One reader replied to Sunday’s newsletter: I’m reading this post with tears in my eyes. Thank you, Mary. You’ll never know how much I needed “permission” to let go of the boxes and boxes of paints, fabric, stencils, etc. Thank you so much. from S.W. Because of her reply, I decided to turn that newsletter […]
declutter
Commit; don’t wait for motivation.
I don’t like to exercise. I never really have. There are times I can forget I’m exercising while I’m having fun playing a game or sport, but it has to be something I’m truly loving and that is rare in my adult life. I’m just not one of those people that is like “woohoo – […]
Don’t Play Catch-up
If you’ve been around here a while, you know that I’m a big believer in a cleaning routine. And because I try to play by the rules I teach, last night I scratched off “clean kitchen & fridge” from my to do list … even though I didn’t do that yesterday. One of the most […]
Just start.
I can think of a million times I was nervous to start something, but once I got myself to do it, it was no where near as bad as I had made it up to be in my mind. The examples range from simple things like doing the dishes after a big feast or big […]
Ignore Your Husband’s Side of the Closet…
I’m going to give you some simple advice that helps me every single day: Ignore your husband’s side of the closet. Matt is amazing and talented in a billion ways. The man patiently goes through every single math problem of all three middle schoolers every single school night to check their work and see where […]
Be Unavailable
I discovered using “airplane mode” for personal/work reasons by accident. I was trying to film the planner tour from my phone, but texts and notifications kept interrupting me. It occurred to me to put my phone on airplane mode to stop notifications, but then I forgot to put it back on for a few hours […]
Empty the space while you declutter.
I confess I have a problem. I don’t always like to read directions. Sometimes it’s because I think I already know how to do it, or I think I’ll figure it out as I go, or I’m just not in the mood to worry about the details. And yes, this little problem of mine, really […]
Let Them Be Little – Embrace the Treasures and Create Collections
When Brian was a toddler, he came home from every outing with a pocketful of “treasures.” They were so important to him. He’d name them, play with them, and remember each and every one. I knew I needed a plan to deal with them before they took over all the clean surfaces of his room. […]
Kids Can Declutter (Teach them!)
You’re reading this because you already get that decluttering is so important. I really think kids need to learn how to declutter for themselves. You are not doing your child any favors by keeping all their stuff. I think parents doing sneak-attacks of decluttering backfires and causes some kids to latch on even harder to […]
Why I Love Watching Hoarders
I’ve never really talked about Hoarders on the blog, and as I was watching it the other day, I thought I should correct that. The first thing the show Hoarders taught me years ago was that there were people who had the job of helping other people organize their house. That show made me want […]