If you had to get rid of three items out of each room in your house, what would they be? Would it be difficult to get rid of them? If so, then why? What purpose do they serve? Would you give them away or just throw them out? It is at this point in the “organizing business” that my clients often get very irritated and testy. They often feel like the majority of the items they have serve a very important purpose, but when they actually step back and look at them, they realize they would not miss them one bit were they to let them go. My challenge to you last week was to go through some simple items in your home and see if you could begin the “de-cluttering” process. This process may take several weeks (maybe even months) so I am going to move on, but I want you to continue that process for as long as you feel comfortable. Remember to set up three separate piles: Give Away, Keep, and Trash. That should help you tremendously. This week, we are going to focus on what to do once you have begun the “de-cluttering” process. What items do you keep? Which do you throw away, why do you throw them away and which do you donate? These questions will be answered differently, each time depending on who is being asked. For example, an old ragged towel may not serve much of a purpose to me, yet to a mother that carried her newborn son home from the hospital wrapped up in said towel, it may have a little more meaning. This is when your own judgment and determination to “de-clutter” will come into play. I always advise my clients to start small. Begin with a small room, or a small portion of the room, and then slowly start to work through your items. Through my experience, I’ve learned that the best place to begin for most people is either a closet or in a small office. Getting organized is just as easy as cleaning your room and making sure everything is in a particular place. If something is just lying around, then it needs to have a purpose. Do you have a magazine on the end table next to the couch? Do you plan on reading it or is it just sitting there for looks? These are the simple things that most people don’t think about. Those small items are taking up space and they are cluttering up your living environment. I remember, as a college student, I always had stuff everywhere. There was no order to anything in my dorm room, and I could never find anything I needed. The mess began to bog me down and I eventually even noticed that my attitude began to change. The mess in my room soon began to “muddy up” my personality and my attitude on life. I dreaded coming into my dorm room, I dreaded waking up in my dorm room, I dreaded studying in my dorm room, I just dreaded simply going in there; all due to the fact that the organizational flow of my room was cluttered and jam-packed with piles of junk! It wasn’t until I received a call that one of my best friends was coming to visit from out of town that I finally decided to clean, and I was cleaning for hours! It seemed like the never-ending garbage pile, but I finally succeeded in seeing my floor for the first time in about a month. It was then that something clicked and I noticed that I actually enjoyed being in my room again. I enjoyed making some popcorn, having a few friends over and watching a movie. I enjoyed decorating my room and I actually enjoyed cleaning for the first time in my life. I use this story with my clients because it’s a perfect example of your mess -- messing up your life. You hear people talk about the placement of items in their home, or the colors that they use on the wall and how they alter their state of mind and I could not agree more. Color and cleanliness are extremely important in order to maintain a calm and “clog-free environment” in both your home and your mind. My challenge to you this week is for you to see what things in your life are keeping you from developing that clog-free environment. Focus on that stack of “junk” in your office or that pile of old clothes in your closet. Go through them, sort them out, get rid of them, and I can guarantee you will feel much better after you’re finished.