Saturday, April 19, 2008

Simplify three...

Here are seven random ideas of things that I do and am starting to do to keep my life simple...

1. If you are coming to my house tonight for dinner groups, know that I did the simpliest of cleaning...swept, vac'd, wiped things down with Clorox wipes (my other best friend). Done. I don't want to be too tired to spend time with friends, and they love me more than how my house looks.

2. Get rid of things you "might" need someday. Replacing them can sometimes be easier than maintaining them.

3. Keep just two more of something than people in your house. How many towels and sheets do you REALLY need? Cups and plates? It makes you stay on top of keeping things clean AND keeps your closets and drawers from piling up. Of course, use your discretion on how many to keep, especially if you entertain a lot.

4. Pretend you're moving cross-country and PURGE. Do you really want to pack and move that item? Get rid of it!

5. Say NO to a purchase for 30 days. Write it down and go back to it and see if you still need or want it. It can be a minor or major purchase.

6. If you buy something new, get rid of something old. In with a new pair of shoes, out with an old! My sister-in-law is very good about this with her purses- I get them! :o)

7. We use duvets on our beds. It's so easy to just give it a shake and voila, the bed is made!

Maybe I'll try to share more ideas each Saturday...share yours, too!

5 comments:

Mary J said...

cleaners: Find a multiputpose cleaner, glass cleaner, and toilet cleaner. These three can be made with homemade ingredients like vinegar and bleach. A lot of times you have the things for speciality cleaners at your fingertips, just look it up on the internet. Then you have 3 cleaners under your sink not 12 half empty bottles.

C. S. Fox said...

Ann,

Whats's a duvet???

stemy said...

*sigh* I did move cross-country...

I did not purge... so now we're in the new house and I look around thinking "Man, I've got a lot of crap..." I've got way too much stuff the I "might need someday"

duvet is french for comforter...

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Courtney said...

Flylady is my secret weapon to decluttering and keeping up the clean house thing. When I am in her groove my house cleans itself and I have less to keep clean.

Also, my timer is my best friend. To stay focused, I set the timer for anything and go for it. I HATE cleaning the office - I set the timer for 15 minutes, focus on what I am doing for that amount of time. When the timer goes off, i am off the hook and I move on. Most of the time it gets done in that amount of time cause I am focused on it.

It also works well for the whole house - 10 minutes per room, in an hour the house is straighter than it was, if not clean.

AND, remember, SOMETHING is better than NOTHING, and ALWAYS AIM for MORE (this can apply to cleaning, decluttering, etc!)

Am loving these little installments :)