean that.

5. Organic cleaners: 

I’ve been getting into vinegar lately. I see a lot of people use it to clean and I wonder if it really does clean… I am so used to chemicals it might be time to consider this.

6. Books out: 

I’ve been thinking that some books I need to keep for research and that is true, but some others I don’t. I guess I could do a giveaway of my books to the audience of the Yoga Podcast, after all I have read so many books in prep that they may serve others as well… They may have markings though, in fact there is one book I read so many times I don’t think anyone else would even want it.

7. Replacing Lights And Anything That No Longer Works: 

There are many lights around the house that don’t work, it is time to get them all working so any switch I turn on actually turns on. I think this is philosophically important as well as practical.

8. Using/Freeing Loose Change: 

There are several jars in my house with loose change, hair bands, pencils and other stuff. I want to get rid of the stuff, which clearly has been there for years and I won’t touch it, and use the change, start getting those quarters out into circulation again, respect the value of money.

9. Once The House Is Empty, Live It Once:

Yes I am aiming for empty. For space. Being in a few Airbnbs during the winter gave me that great feeling of extra space. So I want to be in this house and feel it in all its emptiness.

I want to live one day in no-thing. @ClaudiaYoga (Click to Tweet!)

See what that even means.

10. Start with the living room: 

I think if I had a smaller coffee table in the living room it would help with not crowding it with stuff as it usually happens. I think I will start there…

Claudia Azula Altucher is a teacher of all branches of yoga. She is the author of “Become An Idea Machine,” & Co-Author of “The Power Of No.” You can find her on Twitter.

Featured image courtesy of Aurelien bellanger.