Enjoy Harmony in Your Home - Part IX

Bust clutter. Rid your house of clutter that’s causing stress in your environment. Rather than trying to tackle a big job all at once and becoming overwhelmed, schedule small bits of time to regularly work on getting rid of clutter, room by room, until your whole house is organized. Prepare for your work by having trash bags, storage bins, etc. on hand. Eliminate what you don’t want, need, or use. Concentrate on what you use, need, and care about. For every item you handle, ask: “When is the last time this was used, worn, or played with?”, “Does it deserve space in our home? If it weren’t here, what would be here instead?”, “Are there memories attached to it?” and “What will I do with it – fix it, sell it, store it, toss it, or donate it?” Be sure to follow through on your decisions promptly to avoid second thoughts; put objects you’ve chosen to keep in their proper places and drop off donations and take out trash soon after de-cluttering. Set deadlines for your work to stay on track. Every time a new items comes into the house, take an old item out to make room for it. Think and pray about why you’ve accumulated too much stuff in the first place, and how you can avoid cluttering your house with more stuff in the future.