What do you do when you hit a wall? I wanted to write to you yesterday, and the day before. I wanted to say something encouraging,  give you a technique to organize... help you on your journey.  But I couldn't.

I stared at the blank page, and I just couldn't.

Has this ever happened to you?  You wanted to do something.  Clear off a surface.  Write a report.  Put those papers in the file folder.  Hang up some clothes.  Wash dishes.  Exercise.  ... but you just couldn't.  

Why is it that we have something to do, and we just get immobilized?  

Is it laziness?  I don't think so.  We certainly beat ourselves enough about that possibility.  Is it fear? Possibly, but I think it's more than that.  I think we simply get stuck... and sometimes we can't do things.  Maybe it's even human nature (or at the very least, our human nature).

So, what should we do about it?

Keep trying.  Set a timer... file one paper.  Call a buddy.  Or... walk away for a minute and do something good for yourself.  Come back to it from a fresh, feel-good perspective.

What did I do when I hit the wall?  I went and made myself a chocolate smoothie (yum!) and I tried to think of nice things about myself.  And I reminded myself that even though I couldn't write for a day or so, that doesn't make me a bad person. I'm still the same Marsha, with the same big gentle heart, who wants to help everyone!

Action:

Take some time to celebrate the wonderfulness of you.  Journal, meditate, go outside and look at nature.  Hug a tree.  Breathe.

Re-approach your clutter from a feel-good position.

And have a terrific day!

Marsha Sims

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Pulled in too many directions.

What do you do when everyone wants your attention, and you have too many places to go at the same time?  How do you decide who or what to spend your time with? Often I have two or more meetings that are being held on the same date.  I can't do it all... no matter how much I want to!

Enter priorities.  You have to make a decision based on your priorities, and/or your goals.

Can't decide which coat to wear?  Prioritize.  What is the image you are trying to project?
Can't decide which meeting to attend?  Prioritize.

Action:

Try listing out all of the things you  have to do.  Decide which ones are the right ones to do this week.  Put them  in order on your list, and get started.

Have a terrific day!

Marsha Sims

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Before you walk out of your office for the evening, turn around and look at it.  Really look at it.  Not like you’ll see it in the morning, but like other people will see it.

There are people who will not open their door when company comes.  Why?  It is because the knock on the door forces them to see what the person at the door will see when they open it.  Don’t they see it all the time?  No.  They sort of see it.  They see it sometimes.  But for the most part, they overlook it.  They are busy dealing with the everyday activities of life — and after awhile don’t really “see” it.

The solution is to work on your clutter in small chunks, and not allow it to “grow”  back (because it will).

On day one, start with a manageable amount of straightening up.  On day two, work at your organizing  during your allotted time period,  minus 5 minutes.  Take that 5 minutes to be sure that what you did yesterday is still done.  On day 3, same thing.  Work on your organizing until the last 5 minutes.  Use the last 5 minutes to make sure that your previous days work hasn't come undone. Repeat.

Continue in this pattern until all the work is done.  But never stop taking the last 5 minutes to notice.  If you continue in this way it may take awhile to correct it, but once corrected, the problem will go away... 5 minutes a day.

Action:

Use the last 5 minutes of your workday to straighten up.  This will allow it to look nice when you walk back in the next day.

Have a terrific day!

Marsha Sims

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When a lot is going on and everything seems chaotic, maybe the problem is that you are trying to focus on everything at once.  This almost never achieves the desired result!

In order to begin to make sense of everything, you have to create a starting point.  What would you like to fix first?  Think of it like this:  What bothers you the most, or what would make you feel the best if it were done?

Once you decide what you want to accomplish first, you can begin to create a plan and a strategy to start, and then keep going.

First things first.  If something is working for you, don't fix it.  We only want to fix the problem areas.  Later, if you want, you can upgrade the things that are working.  Example: you may want to go from a paper calendar to an electronic calendar.

There are some things that can't be fixed (for example, if you have four children in a 2 bedroom house, you just have to work around it.) Just acknowledge those,and focus on the things you can do something about.

Action:

Write three lists:

1. Already working (anything that's working - you want to start with the positive)

2. Things that can't be fixed (you don't want to waste time on things that can't be fixed right now)

3. The things you'd like to work on.

This helps you establish the scope of the problem, and gives you perspective.

Have a terrific day!

Marsha Sims

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If you are keeping more than you need or want, you have to ask yourself, why?  What is that I'm doing (or not doing) that keeps clutter in my world?  Maybe it's not what you are doing, per se.  Maybe it's the questions you are not asking to challenge yourself as to why you are keeping things?

Action:

When you find yourself keeping things "just for now," or you have boxes stacked up with things to go through later...

Ask yourself the following questions.

Why am I keeping this?

Do I have a place to keep it?

Is this something I really want?

Do I actually use it?

Does it still look attractive?
Is it still functional?

Is it now obsolete?
Is it damaged?  If so, am I really going to fix it? How? When?

Is it worth paying to store it?

If I was looking for this and I couldn’t find it, what would I do?
Does it have significant sentimental value?
How will I feel if it  isn’t in my world any longer?
Who would care if I got rid of it? Does that really matter?
What’s the worst thing that could happen if I let it go?

(excerpt from 5 Days to a Clutter-Free House, Chapter 5, “What do I do now with the stuff in the boxes, pp. 118—119, by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims)

Rules of Storage

1. Containerize it.

 Put things in an appropriate container

 and be sure to label it

2. Store it.

Store things at or near the place where

they will be used.

3. Where to  put it?

Put things used more frequently at a reachable

height. 

Store things used less frequently up high or down

low

Put things that are rarely or never used in an outer 

or distant storage place

(excerpt from 5 Days to a Clutter-Free House, Chapter 5, “What do I do now with the stuff in the boxes, pp. 118—119, by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims)

Action:

Using the above guide, find a place for everything, and put everything in it's place.

*

Have a terrific day!

Marsha Sims

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Today I worked in my closet.  A friend sat with me and helped me let go of my old possessions... clothes that have been with me through tough times, and fun times.  Clothes that brought back memories of days gone by.  Clothes that were there for me when no one else was.  You understand what I mean.  YOU get the picture!

Some clothes I had to let go of sadly, and I said a silent good-bye.  Some I let go of gladly, and had no problems whisking them onward to (hopefully) a new owner who will appreciate them.  Some still had tags.

It was a long and tiring day, but I feel cleansed.  I feel like I have a new lease on my wardrobe life... because now I can make room for new friends and new memories... New experiences, new laughter, a new journey.

It's hard to let go.  I know... I'm with you!  But when we do, we feel the openness and freedom that comes with the space we long for.

Action:

Go into your closet and pull out 7 articles of clothing that you no longer wear, and give them to charity.  Do this every day for a week.  You will feel so much better at the end of the week!  (7 X 7 = 49 items to give away!)

Have a terrific day!

Marsha Sims

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www.sortitout.net