Over the past few weeks, I’ve been on a mission. Clearing the clutter. From my house, from my office, from my HEAD. It was overwhelming to think about taking on this task, but keeping the goal in mind made it easy. If we can clear the clutter in our lives, we can FREE ourselves to make big things happen. We make room for awesome.

I stood in my office a few weeks ago suddenly very overwhelmed about the thought of gutting everything. I had to break it down to tackle it.

1. Get prepared: Gather trash bags for the THROW AWAY pile, boxes (or laundry baskets if you’re me) for the GIVE AWAY pile and a sharpie. You never know when you’re going to need a sharpie : )

2. Gather any trash you can see. Throw it out. 

3. Next, start moving out things you know you’re going to keep. BUT be sure to organize things on the way out, not on the way back in. Makes the job easier.

4. If you haven’t used it in six months, you’re probably never going to use it. Throw/give it away. Take no prisoners.

5. Run your errands. Take out the trash. Give away the give-away boxes.

6. Clean everything. 

7. Begin to put the room back together, but make sure things are organized. Question WHY you put things where you put them. IE: WHY were my little gold pineapple labels always kept in my closet when I use them on every letter I mail. I made a special place for them at my shipping station so that they’re always within arms reach. 

Make smart choices. Have a reason for why things are stored in certain places. Gather like items together. MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR YOURSELF. Don’t put the printer paper in the closet if you’re going to need it by the printer (Sounds simple, right?? But how many of you do this!! A lot! I did.)

Once you have your room back together, enjoy it. Buy yourself a new candle or a new frame for your desk. Make the space your own. Visual aesthetic affects me in a BIG way. It can drain my creativity. I can’t use Quickbooks because it’s not visually simple. I use Outright because its simplified. Make decisions based on what WORKS for you. 

Who says you have to do things / store things / organize things / position things / use things a certain way? Boo. Do what works for you. You’ll be surprised what this makeover - what CLEARING THE CLUTTER - will do for you. 

Emily