Organize Your Excuses for Not Spring Cleaning!

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

Organize Your Excuses for Not Spring Cleaning!

How’s that Spring Cleaning going? NOT?!

Well, sit back and read on to get a moments reprieve from feeling guilty or frustrated about not “getting to it.”

As spring is well under way and the birds, wafting of lilacs and fruit tree blossoms hang in the breeze, the ritual of Spring Cleaning is also in the air. If you just can’t get into it, you might try a bit of humor to heal the nerves, heart and mind, releasing the tension that can keep you stuck, procrastinating, guilty and miserable.

Have you ever seen, stood and read (just to get your weekly “ha-ha’s”), or maybe you have your own collection of MAXINE cards? They’re/she’s a hoot. I’ve been told she’s my alter ego! Here’s a collection of Spring Cleaning humor from MAXINE that you might keep handy!

I never get tired of housework…
I don't do any.

When guests come to visit I just put down drop cloths and say… "We're painting.”

I don't do windows because ... I love birds and don't want one to run into a clean window and get hurt.

I don't wax floors because ... I am terrified a guest will slip and get hurt then I'll feel terrible

I don't mind the dust bunnies because ...
They are very good company.

I don't disturb cobwebs because ... I want every creature to have a home of their own.
I don't iron because ... I choose to believe them when they say "Permanent Press.”

I don't stress much on anything because ... "A Type" personalities die young and I want to stick around and become a wrinkled up crusty ol' woman!!!!

Find MAXINE products at Hallmark, or straight to MAXINE product website on Hallmark at http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchResultsView?Ntt=maxine&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&N=35&Ntk=all_fields&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&RPP=12&SBQ=yes

And, for you parent with children… here’s some special HOUSEKEEPING HUMOR.

The 10 RULES OF HOUSEKEEPING are brought to you by 2CoolBaby. http://2coolbaby.com/ (Great site for parents)

1. Vacuuming too often weakens the carpet fibers. Say this with a serious face, and shudder delicately whenever anyone mentions Carpet Fresh.

2. Dust bunnies cannot evolve into dust rhinos when disturbed. Rename the area under the couch "The Galapagos Islands" and claim an ecological exemption.

3. Layers of dirty film on windows and screens provide a helpful filter against harmful and aging rays from the sun. Call it an SPF factor of 5 and leave it alone.

4. Cobwebs artfully draped over lampshades reduce the glare from the bulb, thereby creating a romantic atmosphere. If your husband points out that the light fixtures need dusting, simply look affronted and exclaim, "What? And spoil the mood?"

5. In a pinch, you can always claim that the haphazard tower of unread magazines and newspapers next to your chair provides the valuable Feng Shui aspect of a tiger, thereby reducing your vulnerability. Roll your eyes when you say this.

6. Explain the mounds of pet hair brushed up against the doorways by claiming you are collecting it there to use for stuffing hand sewn play animals for underprivileged children.

7. If unexpected company is coming, pile everything unsightly into one room and close the door. As you show your guests through your tidy home, rattle the door knob vigorously, fake a growl and say, "I'd love you to see our Den, but Fluffy hates to be disturbed and the shots are SO expensive."

8. If dusting is REALLY out of control, simply place a showy urn on the coffee table and insist that "THIS is where Grandma wanted us to scatter her ashes.…"

9. Don't bother repainting. Simply scribble lightly over a dirty wall with an assortment of crayons, and try to muster a glint of tears as you say, "Junior did this the week before that unspeakable accident... I haven't had the heart to clean it..."

10. Mix one-quarter cup pine-scented household cleaner with four cups of water in a spray bottle. Mist the air lightly. Leave dampened rags in conspicuous locations. Develop an exhausted look, throw yourself onto the couch, and sigh, "I clean and I clean and I still don't get anywhere..."

But seriously… like all organizing, choose one area, “zone” and dig in. Schedule an exclusive 30 – 90 minutes a section and “just start.” My designated area this week is my office closet. What’s yours?

If you need help, I also make “house calls” of course in the Boulder County area, and beyond! And, can help you on the telephone if you live at a distance… it really works!
Call today! 303-485-5280.

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutterNeed help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Editors and publishers are free to reprint blog articles as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and the signature line remains intact.

Declutter Your Past – Make Room For Your Present

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” http://www.drdeclutter.com/

Declutter Your Past – Make Room For Your Present

You may know the Bible story about Lot’s wife. God told her not to look back on her village and “past” life or she’d turn to a pillar of salt. Well, she looked back.

Every time your attention is distracted into the past you turn to a pillar of salt. Your thoughts and attention literally “crystallize” (like rock salt) into “what was,” not “what IS.” You get stuck in old stories and memories; mental movies unable to stay HERE NOW, open to your PRESENT and move forward.

Most people today are walking, talking pillars of salt. Filled with thoughts, looping memories of regret, remorse, sadness, grief… how do you do this? Do you have items in your home, in your life, or stories that you tell that make you constantly “look back” to your past?

Look around your house right now. What photo’s, greeting cards, knick-knacks, letters, emails, articles of clothing, jewelry, books, gifts, etc. drag your attention into the past? Moreover, into a negative past filled with, “Why me?”, “Why them?”, “Should have’s,” etc.

You can’t open your PRESENT in the PAST! Stay present in your present. Open your present NOW, in the PRESENT!

“Whatever the price, identify it now.
What will you have to go through to get where you want to be?
There is a price you can pay to be free of the situation once and for all.
It may be a fantastic price or a tiny one -- but there is a price.”
~ Harry Browne, 1933-, American Financial Advisor, Writer

LEARN THE LESSONS, LET GO, LIVE YOUR LIFE – YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION
Life is about learning from our past and living in the NOW, creating plans for a better FUTURE. It’s time to LET GO (maybe, with all your might!) of whatever is not true for you anymore.

Will “letting go” be easy? Some will, some will not. But decluttering and reclaiming your space for your HERE and NOW “conscious” life is a very important decision and act to do for yourself – it’s in fact a very selfish act… good for you! Reclaim your home and environment as yours.

Grieve your grief, resolve your areas/emotions incomplete and move on, no matter what it was (“was” is the operative word here.) Reset your energy for TODAY and your wonderful FUTURE. LET GO of anything, anyone, any thought, any statements and old stories that keeps dragging you backwards.

"The world is a great mirror.
It reflects back to you what you are.
If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful,
the world willprove loving and friendly and helpful to you.
The world is what you are."
~ Thomas Dreier

GRIEF & DEPRESSION
Upon meeting a person I can pick up if they’re in grief or depression, and I certainly know upon just a few steps into a house if a person is still stuck in their past. I have worked with clients to declutter their outer stuff only to walk, sit and talk about their “inner” stuff – emotions, fears, frustrations, stuck places. Your outer world is a manifestation of your inner world. Start with either. Clean up one and the other will “shift.”

So, look at everything you have and if you get a twinge of remorse, grief, negative longing, sadness, etc., pack it away in storage (some are family heirlooms, etc.) or get rid of it. You can’t have joy and pain the in the same place at the same time. Choose one or the other: why wouldn’t you choose joy?!

YOU DESERVE THE BEST LIFE
Having a background as a Social Worker/Therapist I know this work well and am always so happy to be able to help others work through and out of it, back to the life they deserve. If you are interested in releasing your “inner” clutter, you might consider reading my book, Letting Go With All Your Might. Review and order at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter 303-485-5280
Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Editors and publishers are free to reprint blog articles as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and the signature line remains intact.

Create and Keep a Repair Box

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

Create and Keep a Repair Box

You may not have to “sweat the small stuff” but you do have to repair it if you want to keep it.

My mom has a couple of coffee mugs on top of her microwave that hold refrigerator magnets and small figurines that need hot-gluing whenever I’m home. She’s got the idea!

Missing button. Broken knick-knack. Unglued frame corner. The little repair needs can mount up. But when they are scattered all over the house they just create more clutter and no repairs completed.

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE, and a REPAIR BOX will help so many other little annoyances from repeatedly bothering you!

Create and keep a “repair box.” It can be a cardboard box or plastic container, just something clean and sturdy. Keep it in a closet or place easy enough to put other items in that you find in need of some repair and easy to get to when you’re ready to repair.

Take it out once a month or so allotting an hour or so to go through as many items in the box as you can and get them completed, repaired and returned to their rightful place.

Keep a basic sewing kit and supplies with this box or in your closet/bedroom area where you get dressed. So, whether you pop a button or find a loose seam while getting dressed, you can take care of it immediately, as opposed to the long vacation it would otherwise take on your mending or “I don’t know where to put it,” pile.

Make sure everyone in your house knows about this handy little box so that when they have items that need repairs they can put them in the box too.

P.S. Don’t keep using broken, un-repairable items. Enjoy your belongings as long as you can, but when they are worn out, broken, chipped, etc. it’s okay to let them go even though, I know, “They’re still good enough.”

You will be amazed at how refreshed you will feel when you recycle/trash them and find out that you really don’t need them, buy new and replace, or get out replacements from the attic or china cupboard that have gone unused for 28 years to date!! USE YOUR STUFF!

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter 303-485-5280
Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Editors and publishers are free to reprint blog articles as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and the signature line remains intact.

Organize: Control It, or It Will Control You

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

Organize: Control It, or It Will Control You

"The man who removes a mountain
begins by carrying away small stones."
~ William Faulkner

Whether your frustration is in the form of disorganized and messy paper piles, office desk space, closets, drawers, rooms or yards, the “inner” clutter that is created is more important and more detrimental to you than most green fuzzy things growing in the back of the refrigerator!

It is said that, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

If we forget this simple adage by getting overwhelmed with outer clutter, disorganization and distractions, most meaningless… we lose not just minutes and hours and days, we miss out on every “now” that exists between “now” and “when” we “get organized.”

VALUE YOURSELF MORE AND MOST HIGHLY
Getting organized, taking the time to go through piles and stacks; jammed closets, drawers and rooms is a measure of valuing yourself. Your time is valuable. Your life is valuable. Your creativity is valuable. Your talents are valuable. YOU are valuable.

It is the human condition to forget this.

When you are distracted by frustrating clutter, losing time and energy trying to find things every day or spending money on the items you already have, “somewhere,” you are telling yourself in so many actions, thoughts and words that you’re time and energy, your very LIFE breath are not very important. Is that true?

No, it’s not true.

“I'm going to stop procrastinating ... once I get around to it.”
~ Unknown (not surprisingly!)

Clutter: Inner, Outer and Other, affects you more deeply and profoundly than you think.

To feel more connected and in control make and take the time to declutter one area at a time… your possessions should not control you, you should control them. You will be amazed at the openness and energy you gain after you clear out some piles and shelves and unused stuff and things. I’ve hardly had a client who didn’t jump for joy just by being able to see their floor or tabletop again.

One reason to keep “everything” you have is the old, “But what if I need it later?” reasoning. Sometimes this happens of course, we need it just days after we’ve let it go, but not that often and it’s not worth keeping stuff around at the expense of your energy being wasted and sucked up by the clutter vortex!

TIP: If you think you “may” need some things so keep delaying getting rid of them, put them in a box, label it, and store it in the garage or basement, out of the way. Make sure to write the date on it. If in 6 months to a year you haven’t needed what’s in it, “let it go!” Of course, I can hear you! “But, what if right after that, I need it?” Oh…. pleeeeeeeease…. Let – it – go! Life is so much bigger than your stuff!

Dr. DeClutter’s Litmus Test:
- If your house burned down today, would you need the stuff you keep tiptoeing around?
- Would you miss it?
- Would you feel free and happy that it’s gone?
- Would you even remember it anyway?

Clutter is not really the Outer stuff you see, it’s a symptom, a reflection of your Inner Self. Decluttering and organizing are wholistic practices, not just another “chore.” Make them part of your daily “routines” so that you keep up with cleaning out and maintaining only “what you love,” to show your Inner Self that you’re serious about taking better care of your life/space.

Here are some very cool outcomes from getting and staying organized:

1. You will feel much better inside.
2. You will feel less stressed and depressed.
3. You will let go of guilt and embarrassment.
4. You will feel more connected.
5. You will stop wasting time.
6. You will have more time for yourself.
7. You will stop wasting money.
8. You will have more money for yourself.
9. You will stop wasting energy.
10. You will have more energy for yourself and your loved ones.
11. You will feel in control.
12. You will feel free.
13. You will feel more balanced.
14. You will lose “wait” and “weight!” You will feel lighter.
15. You will feel empowered.
16. You will feel happier.
17. You will feel openness in your Outer environment/space.
18. You will feel openness in your Inner environment/mind/space.
19. You will find daily life decisions much easier to make.
20. You will be a role model for your children and others.

What will you do with all that good feeling, open Outer and Inner space?

This IS a test question… as for many who cling to their clutter it’s become a safety net, only dragging them deeper into dark waters. YIKES! Challenge your old beliefs, fears, patterns and routines. Clean out. Declutter. Organize. Let the net go, open up space for your peace and joy and new… SEE WHAT SHOWS UP!

Stop scaring and overwhelming yourself “to death.” Scare yourself “to life!”

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter 303-485-5280

Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Editors and publishers are free to reprint blog articles as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and the signature line remains intact.

Organizing – It’s All About Systems

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

Organizing – It’s All About Systems

I have worked with many people who were just beside themselves with layers and layers of what I’ve come to call… “horizontal hell.” You may have this dilemma too. It’s heaps and stacks of clothing, shoes, linens, towels, paper, sports equipment, food… it can be anything… stacked, falling over, tumbling out of closets and off stools, chairs and tables.

SOLUTION: Systems. All that’s missing is a good “system.”

Organizing systems are the foundation of aligning anything and everything. When a system is not in place to manage and control the flow of stuff and things, they will inevitably go the way of gravity.

"Organizing is the process by which we create
environments that enable us to live, work, and
relax exactly as we want to."
~ Julie Morgenstern, "Organizing From the Inside Out"

Your home, office and even your life/work/event/activity schedules should reflect and encourage the best of who you are, what you want, and how you spend your time and dime.

EXAMPLE: MAIL SYSTEM
One organizational problem many people stress about is mail. What to do with all of that incoming clutter called “mail.” And, sadly, mostly “junk mail.”

First, make sure you have a “system” for the flow of how mail comes into your house. Leaving it on the dining room or kitchen table or counter in a heap is just asking for problems!

If you’re not going to deal with the mail as soon as it comes through the door, then it’s imperative that you create a Mail Holding, or Communication Station. The simplest system to use is some sort of container; a basket, nice looking box or such. Put your mail in the container letting everyone you live with know that that’s where it “lives” until it’s sorted.

Then, sort it out, daily. I’ve had people tell me how frustrated they are with their mail, that they just don’t know what to do with it. I ask how often they sort through it and route it. Sometimes the answer is, “Once a month, from grocery bags.”

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No!!!

Sort daily, at least every couple of days. But once a month? You’re just asking for pain!

Most people’s mail consists of a few basic things:
1. Bills: Cull out all the paper you don’t need and recycle. Have another “system”/container/file/place where bills are held for payment. This needs to be easy to get to and use so that bills get paid on time if not auto-paid.
2. Correspondence: With email, there’s sadly few letters anymore, but certainly cards and letters do come. Open, read, show, enjoy. Put in a “system” for returning correspondence so that you don’t forget to reply if necessary.
3. Business items such as contracts, leases, etc.: Have pre-labeled files and folders for them in a file cabinet or other “system” where they “live” for easy access, use and finding when needed.
4. Medical Papers: Like Business items, Medical Papers don’t necessarily have to be seen again, or ever, it depends on your situation and if you need to keep them handy for future Doctor appointments.
5. Archive Information: Insurance Policy updates, Bank Statements and the like need to be read through and checked, but mostly “live” in archive files and are never looked at again, but need to be kept for taxes mostly.
6. Read: Magazine, journals, etc. that need your sit-down reading time. Put by your reading chair and enjoy when you sit down later. If you just don’t have time to ready them or have too many subscriptions, cancel them or give magazines to professional offices, senior centers or to the library until your subscription is out.
7. Junk Mail: Sort through straight to recycle bin. Call or send back with CANCEL written on one’s for which you can use “their pre-stamped envelope!”
8. Shredder: Shred anything that has your SS#, credit card numbers, bank numbers, etc.

So, pretty much, to create a more stress-free life, take the time to create SYSTEMS for everything in your environment. Give everything a “HOME.” If it doesn’t have a “home” it is “homeless” and will wonder around your house and life and gets lost a lot causing you unnecessary stress and loss of time and energy.

Oh, one last thing… there is no “perfect” organizing system. If you have a system in place that does 80% of what you want (like a job, relationship or car!) you should consider this very, very good!

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter 303-485-5280

Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Editors and publishers are free to reprint blog articles as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and the signature line remains intact.

Stop Hiding Behind Your Junk!

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

Stop Hiding Behind Your Junk!

It’s well known that people, especially women, use eating and weight, fat, to insulate themselves from the outside world. It’s a way of setting up armor for safety usually not created in appropriate ways in childhood.

Do you use your clutter and junk to insulate yourself from the world?

Think about this seriously…
1. What “payoff” do you get from keeping more than necessary "stuff" around your home, office, car, etc.?
2. How does it shield you from pain?
3. How does it act as a “high,” like self-medicating-- a “soft-addiction?”
4. How would you feel if your house was extremely cleared out and you couldn’t buy anything more to “fill up” the/your emptiness?

Or, maybe it's asking it another way...
- Do you shop to feel good?
- Do you feel like a hunter coming back from the great north hunt having “bagged” your game, showing everyone and telling the story of how and where you got it, the prices and “great deals”… your “hunting” story?
- Who would you be if you didn’t go on the hunts?
- How does that make you feel?

If you are getting anxious about now, you are indeed getting a “payoff” for shopping, finding, hunting, gathering, etc. and bringing home more stuff to “fill” your trophy room.

OUCH!

“In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing,
the next best thing is the wrong thing,
and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Temporary fixes are a short path to deep problems that just aren’t worth it.

Your surroundings should reflect the best of who you are. Everything in your home and office should be what you LOVE. Your LIFE should be 99% more than any of your possessions. There’s always more, there’s plenty, and even if you could “have it all” the bottom-line is that you deserve to do and be so much more in your life than a buyer, consumer, hoarder, keeper, cleaner, defender and insurer of stuff.

Don’t let advertising and sales mailings lure you in like a fish to a worm. You can swim for years in your pond and never have to have “more.” The few lily pads you have a beautiful, or get a few that are and really enjoy them.

Go shopping, go to garage sales, go to markets and festivals… enjoy the weather, the music, the people. You don’t have to buy anything! Invite friends and family, join clubs, enjoy yourself and the time in which you have to enjoy yourself … it’s short, remember!

Clutter and stuff that just keeps piling up and taking up room creates “visual white noise.” It creates visual and physical distractions. Distractions keep you off center, off balance and out of your natural state of joy and peace.

KEY: If you don’t have LIFE GOALS, DREAMS, PASSIONS and PURPOSE into which you pour your glorious unique and personal creativity, joy, time and energy… clutter will take up the space. The universe abhors a vacuum. If there’s a space open, it will get filled up. So, get on top of it. Fill it in with what you truly WANT, not with just stuff, new or old. Fill it up with open space, by choice, so that it can stay beautifully open and enjoyed.

Sit down and write out your “do want’s” in life. WHAT DO YOU WANT?

If you decide what you WANT, clutter will not be on the list and will have to move aside and out of your life in order to make “space” for the good stuff. But, if you don’t know what you WANT it’s too easy to let the clutter sit heavy in piles and stacks and ….

So, the “price tag” for clutter is stress, fear, anxiety, embarrassment, guilt, etc. Up the standards by which you live your precious life, declutter and bring peace, joy and self-love (not loathing) back into your space and life. You deserve it!

YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO GET RID OF EVERYTHING!

Stop trading yourself for symbols of yourself.

I recently spent several weeks of appointments decluttering, reorganizing and putting closet shelving and systems in place for a family. After finishing the daughter’s room, Mandy, age 8, told me and her mother that she loves staying in her room now, that “it feels like home.”

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter 303-485-5280
Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Editors and publishers are free to reprint blog articles as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and the signature line remains intact.