Less ... Is More in 2010

I have too much stuff.

Too many clothes are in my closet (I haven't worn many of them in a year). Too many pairs of workout shoes sit on the rack (My husband tries to throw them out when I'm not looking). Too many papers clutter my desk at home. (I can't even sit down and work.) Too many small, plastic toys fill our closets and cover our basement floor. (You know what I'm talking about.)

Clutter will be the end of me.

I've got so much crap I'm at the point where it's stressing me out .. everyday.

And I know I'm not alone. Many of you reading this are saying to yourselves, "Argh .. it's so frustrating." Nearly everyone, at some point in their lives, has this problem. The question is how can we get rid of all the stuff.

I do try. Everyday I go into my office and throw away papers, move things around, and put items in drawers that are already full. I preach to the children that every one of their belongings should have a "home." I invest in advice that tells me to declutter one room at a time for five minutes. I watch expert organizer Peter Walsh on Oprah so he can advise me to get rid of an old item every time I buy a new one. I even got on flylady.com. I especially like this one. She told me to take a garbage bag, walk through the house and throw away 27 items. I don't know where the number 27 came from but I'm willing to try. After I do that, I'm supposed to take another bag and fill it with 27 items I want to donate.

Okay.

I'll do that today.

I'm also making other strides. I'm not renewing any of my magazine subsciptions. I, at one point, was getting 10 magazines a month (yeah, it got a little out of hand). I don't have time to read them all right away so they just sit there collecting dust. i.e. LOTS OF CLUTTER!

It's a start. So I'm hoping that once I create order in my office and in my home than I can create more order in my life. I'll let ya know how it goes.