It’s spring-cleaning time.

Choose an area to de-clutter, and gather a large garbage and/or recycle container, a box or boxes for donations/garage sale/consignment, and a box for items that go elsewhere -- i.e., don’t belong in the area you are de-cluttering. Sort items into these containers, and then deliver the “goes elsewhere” items to their proper places.

The above organizing tip is taken from my booklet, "36 Home Organizing Ideas for Your Family Around the Year". This 16-page booklet provides month-by-month, timely tips to help you and your family organize your home. My booklet also makes a great gift to friends, family, colleagues, clients, and potential clients. You can even choose to add your company logo and/or information to the booklet. To order one or more copies of my booklet, please go to http://www.thecluttercoach.com/booklet.html.

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Kids have a lot of stuff and keeping track of it can be tough.   And it's hard to get them to let go of anything.  What looks like junk to us may be absolutely beloved to a child and what we think is great, gets totally ignored - go figure!

I teach seminars on 'organizing' kids, and while a lot of what we discuss is getting the parents to rethink their philosophy on kids stuff and clutter, there are definitely some specific ideas that can help when it comes to getting the kids on board with the program.  My basic premise is that kids (usually) have too much stuff.  This can be overwhelming for them and as a result, they don't play with what they have nor do they respect it.  Less is more when it comes to kids and their things.  Once you've made the decision to do this, I have for you:

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Most of us are now participating in some sort of in-home recycling effort.  But what happens when your recyclables start to become clutter?  Not everyone has the room or the incentive to keep up with recycling efforts.  But because of green guilt, we let our milk jugs, soda cans and glass jars pile up until it's convenient to get rid of them the responsible way.

How much does your recycling plan affect your lifestyle?  Does it get in your way?  Have you changed how and what you purchase in an effort to be more environmentally responsible?  I think a large percentage of our population, myself included, is baby-stepping into the "green" world.  If it weren't for the small financial incentive from my city, I would probably be doing less.  I have to pay 50 cents for every bag I put at the curb, so it behooves me to put as much as possible into the recycling bin they provide!  I also get a few bucks a month from the cans I take to the local recycling center.  I haul my glass in at the same time, although I get no compensation for that.

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How many of us feel that we could accomplish so much more, if we only had enough energy.  Did you ever notice, that when you are not surrounded by clutter, and your belongings are organized, you have more energy?

Here are 6 ideas to get more energy by having less clutter…

1.  Things have a way of piling up around us.  To enable you to organize your clutter, first you need to purge what is not necessary.  Easier said than done. 
a.  Decide what must go – what would you do if you were moving?  Would you take this or not?  If not, out it goes.
b.  What if it’s still good and useful, but not to you?  Donate.  Goodwill is a good starting point, but also think of friends, friends’ kids, schools, organizations holding rummage sales…
c.  What if it’s sentimental – decide whether it’s so important to your soul that you should put it in a safe memento-keeping spot.  If it’s somewhat sentimental, maybe the realization that it will bring true joy to another person will make a parting decision for you.  If you’re not sure, keep it, and see what you think next year.  Don’t forget, once you give away that memento, you can’t get it back.

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