Amy Slenker-Smith

If you read Part 1 yesterday, I know what you're thinking... "What about the mountains of paper in my home office?" Every flat surface is covered and you don't know where to begin? Piles occupy even the chairs. The filing cabinet is jam packed or worse yet unused, because a filing system alludes you. Perhaps you walk carefully around the paper towers built on your office floor? Is your office so uninviting that you rarely work in it? Do you sit on the couch with your laptop instead? You cannot get anything done in there because you are surrounded by stuff. Papers everywhere, looming bookshelves and other random items live here. Stuff robs you of peace and focus. So, you avoid working here at all. Does this describe your home office space? Am I close? I have good news and bad news. Good news - We will will tackle this space in today's challenge. Bad news - it is not an easy one. When I work with clients to transform their offices, it's usually a multi-day assignment. And …

[Read more...] about Decluttering Challenge – Day 11 – Home Office

Even in a digital world, paper organization alludes us. Paper clutter is ongoing. And like yesterday, we need to create a habit for processing paper daily. With an established Paper Filing System, we live about 90% paperless. We leverage technology to support this goal. Once we got control of the physical paper, the paperless part became a reality.   Paper clutter can be a daunting task. So, I'll break it into two parts. Part 1 (Day 10)- Build a Paper Filing System and Establish New Habits Part 2 (Day 11) - Home Office and Filing Cabinets Stop The Paper Recycle everything you can immediately. Toss junk mail, catalogues and advertisements in the recycle bin before you enter your house. I have yet to experience a time when I regretted throwing away a coupon. If you want to prevent catalogues from being mailed to you in the first place, use catalogchoice.org to unsubscribe. Lastly, register at optoutprescreen.com to eliminate credit card and loan …

[Read more...] about Decluttering Challenge – Day 10 – Paper #1

Today I revisited the habits from Day 2. For the first time in two weeks, the mid-Atlantic temperatures rose above freezing. In fact, 40 degrees felt pleasant after the bitter cold that swept through our area. Schools closed for several days due to snow and ice. Kids and parents drove each other crazy. My typical clutter busting habits were overcome by these events. And what I found in the aftermath of the storm was a graveyard of stuff strewn all over the garage and much of my house. The Path Remember the path I described on Day 2? The path leads from our kitchen to the car and allows me to get out the door easily each day. I restored the condition of this path today. I returned snow boots and shoes to the shelf. Next, I re-hung the abandoned sled, scooter and skateboard on the wall.  Finally, I gathered gloves, hats and snow pants in preparation for next weekend's ski trip. The truth is, decluttering requires maintenance.  And when I walked into the garage …

[Read more...] about Decluttering Challenge – Day 9 – Habits

It's time to look at the small appliances parked on your kitchen counter. I believe that the earlier challenges set us up nicely for today. A reasonable number of dishes now reside in the cabinets (Day 3). Some pantry shelves should be empty thanks to the food inventory challenge (Day 4). By reducing cabinet contents, more appliances can live inside cabinets versus on the counter. Going forward, limit kitchen gadgets. As appliances wear out, question whether to replace them. Two crockpots, bread maker, flour sifter, espresso maker, frother, deep fryer, coffee carafe, toaster and many others have left our home. The result - a very clean counter, ready to work. I love my empty kitchen counter. At the end of the night, I reward its efforts by putting everything away and cleaning it.  Empty counters clean up easily without obstacles. The goal of today’s challenge is to uncover these flat surfaces and allow them to work for you. Decluttering and Downsizing …

[Read more...] about Decluttering Challenge – Day 8 – Appliances

It’s Sunday, the day of rest. Sort of...as I type this at a swim meet. :) Instead, many of us are pondering the work and school schedule ahead. How to fit it all in and maybe sit down to a family dinner once or twice! Admittedly, some seasons are busier than others. But I hear “surviving the holidays" as an all too common phrase. I think we can do better this year. Simple living influences not just physical space but calendar space. It’s important to be mindful of over-scheduling. Particularly as it affects our children. Our family schedule inspired conversations about trade-offs. We discussed budgeting the resource of time similar to money. My son elects activities that give him at least 3 nights off per week. He also relishes a lazy Sunday watching football snuggled up on the couch. Truth be told, so do I. Last week’s frigid temperatures forced much of the east coast to slow down. Cold weather cancelled school and sporting activities. Parents and kids cheered for the excuse to …

[Read more...] about Decluttering Challenge – Day 7 – Schedule

Yesterday’s challenge was tough right? Some of you have told me that you’re still working on it. Take your time. I understand that going through boxes and bins of stuff is one of the hardest decluttering tasks. It is very easy to close the lid, tuck it in a closet and deal with it another day. Out of sight, out of mind? No, not at all. We know it’s there. Clutter lurks, stealing peace and calm. As I told you on Day 2, this is not an “organizing challenge". I hope to lighten the physical and emotional burden of stuff in your home by inspiring you to live with less.  Through the month of January, we will downsize items all over the house. In the words of one of my favorite authors Joshua Becker “Decluttering can be tough work. We spend years and years collecting and accumulating more and more things. We should not be surprised then, if it takes considerable time to make decisions about what to keep and what to remove. But it’s always worth the effort. Possessions weigh us down …

[Read more...] about Decluttering Challenge – Day 6 – Board Games