When is it time to let go of the past?  I am speaking of those items that represent the past, and not necessarily in a good or bad way.  It could be either. 

My first husband, Paul, died of cancer over 14 years ago at the age of 40.  His legacy, aside from our son, was his treasured music collection - LPs for the most part.  When I relocated from our marital property into my current home after he passed away, I transported the large collection and for the past 14 years, they have been stored in my storage room.   They were stored in a way that was unobtrusive and so they sat, well preserved. 

At first I thought I would hold onto them because, not only did they represent a direct emotional connection to my late husband, but that they would increase in value.  Besides his passion for music, it was one of the reasons he kept such a collection.  I was carrying on his wishes.  Also, knowing they were with me in my home made me feel that a part of him was always with me.

I married again in 2002 and accumulated items with my second husband until we separated in 2009.  We traveled, we spent holidays with our combined family and when we split up, some of the items from our past remained.  

This year I turned 50 and my divorce was finalized.  I have spent a great deal of time evaluating where I have been, where I am now and where I want to be in the future.  The "stuff" is no longer a part of the picture.  I am ready to let go of the past.

I am selling the large music collection and going through my home, room by room, and getting rid of the things that remind me of my failed second marriage.  It's time.   I want to focus on who I am today and what that represents to me.  The sad memories and the "stuff" associated with it no longer belong in my life.  The music collection no longer holds that emotional connection to Paul.  The wedding presents from my second marriage no longer evoke fond memories.  

Letting go of the past can be very healing in a lot of ways and one of the ways is by getting rid of the "clutter".  I believe that you should only hold onto the good memories and you can do it with a lot less "stuff". 

So, what things are you holding on to that evoke sad or bad memories of your past?  Perhaps its time to let them go.

If you need assistance with this or any other aspect of organization, let me know.  I am here to help. 

In the meantime, have a great week!

Sometimes, in order to stay organized, you need to break some bad habits that you have had for quite some time.  This comes into play especially after you have worked to create organizing systems in your home and in your life. 

You can put systems into place, but if you end up reverting back to those bad habits you have had all along, chances are those systems will not continue to work.

Good habits are things you do each and every day that, over time, gradually lead you towards becoming the person you truly strive to be.  Sometimes, habits are formed to achieve your most important goals in life - like getting organized.

On the flip side, bad habits are those things you do repeatedly that make you unhappy and move you further away from achieving your goals.

The good news is that it IS possible to overcome bad habits - but it does take practice.  They say it takes about 21 to 30 days for something to become a habit. 

When it comes to habits, we experience a specific trigger, which could be a thought, a feeling or a situation.  In response to this trigger, we activate a response and that leads us to perform a certain action.

You can change this process by using 5 steps:

1.  Identify a specific bad habit to focus on

2.  Break the bad habit down to a Trigger and a Response.

3.  Create a new response

4.  Mentally practice your new response

5.  Implement your new response in the real world.

You can utilize this practice when it comes to getting and STAYING organized.  Utilize the new tools you learned and implement them on a regular basis so that they become a habit.  It just might not need to take you 21 to 30 days to do so.  If the habit is that easy, you just might find it takes much less time to implement.

*Please note that some of the information contained within this blog was provided by Dr. Anthony Fernando www.anthonyfernando.com.

What new organizing habits have you recently acquired?  I would love to hear your thoughts. 

In the meantime, have a great week!

When you think of getting organized, do you think it means that you have to "clean up"?  Believe it or not, cleaning up and getting organized are two different things.

Cleaning up is more about how something looks.  Cleaning up involves putting things away, or at least getting them out of sight.  (That can mean different things to different people). 

Cleaning up is what you do before your guests arrives.

Cleaning up means straightening up those piles or perhaps putting things into boxes or bags and hiding them away.  (We're all sometimes guilty of that!)

Cleaning up can mean gathering up all of those magazines and articles that you have been meaning to get to and putting them into a nice, neat pile.  That's not getting organized.

Getting organized is more about how it works or functions; creating systems that meet your specific needs.  Organizing really has nothing to do with how it looks, although I still think that is important to create a nice look in a particular space or room in your home. 

When you get organized, you decide, honestly, what you will use and how best to store it so that it will be available to you when you want it - quickly and easily.

Organizing is something you do for yourself - not your guests!

Are you ready to do something nice for yourself?  Are you ready to get organized, once and for all?

You can!  Take that small step and contact me.  We can discuss your needs and I can show you how you can have A Better Space.