Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff

You know how relaxed you feel when you come in your door after a long day at work and an awful commute?  Or maybe you get the feeling when you arrive after a trip.  No matter how much fun you had, how nice your hotel, or how perfect the weather, it just feels good to come home. Maybe you enjoy the familiar scent.  (We like to suffuse the air with scents of cedar, moss, and vanilla.)  Perhaps you remove your shoes, open the embroidered curtains in your living room to let in the light, and take your favorite seat on the couch.* The way my home feels isn't an accident.  It's the result of many small, intentional choices I've made so my space not only looks attractive, but also fills me with peace. Most of us think about home design in terms of aesthetics.  Does this art go with the couch?  Do the throw pillows match?  Is this flooring on trend?  But the details of our homes impact our senses, and these cues make us feel either soothed or ...

Rose Lounsbury, a professional organizer, former middle school teacher, and mother of teenage triplets, has a personal definition of simplicity that I really like: Simplicity is getting very clear about what you want, and then having the guts to let go of everything else. Back in 1994, when I decided that instead of sending my daughter to kindergarten, I wanted to homeschool her until she was a confident, independent reader, my desire was for our family to be able to live comfortably on my husband's salary while I took a few years away from my own career.  (At the time, I only planned to homeschool until my younger child was ready to start 4th grade.  Little did I know how much we would love and benefit from independent learning!  I wound up homeschooling my two kids until they went to college – a total of 14 years.) To do that, I (a long-time overachiever) had to have the guts to leave my job.  (I needed my husband's support too.  Thank you, Jon.)  I had t...

In a recent post , I happened to mention several benefits of quitting tobacco.  That's not something I've done, because I've never been a smoker.  But my mother's father and all of her brothers were chain smokers from their teens into their late 50s, when they decided to quit.  As I remember it, there were false starts and setbacks, but eventually all of them were non-smokers.  And my uncles all lived into their 80s. Quitting tobacco is a huge habit change, and not easy.  The habits I want to talk about today are nothing like that.  They won't require counseling or treatment.  They're easy to implement without a lot of preparation.  They take just a few minutes to perform.  (Some of them take almost no time and only a bit of effort.)  They're all beneficial. Why don't more of us do them?  I have no answer for that, but it doesn't make sense.  So here's the challenge:  Implement just one of these habits today and every day...

For those of you who buy my books , thank you.*  For those of you who read them, I appreciate it, and I hope they guide and inspire you. But I want to give a special shout out to those who go the extra mile and start to implement some of the ideas I've written about.  I hope they're changing your life like they've changed mine.  I hope my book has earned its place on your shelf. * Thank you for supporting my blog.  If you purchase through my links, I may earn a small commission. The illusion of self-help Do you know the best way to market a product?  Demonstrate how it will make the buyer's life better by saving them time or money, helping them deal with their problems, improving their relationships, or some other positive change. Do you know the best way to market a book?  Make the same promises. But if you've read self-improvement books, including mine, you may have realized that the quick fix doesn't exist.  What you read in a book or on a blog is ...

Are you longing for a perfectly decluttered, simple home that makes everything about your life easier and better?  There's only one problem with that dream... it's not going to come true overnight. But don't worry, and don't give up!  It really is worth the time and effort to declutter.  The best part of it is that you don't have to minimize everything to start seeing benefits.  You're going to enjoy some positive effects as soon as you begin. Why you shouldn't wait Decluttering even a little is like quitting smoking.  Did you know that within 20 minutes of smoking your last cigarette your heart rate and blood pressure start to normalize?  There's more:  Within 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal levels, improving your body's oxygenation.  You'll have more energy and clearer thinking. Within just one day, your risk of having a heart attack lowers significantly. Within a couple of weeks, your lung function has impro...

Are you thinking of downsizing?  Or maybe you're just tired of your home.  It may be in a lovely neighborhood, with lots of character and good bones, but if it's cluttered with your stuff, it might be really hard to see those assets.  And if you're hoping to sell, you may have to accept a lower price than you would like. Real estate agents almost always suggest hiring a professional stager to prepare a home for sale, but don't worry if you can't afford that.  I've successfully staged my own homes for sale.  I also talked to my friend Tracy, a long-time real estate agent and home stager.  She helped me compile a list of the top 9 things to remove and the top 4 things to add as you prepare your home to be listed. By the end of this process, your house may look better than it has for a long time.  Maybe you'll even decide to stay put! Start with the big stuff. 1.  Exterior The outside of your home is the first thing anyone sees, even if they're just ...