Today, I’m sharing what is (in my personal-turned-professional opinion) the absolute worst decluttering strategy ever. For me. Don’t separate those two things. The thing about it being the absolute worst, and the part about it being the worst for me. I finally started making real, lasting, bigtime decluttering progress when I stopped …
figuring myself out
Ideal Cleaning Vs Actual Cleaning
"We want this to happen organically." Organically is a word of this millennium. I know it existed pre-2000, but its meaning has enhanced over the past 20 years. Without actually looking up its definition, I think that when used in reference to food, it's supposed to mean the food has been grown without unnatural help. Without being …
Always and Never
My mother once told me (once that I remember) to stop saying always and never. Evidently, I said those words often. And incorrectly. I’m sure she made this suggestion after I told an overly dramatic story that didn’t actually meet the qualifications of always and never. Since very few things meet those qualifications. I’m 44 now, and …
Stating the Obvious
Recently, I created storage space by clearing a cabinet of things we no longer use. As I moved a box, I uncovered a printed piece of paper and had a sudden memory of this post from my first year of blogging. The post was about running across a cleaning schedule that was a handout at a moms' group I attended when my boys were babies. I found …
One Thing that’s WAY Over My Clutter Threshold
My Clutter Threshold is the point at which I have more stuff than I can handle. Or I have specific things I personally can't handle. Everyone has a Clutter Threshold and each person's threshold is different. I had a great idea recently. An idea with the noble goal of saving my still-newish couch from the teenage boys who sit on it. I bought a …
Grieving the Me I Assumed I Would Be
See that? It’s a breakfast casserole. Hot and cheesy and sausage-ey. And not typically an emotional thing. I balanced it on my lap as we drove to church on a recent Sunday morning. I took a picture because of the twinge I felt. The twinge came in a moment of grief over the woman I assumed I would be at this point in my life. I thought I …
Add This to: Things Hubby Would Never Do
I don't technically have a list called Things I Do That Hubby Would Never (Ever) Even Consider Doing. But I could. And it would be a long one. Rather than seeing these lovely differences in our personalities as problems, I try to look at them as ways to understand myself better. Here's an example: That's my coffee cup from this …
People Over Pride
Last year (less than a month ago), I predicted I'd have my Christmas decor down on January 1st. January 1st came and went. So many of you were gracious and assured me that NOT taking it down was actually good and wonderful and much more actual-Christmas-honoring since January 6th is the true end of Christmas. (12 Days of …
How is How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind different from other books in the same genre?
Most organizing advice is written by naturally organized people, since they’re the ones who, naturally, love to talk about organizing. The problem for me, though, was that my brain works completely differently from the brain of an organized person. I was lost on page three, and always felt skeptical. Whether it was the truth or not, I believed …
