ebook clear your clutter feng shui first step wealthy life fawn chang

The Clear Your Clutter Program and logo copyright and property of Fawn Chang. All Rights Reserved. May not be reprinted without express written permission. Contact: [email protected] for permission. I am happy to help.

A 28-day Guide to Your Wealthy Life

Feng Shui’s First Step to

Living a

Beautiful Life

Creating an

Environment that Nourishes You

Fawn Chang


The Clear Your Clutter Challenge:

28 Days to a Power-filled New Life

Congratulations!

You are on the way to living your best life.

Before you make ANY feng shui adjustments, it is imperative that you clear your

clutter and remove the stagnant energy. If not, you will be activating and getting

more of what you already have...we want new and fresh!

After completing this challenge, you will be ready to activate the spaces in your

home so that you can begin to use the reservoir of free life force energy that is right now being blocked by your clutter.

We’ll start gently and your momentum will build.

We are results-focused. There won't be a lot of time spent on reading: just doing!

Important NOTICE:

KNOW THIS

It is very important that you

start with you… not your spouse, not your children, not your co-workers…

Once they see the success in your world, they will make it

their own idea and WANT to learn from you. This is a big differentiator.

Focus on you and allow them to have their process.


This book is dedicated to my sons, Alex and

Jordan, who may never know how much I love them or how much time I spent setting

up our home to make it easy for us all to

stay organized and build good life habits.

This book is also dedicated to all children, of every age.

May we all have someone to help us see

how beautiful we are just for who we are.

May each person see the power of living their heart’s desire.

http://fawnachang.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/your-hearts-desire-this-is-easy/


Table of Contents Introduction: Notes before you begin ............................................................................................................................ 5 Change Your Spaces ~ Change Your Life ......................................................................................................................... 8 Clutter Free Living IS Good Habit Building: ..................................................................................................................... 9 Do these things every day: ............................................................................................................................................ 11 Let's get started! Week One ......................................................................................................................................... 13

Day 1: Your handbag, briefcase, wallet. ......................................................................................................... 13 Day 2: Foundations, your clothing and dressers ............................................................................................. 14 Day 3: Your car ................................................................................................................................................ 15 Day 4: Shower/Tub ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Day 5: Necessary Items ................................................................................................................................... 15 Day 6: Your Bedroom ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Day 7: Rest, rejuvenate, have a cup of tea! ..................................................................................................... 17

You Made it! Welcome to Week 2: Transform your Spaces: Transform Your Life! .................................................. 18

Day 1: Stairs and Hallways .............................................................................................................................. 20

Day 2: Behind your doors. ............................................................................................................................. 20

Day 3: Kitchen................................................................................................................................................. 21

Day 4: Bathroom............................................................................................................................................ 21

Day 5: Bathroom again ~ ................................................................................................................................ 22 Day 6: Dining Room ~ Possibly another big job. ........................................................................................... 22 Day 7: Getting rid of Mental Clutter ................................................................................................................ 23 & Day 7: REST! You have earned it! ................................................................................................................ 24

Half Way is the Hardest place to Be! ............................................................................................................................. 25 This Week You'll Need: .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Week 3 Necessary Rooms: Necessary to keep CLEAN and working Perfectly! ........................................................... 30

Day 1: Laundry Room ...................................................................................................................................... 30 Day 2: Linen Closet/Storage .......................................................................................................................... 31 Day 3: Book Shelves ........................................................................................................................................ 32 Day 4: Utility Room ......................................................................................................................................... 32 Day 5: Photos and Artwork ............................................................................................................................. 33 Day 6: Garage ................................................................................................................................................. 34 Day 7: Finish your garage and then REST! ...................................................................................................... 35

Week 4 Staying on track for the Best of Your Life ........................................................................................................ 36 Quick Recap: .................................................................................................................................................................. 36 Some Questions Folks Who Did “The Challenge” Had: ................................................................................................. 37 A few Success Stories from the KDKA Pittsburgh Challenge: ........................................................................................ 38 Small things make a big difference: .............................................................................................................................. 38 Continue to do these things every day: ........................................................................................................................ 39 Week 4: Creating Sacred Space ..................................................................................................................................... 40

Days 1 through 6: Other rooms ....................................................................................................................... 40 Here is an example of how to approach a 'community' room: ....................................................................... 41 Kids Bedrooms ................................................................................................................................................. 41 Day 7: You are amazing. Here's your To Do for To Day! ................................................................................. 43

Next step: Feng Shui to make your life work. .............................................................................................................. 44 Forms and Worksheets: ................................................................................................................................... 45

Tips for Organizing your Wardrobe: .............................................................................................................................. 47 Now it’s time to begin your Feng Shui. ......................................................................................................................... 48 Next steps: ..................................................................................................................................................................... 48


Introduction: Notes before you begin You are building long-term life skills. Clearing clutter isn't something

that you do ONCE...just like we don't only have to eat once in our lives, we

are constantly moving through life and if we don't let it move through us we get

sick. What we are doing building healthy habits that keep the energy,

life force and stuff moving so that it doesn't become clutter and stagnation.

Be patient with yourself. If one of us

can do it, any of us can do it. Start each

day fresh and decide to be happy. In fact, reach for the happiest thought you

can muster. Push happiness ahead of you and before you know it, you'll be

receiving more goodness into your life.

Get help. Call a friend, call a

professional organizer. Sometimes just turn on some happy music and move

along!

Have a 'staging' area: one room or section of your house where you place all the things that will require deeper decisions (financial papers, kids

memorabilia, someone else's stuff, art and craft supplies, magazines you will sort and label).

Stay focused and narrate what you are doing, it helps. For this first round of clearing, let it be just that and don't get too fussy or dally in

detail. Once you move all the stuff you want to decide about later into that space, leave it there until you get the rest of your home clear and then

deal with the 'staging' area.

Decide: the power of decision becomes a habit. Decide and trust yourself and the fact that you can trust that you have the wisdom, knowledge and

support to get what you need when you need it. Decide how you are going to discard the items you no longer 'need', love or use. Make separate piles

for those and schedule a pick-up or delivery for that week. Check the Challenge for places that are looking for discarded items.

TIP: Turn up the happy music!

"Choose some empowering and lively music to keep yourself moving and happy!”

If you find yourself getting sluggish or wistful (memories) spritz your face with some water with lemon or mint, wiggle your hips and get back to it. You are changing your life and grabbing your best future!


Follow the steps in the Challenge. You decide: start small or start

large. Starting anywhere will build your success. If you want to start larger, do only one room: your bedroom. Remove everything and only put

back your bed, your side tables, your lamps, your dresser, maximum of two books per person, not mirrors (they activate the space unless it's to be

able to see the door from the bed), nothing under the bed (preferably; if you must store something there, sweaters, quilts, etc. make it beautiful).

TIP: Decide

As you go through your stuff, you’ll be tempted to repair, sell or donate some of it. Before you decide how you will handle the stuff ask these questions and give honest answers:

Can I? (really repair it? Go through the learning curve to sell it?)

Will I?

Do I know how? Will I really make time? Do I have something more

important to do with my time? What will that time afford me? (New knowledge or regret

that I wasn’t playing, reading, learning a new marketable

skill, walking, lunching?)


TIP: Your Time is YOUR MONEY & YOUR LIFE

How you spend your time is how you spend your money...it is a clue to what you value. Clutter clearing is decision making, plain and simple. When you begin to be ‘ruthless’ with the decisions you make, you will be

able to draw better boundaries and find you will be living the life you always dreamed of.

Foggy thinking is the same as clutter, both put extra stress on your life and

extra weight on your body.

The key is to make things easy on yourself – allow the stuff to go to a new home or back to the planet to be recycled. You don’t have to be in charge

of everything, just thoughtful and conscious in your decisions…which you will be making. Remember: you can always put the item in question it out to the curb with a sign on it—I guarantee you, it will disappear to the

person who needs it.

How much is your time worth? Here are some guideline tips:

If you have a project that requires your eyes and hands, do it. If there’s something that you can farm out, delegate but watch

the follow-up—that could be a sneaking expense. If it’s a valuable skill to spend time learning to sell things on

ebay, do that.

If it’s something that you’ll not get to in one month, farm it out.

If you think you are going to sell your things at a garage sale or on ebay, remember: there's a learning curve there and

there's work involved If you can't do it within one month, better to give the stuff

away.

Get a receipt and write it off on your taxes as a donation.

Sometimes doing the math for all the hours you spend, you might not come

out ahead selling it.


Change Your Spaces ~ Change Your Life

The VERY FIRST STEP to Feng Shui that works for you is to CLEAR YOUR CLUTTER. The Chinese say, "Be careful what you ask for, you will get it." Activating a space with clutter will just bring more chaos to that area of your life. I can not help anyone make Feng Shui adjustments until they do clear the clutter because my mission is to partner with you to create your best life.

This 4-week starter will take you through baby-steps, offer advice and help you to stay motivated. By the end of the month, you will be well on your way to better health, increased vitality, more wealth and happiness!

Small things make a big difference:

Starting from the inside out, we’ll build YOUR system and YOUR new habits so it’s easy to keep your life fresh and alive.

Do the best you can. Be gentle with yourself. Don’t over ‘do’ or you will burn out and lose ground. See if you can just move at your pace and you’ll get used to living with extra time, extra money and extra space AND you’ll begin to actually lose weight. No kidding! Any time is a good time to get started and make the biggest impact on your health and home.

Clutter Facts:

The average person moves approximately 300 pieces of paper A DAY! That

comes out to about 660 pounds of paper per year; unfortunately there’s no

aerobic value to this one!

If you spend 30 minutes per day just LOOKING for things, which you

probably do, after you have cleared your clutter and organized, you will have saved yourself over 3½ hours per week…that’s 182.5 hours per year. That is

equivalent to 4.5 work weeks. Could you use that time somewhere else? Increase your health? Learn a language? Pamper yourself? Let’s get started.


TAKE BEFORE PHOTOS!

**This is very good feng shui. It gives you a great sense of accomplishment. You will

be so proud of yourself.

Set a timer or give yourself only 15 minutes

(except for Day 6).

Setting a timer will: help you make your decisions faster

keep you moving on

get your body used to making decisions

stay with your decisions so you will have rivers

of time available for having fun!


Clutter Free Living IS Good Habit Building:

Clutter collects...just like the leaves in the eddy of a stream, it is life.

We have clutter because we have the habit or body motions that support clutter. Just like the time/motion studies developed in the late 19th century to increase efficiency of assembly-line work and repetitive tasks, we are going to ask you to be a researcher and just notice your body motion and what you actually do:

NOTICE What You Do:

As an Interior Designer, it’s my job to design spaces that act as the skin around human life, and when we are organizing a space we are actually affecting the systems – organ-izing—of our bodies. There is a direct relationship between inside and outside AND between motion and health. Let’s streamline your motions so you have more time for what brings you health: stress-free living and maybe some laughter?

Do you duplicate motions? When you are putting things in the fridge, do you do make two trips when you could have made one? How do you do the repetitive tasks? Can you do it more efficiently?

Where do you walk? Over or around what? Can you easily move it? How many trips do you make to the laundry room, etc.?

Some things can't be changed, some things are the way they are for good reason. Track what you actually do; it will tell you a lot about HOW you spend our energy.

As you Track Your Motions, you will be taking the first step to building new habits which will make your life so much easier. Try any or all of these this week.

Trick: Stay on Task

Narrate your motions until the task is completed.

By saying out loud what you are doing, you stay focused. Try it:

"I am putting away this pair of pants; I am throwing away this drawer clutter; I am walking to my closet to hang up this shirt..."

Sounds and feels silly at first but it really helps to keep you "on task" and eliminate distraction.


Do these things every day:

“Start Leaving…” When you work backwards from the time it will take you to get to work, yoga, wherever you are going, begin leaving the house 10 minutes before you actually have to leave. I discovered this when working as a Medical Practice Administrator. When I would think I was going to leave the office to get to a meeting or even to go home, if I left at the time I thought I should, it would take another 10 to 15 minutes to actually leave the office. On the short walk from my office to the car, I would meet staff or encounter people who needed attention and it would be 20, 30 and sometimes even 60 minutes before I would actually get into my car. Sound familiar? This being late would cause stress, road rage, and I would then be late for meetings, etc. THE ANSWER: START LEAVING---calculate an extra 10 extra minutes before you leave your home each day to clear the counters, load the dishwasher, fill or empty the trash, etc. When you come home it will make a great difference. You may find this a real challenge at first, but as you move through this month, you’ll find you will have CREATED time for yourself—and then you’ll get to do what you really want to do with your life!

“Stop LOOKING!” Save time by placing your phone, keys and purse, briefcase in the same place every day...hang a hook for

your keys or shelf for your charger. *

Open your mail, even bills, the same day; do this over the trash can or shredder to immediately discard junk. (Place the rest in your desk’s inbox. We’ll learn how to remove mental clutter in week 2 by organizing your mail)

Begin to set boundaries. A great place to start: rather than answer the phone during dinner, let callers leave a message. Set aside 30 minutes that you and your family won’t answer the phone, won’t look at your cell phones, will actually be present with each other…it actually becomes fun to take back control of your time.

*If you do misplace something, try this: I know that I am much more efficient than I give myself credit for. When we have stress about anything, the body shuts off the higher-order thinking brain and activates our Flight/Fight/Freeze reptilian brain. Sounds nasty, but the

Living Green:

Did You Know?

How to Stop your junk mail Besides being a time, energy and ch'i waster, junk

mail produced in one year requires that we use 100 million trees and 28 billion

gallons of water.” Here’s a link to stop your junk mail : GreenDimes: Restore

your sanity and our planet!

How to select your mail

preferences: select your mailing list preferences at The Mail Preference Service at www.dmaconsumer.org

How to eliminate unwanted

telemarketing calls: register for the Pennsylvania Do Not Call List at

www.nocallsplease.com or call 1-888-777-3406.

http://www.greendimes.com/index.html?src=mem&uid=2619

http://www.greendimes.com/index.html?src=mem&uid=2619

http://www.dmaconsumers.org/offmailinglist.html

http://www.nocallsplease.com/


effect is: we can’t relax and use all the help available to us. When I’ve not been able to locate something I do three things: 1) I see it as a blessing from my ‘guides and Angels’ to slow me down – perhaps that is the time I needed to avoid an accident or to put me in the right place at the right time. 2) I stop and ask St. Anthony if Padua. [I know that in every formalized system of belief, there is a similar energy that you can address to help you find lost articles. This is one that particularly works for me and my friends of different backgrounds unfailingly. Try it or one that you know.] “St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please help me find my ________ for me.” If you do an internet search, you’ll find many versions of this, but this one is easy and works. Next step, go do something else, follow your guidance—you’ll be amazed. So many times I have asked this and mysteriously found myself looking through something that was totally unrelated to where I thought the lost article was last seen—wouldn’t you know it? I found it! 3) Smile and know that you are re-united with the missing ‘thing’ or that you will be taken through a set of steps that may even lead to some other beautiful thing you asked for – leave the possibilities open and you will be amazed.


Let's get started! Week One

Day 1: Your handbag, briefcase, wallet.

This week, as you are moving through your day, notice your thoughts. Just notice them. Be gentle with yourself.

As you are cleaning, remember that clutter is a sign of a life being lived and richly (or you wouldn’t have been able to accumulate so much stuff!) Saying

‘Thank you’ as you touch, clean, sort and move on your items, will begin to clean the energy of

your spaces too, which is another vitally important Feng Shui issue!

1. Clean out your handbag, wallet and/or briefcase. Wipe the bottom or any pockets or decide if you need to just get a new one. If it is in disrepair in any way, decide how quickly you can move it on… Feng Shui says that wallets that are red will activate your money abundance and a wallet that is light blue will attract wealth to you. A new and beautiful wallet will help you feel wealthy—keep it organized and this one small feat will translate to higher awareness of the abundance flowing in to you at every moment. Breathe it in!

2. Staging Area: Begin to look around your home to determine where you could use as a ‘staging’ area. This is an area that will hold the stuff that you are moving on. This could be the garage or a part of your basement. This will only stay in organized disarray for a limited time but it is a necessary area.

3. Plan to gather items to help make this clutter clearing easy:

a. Boxes or baskets ~ at LEAST 4 b. You’ll need at least 4 and add one for each

member of your family. As you are clearing, you’ll save time when you place their items in here and later you’ll teach them the system you developed for keeping your home organized.

TIP: When you are

cleaning, be as happy and thankful as you can possibly

muster. Be grateful that you are SO abundant that you

have all this STUFF to pass on.

This is the energy you are coloring your world with...make it beautiful.

TIP: Ask This Question: "Does it

empower me? or dis-empower me?"

Does my energy rise or fall? What are the feelings and memories associated with an item you are sorting?

If you LOVE it, or if you WANT it, be sure to keep it; if you store it, store it lovingly, honor it, label it and when you revisit it, you'll feel wonderful. Make sure you can give it loving energy and it will return the favor.


TIP: Successful people make

decisions and move on them. If you hear yourself say, "Just in Case" you are affirming lack and coming from fear that you won't have what you need when the time comes.

Make the decision: Let it go and Trust that you will have what you need when you need it, or the inspiration to be creative with whatever else you have!

4. Mark Boxes or Baskets Clearly:

a. “Donate” These you will either give away or have someone take away

b. “Trash” This will go to the trash collection

c. “Decide Later” ~ this is to keep you ‘on task’ which is vital for your success

d. “Return” either to give back or take back

Day 2: Foundations, your clothing and dressers

Getting personal: Clear out your undergarment drawer. Discard everything that isn’t beautiful; keep only what is fresh, not worn or damaged. Keep only what is beautiful! I like to keep only the amount of clothing that I would use on a two-week vacation. (There are the odd seasonal things but if you think about it, you probably wear the same things more than you realize and so why are you crowding yourself for the ‘I’ll wear it someday” routine. Do this and you won’t believe how good this makes you feel! Socks: only keep matched and comfortable socks. [Relationship note: unmated socks signal something to be done, something lost or even a relationship that is unfulfilled…if that isn’t incentive to move the mismatched socks to the rag bag or recycle bin I don’t know what is!] Discard

Living Green:

Did You Know?

Forever in Blue Jeans:

Natural Home Insulation...

Here’s a company that re-cycles blue-jeans (pre-consumer) into safe, environmentally friendly and soft, all-cotton insulation.

Donation Blue Jean

Drop Off Centers Coming Soon!

http://www.bondedlogic.com

http://www.bondedlogic.com/ultratouch.htm





the rest as well as the growing bin of unmatched socks…anyone know how we can turn it into insulation?

Day 3: Your car

Clean out your car…your glove compartment, under the seats, the door cubbies, cup holders. If you can have your car detailed and the oil changed: do it! You will feel so much better! This can be done almost any time: spending a few minutes once a week or even at a traffic light can eliminate tons of chaos in your life. Take a bag with you into the car and remove everything that isn’t fresh and useful today.

Day 4: Shower/Tub

Empty your shower/tub area of everything but one bottle of shampoo, one conditioner, one body soap, one razor…one of everything you need…not two, one. Throw away the rest (empty and recycle if possible).

Day 5: Necessary Items

Clear out your medicine cabinet and toiletries. Discard expired medications and anything that you haven’t used in the past 3 months. Wipe out the cabinet and the bottles, jars that you put back. Keep going: clear out the hair care items. I regularly put brushes and combs in the dishwasher…toothbrushes too. It keeps them clean! Replace your toothbrush every 2 months.

Day 6: Your Bedroom

Your Bedroom! This area most affects your ability to be a success in your life. It also dramatically influences your relationships. Before we Feng Shui, you’ll need to clear the clutter and clean it up.

1. The BEST thing to do is to remove everything from the room, the dressers and the closet that is not 'furniture'. Remove it all to the bins, sort it and trust yourself that you are making GREAT decisions for your life.


Feng Shui TIP:

Your Love & Marriage Area

If you have clutter or water in

the furthest right-hand corner of your property, home or

rooms: your relationships will be challenged or overly

emotional and drama-filled.

Clean these areas, fill them with

love and beautiful things. Depending on the kind of

relationship you want, we will activate those spaces

differently.

2. Now you can clean it. Clean each surface, lamps, overheads, windows, sills, light switches, phone cords...this is a NEW start for you, make it your best. What are you saying in your head? Fresh new start, love, life, happiness, health, wealth, freedom, security…you name it!

3. What to return to the room? Your room is best to have only things that you love and things that you will need to rest, rejuvenate and reconnect to health, a good night’s sleep, or your significant other.

Feng Shui: remove mirrors, electronics, laundry baskets, clothing if you can, remove things from past relationships and lovers, don’t replace artwork or decorations that are not beautiful, loving and soft.

4. Make the bed with freshly laundered linens (mattress pad and pillows if you can). I wash my linens with a ¼ of Sea Salt to clear the energy. I also place Sea Salt on the mattress (under the mattress pad) to keep the clearing effect going. Use of lavender essential oil or vanilla will add aromatherapy for a cozy and warm sleeping experience.

Feng Shui recommends a new mattress and box springs if you want a fresh new relationship or just a good night's sleep free from the past! Laundry: I remove all my laundry from our bedrooms before we go to sleep. It's a good practice. That way, you aren't sleeping with the stress of the day.

5. Night tables: only what you need. Do not fill the drawers, leave 25% of the space empty...this will allow the life force to flow and revitalize your life.

6. Books & Photos: only 1 or 2 books per person. Keep the photos of people you don’t want to be ‘sleeping’ with out of your bedroom…place them in your living room or family room, appropriate places for the people who are part of your life. You'll sleep or connect better where there are less "people" in the room with you.

This leads to the next BIG feng shui issue:

7. TV/Electronics: a feng shui bedroom "don't". But if you MUST, cover it when you sleep and keep it as far from the bed as possible.


TIP: If you have GREAT clothes but never wear them

because they don't form a great ensemble, make a bin of those items you try on over and over but never wear. There'll be shoes like this too.

Many of us have pieces and parts that we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. For instance a blouse that really doesn't go with anything you currently have and you put it on and take it off every time. What do you do? Set them aside in their own bin or box. Just for today, put all the things you LOVE and WEAR back in your closet. Organize them by blouses, skirts, trousers, pants, jackets, etc. or by color, but you choose.

To deal with those beloved items that don't fit or don't fit an 'outfit', we'll deal with them a bit later. Here is a brief idea of how to approach it if you just CAN'T wait. Click here.

8. Clothing and Shoes ISSUE 1: only what you wear. If you have 4 different sizes, box and label or purchase a hanging wardrobe and remove the extras to ‘storage’ elsewhere.

9. Clothing ISSUE 2: how much do you need? We don't need 15 pairs of hose, 450 pairs of unmatched socks, 12 pairs of size 6 jeans and the Pepto-Bismal Pink suit (I had one of these). Be BRAVE: move it on: the local theatre group, the GoodWill or AmVets, local Church Yard Sale. You'll ultimately be better put together!

10: Photos and Artwork: a feng shui issue. Artwork: display only what is beautiful, sensuous, loving and restful. As for photos, only a few (we don't want a party in the room every night) and be selective about with whom you are sleeping!

Day 7: Rest, rejuvenate, have a cup of tea!

REST! You have earned it!

Treat yourself to something tangible...take a candle-lit bubble bath, read a book, pet your dog, show off your room to your kids or just sprawl on the bed and rest. Take an AFTER! Photo. You’ll be amazed. This evening, plan your week, and get ramped up for MORE life affirming clearing next week!

Email me with ANY questions or concerns! [email protected]

All my best,

Fawn

http://www.designandfengshui.com/organizing_tips_for_your_wardrob.htm

mailto:[email protected]


You Made it! Welcome to

Week 2: Transform your Spaces: Transform Your Life!

Congratulations!

You made it to Week 2! Keep the good habits that you built last week. “Start leaving 10 minutes before you think you need to leave, place your necessary

items in the same place every day…refer to week one

Clutter Free Living ~ Good Habit Building:

The Goal: make it a body habit to stay organized. It will be sort of like learning a new dance step.

With 10 minutes 'stolen' from bits of down time in your regular routine you can

stay ahead of the clutter. Try to add 1 minute of de-cluttering/organizing while you are in the bathroom, an extra 2 minutes of organizing in the kitchen, etc.

Force yourself to do this…the payoff is HUGE!

Tools you will need this Week:

TRUST ~ your most amazing tool! Trust will allow the abundance of the Universal Energy to flow to you exactly when you need it, which makes it

easy to let go of things that you don't need. So breathe the inspiration of Nature and manage your spaces!

Courage ~ you need heart not mind for this one! Do things quickly and don’t look back. It goes back to TRUST: trust yourself that you are making a

good decision.

10-15 minutes a day to get ahead of the clutter; the small bits of time

that you build in (referred to above as those 10 extra minutes) to stay ahead of clutter.

Resolve: Give yourself permission to do this and then "just do it"! I know you can.


Decision power. Patty Kreamer, Professional Organizer says, "Clutter is just unmade decisions." When you choose something that may be draining your Life Force

Energy, it's a lot different than just tooling along being drained. So decide...even if you decide to decide later. When you come across an item

and you can't decide, put it in the 'can't decide bin' and move on.

This Question: "Does it bring my energy up and empower me?" "Does it

take my energy down and dis-empower me?" When you look at your stuff ask this powerful question. Wait for the answer from your body. Notice how

you feel about this 'thing'. Then decide how you want to live...uplifted or

drained? Keeping something that drains you will then be a personal and therefore more powerful choice. At some other time you may make a

different choice but at least now you know the score…you’ll be living from decision rather than default.

A trash bag/bin/box

If you decide to tackle a larger project:

o Labels, sharpie or a Label Machine o Three bins or laundry baskets

Label these: Donate, Discard, Decide Later

Warning: If it is NOT yours, DON’T throw or give it away. What do you do with it?

Put it in a bin or box labeled with the persons’ name and let them decide.

Ultimately, if they ask, you can help them learn how to use the clutter-clearing skills.

Remember we are working on YOU and when you create a life that is organized, the

people you live and work with will want to be a part of it. If it’s forced on them, there

will be resentment and if you begin crossing the boundaries of the things that belong

to another, you will actually be giving your own personal power away. Doing this

one little thing will help your relationships tremendously in the long run.

http://www.byebyeclutter.com/


Keep it Going: Week 2

Day 1: Stairs and Hallways

~ Feng Shui sees these areas as the arteries of your home and they should be empty and

clear …clutter here will affect your health and quickly deplete your energy.

1. Remove everything from the stair treads. (If you think you must have something

there, just move it away for this week and see if you feel any different).

Day 2: Behind your doors.

Doors open you up to life’s bounty and opportunities. Your Front door is the home's

Mouth of Ch'i. Use this door daily and you're house will breathe fresh life into you and

your lifestyle. This should open completely

and onto a beautiful scene that says, "(your name here) lives here".

1. Remove all the stuff behind the doors and

all the things hanging on the hooks. Force yourself to remove things each night before

you go to sleep or each morning before you leave the room.

2. Bathroom doors are best kept closed.

TIP: What you live with

owns you. If you don’t think you can move it on, hire a Self-Storage Area (appropriately named).

When you have to write a check every month, you will begin to understand the COST that stuff has in your life’s energy.

TIP: Discard everything

that you haven’t used in 1 year, unless you absolutely LOVE it or have the time to love it.

If you hear yourself saying, “...just in case” know that

you are affirming lack in your life. TRUST that you will have the resources, the item or the know-how to get the job done when the time comes.


Day 3: Kitchen

~ Associated with your wealth, health and

nourishment.

1. Clear out your refrigerator of all expired items and all the things you haven’t used in 6

months.

2. Wipe the shelves and the drawers and the

tops and bottoms of the jars you replace into the fridge.

3. If you have time, or want to make time, do

the freezer. Don't be afraid to throw things away. It's also wasted if it makes you sick

and drains your health.

Day 4: Bathroom

~ Related to your Wealth & Health. Clutter in

here will diminish your ability to access your abundance of money, love and health.

1. Last week you cleared the bottles from the

shower/tub. This week let's tackle the area under the sink.

2. Throw away anything that you haven't used or that is in disrepair. Wipe the bottom

of the vanity if you have one and replace only what you use. If you bought shampoo 3

years ago and were holding on to it in case you ran out, move it on or throw it away...it's

draining you.

3. Make sure that your plumbing and fixtures

work perfectly. If you notice a leak or rust, put it on a list for a repair person and clean it

up.

Feng Shui TIP:

Your Wealth Area

Clutter or disrepair in the

furthest left-hand corner of your property, your home and every

room signifies clutter and disrepair within the Wealth of

your life. Look to that area, what is there? Trash? Trash

receptacles? (make this area beautiful and keep it

clean...clean the trash cans,

make it a trash garage and place plants around it to make

it pretty). Clear the clutter and big nasty piles.

TIP: When you are half-way

through a cleaning job is when it is the messiest. “When you are going through hell, just keep going.” Is one of my favorite quotes from Winton Churchill.

Keep Going! Refer to the tips to help you stay motivated and moving on.


Day 5: Bathroom again ~

1. Take a look at your shower curtain if you have one...put it in the washer with

a little bleach (check the tag to make certain that it's okay to do this without harming the curtain). After it's washed, you can put a vinyl shower curtain in the

dryer on low heat for 10 minutes and then re-hang it. If there is mildew or mold, replace it with a new one.

2. Towels ~ take a good look at your towels. Are they in good repair? Do you have matching sets of towels? Do your towels make you feel spa-like when you

use them? If they are frayed, cut the fringes off and put this on your list of things to treat yourself with: new and matching towels. You'll feel so good!

Day 6: Dining Room ~ Possibly another big job.

You might think this will be easy and it may, but chances are that you have

many more dishes than you actually use, or many more knick-knacks or photos than is actually contributing to your health. This is where we get lost in our

memories and sometimes stopped in our tracks because we can't seem to find a 'good home' for the things we loved…place those things in a “decide later” bin

and keep moving so you can enjoy the rest of the day.

Try these tips to clear your dining spaces:

1. Photos and artwork should be easy on the digestion, happy, and

uplifting. Feng Shui recommends against abstract artwork as it is unsettling to our systems and makes food harder to digest. Our good digestion is imperative

to receiving nourishment for our health.

2. Family photos of happy times are usually good here but make sure that

you don't have too many as it will be confusing. Rotate your photos for the best Feng Shui energy and display only 3 or 4 at a time. (Where do you put the rest?

Store them in a place of honor, well-marked and nearby so you can access them often) Also, make sure that all the family members are represented in the

photos. Often if you are the photo taker, you won’t be in the picture and remember: everything matters so get someone else to hold the camera and put

yourself squarely in your family’s life.


3. Linens: move out any that are tattered or stained. This is important in feng

shui because you want to increase your sense of wealth and nourishment while you are eating.

4. Thin out collections, which are sometimes displayed in the dining

room. Too much is disruptive so treat these same as photos and rotate your

collections as the Museums do. It keeps the energy fresh and alive. Store the rest neatly and well marked so you can use and love them too.

5. Are the chairs comfortable? Although this isn't a 'clutter' issue, if they are

not comfortable, think about moving them on and replacing them. It will be so much better for your health and digestion and relationships. If they are

comfortable, do you love them? Are they clean?

6. Clean the draperies, the sheers, and especially the windows! Windows are the eyes of your home. Make sure you are able to see clearly.

7. Clean the chandelier. Change the light bulbs or at least, when they are cool, wipe them completely. They gather dust and look so much nicer when they

are clear.

8. Mirrors? In your dining room (or anywhere). Is it clean and clear? Smokey mirrors, antique but splotchy mirrors, mirrored tiles are all negatives in Feng

Shui. You need to be able to clearly and the bigger the mirror the better. Make

sure you can see your entire head. What is the mirror reflecting? If it’s not wealth, health and happiness, replace it with a beautiful piece of art or a framed

print (remember: not a sharp abstract).

8. Clean the carpet…or at least spot clean it and use baking soda (without the scent…just plain old baking soda) to absorb the smells. Vacuum it up and voila,

a fresh carpet until you can do a better job. (Have extra vac bags on hand, what you put down will be as heavy as what it picks up.)

Day 7: Getting rid of Mental Clutter

Get this: It has been calculated that we each think between 60,000 and 80,000 thoughts per DAY! And that 75-95% of those are the same ones we thought

yesterday and the day before and the day before.

Your thoughts are creating your life. What's around you is creating your


thoughts. Listen to the thoughts your mind is thinking: is it what you want to

be living with? Peace? Harmony? Acceptance? Trust? Allowing?

When you notice that you are thinking a self-limiting, self-deprecating, or negative thought: Change your Mind. Have a ready thought that is happy and

uplifting to replace it with such as:

"Every day in every way I am getting better and better"

or try this:

"People Love to Give me Money" or

"I flow smoothly and lovingly through my day; everything lines up to support me

to be my best."

When in traffic, just saying ”smooth easy flow" over a few times with a smile in your heart calms your mind and really does loosen up the lines!

& Day 7: REST! You have earned it!

This evening, plan your week, and get ramped up for MORE life affirming clearing next week!


What are you noticing? Many people are by now noticing a desire to keep it

going. At this stage, my sons began to get excited that they could find the things they needed and that everything was organized. They actually said, “This is almost like living

in a hotel, Mom!”

My sons began to want to organize their own rooms…this is the goal. When the desire comes from within your children, gently work with them and give them no more than they ask for…when it’s their idea it becomes a life long joy.

Half Way is the Hardest place to Be! “When you are going through Hell, just keep going” said Winston Churchill.

Another saying is, when you are in the middle of the forest, any direction is the

right way out…don’t go backwards, keep moving toward your goal of a clutter free home & life.

You are Amazing! Now, just decide to stay

with it and the results will be fabulous.

This may be the most difficult week to stay

on track, especially if the weather is nice.

Keep going...you are doing an amazing

job. Give yourself credit, take a breath,

keep your head down and move forward:

we are on the upswing now!

Clutter Free Living~ Good Habit Building:

It has been said that it takes 21 to 40 days to instill a new habit. I believe that it takes as long you want it to take.

The greatest power we humans have in the Universe is Decision. When you decide that you are going to do something, the rest is just details.

Decide to stay organized and the forces of the Universe line up to help you.

Habit Changing TIP:

When you are meeting internal or

external resistance, it means you are having a positive impact toward

changing your life!

Take a deep breath and recommit to yourself.


Here's one way to make your day about the things that are important to you.

To Begin:

1. Sit down for 15 minutes and write down everything you do on a typical

day.*

2. On another sheet of paper, write down all the roles you play. Mum or Dad, Boss/Employee, Home-maker/manager, Artist, Student/self-Cultivation, etc.

3. Now, imagine that you are at the last few days of your life: what you will be thinking and feeling and wishing you had done? What will you be reflecting on?

How will you have positively impacted those areas of your life? What will you be saying: "I always wanted to..." about?

4. Let's look again at the roles list. What can you do on a daily basis to make

those roles fulfilling? [See Roles and Time Spent Worksheet in the Appendix of this

eBook.]

Spend 15 minutes more being fun

with the kids, or people you love? Learn to bake a soufflé? Or learn

to speak French…anything? Smile more?

Become the top-producer in your field?

Write that book that people need—the one only you can

write…?

5. Look again at your typical day. By

clearing your clutter from your spaces, from your mental processes and your social

calendar, you will have opened up close to 40% more time. What are you going to do with that time?

The New Habits:

Giggle: Here’s one schedule that

always makes me laugh. The Grinch (Jim Carrey) is trying to prove he

cannot possibly schedule himself to a tend the Ceremony Awarding him

the Whoville Award for Person of the Year…

"3-4:00 Jazzercise

4-4:30 Stare into the Abyss

4:30-5 Dinner with myself (can't cancel that again)

5-5:30 Solve World Hunger (tell no one) Can’t go, I am totally booked!'"


Just Do It! Sometime on Sunday or Monday, make 5 and 15 minutes to

plan your week ahead. Include all the things All the things you need or want to do (refer to

your Roles & Timing Sheet—how can you add these important things to your life?)

Schedule your personally important things: Date night with your significant other, cooking classes with your kids, etc. Rearrange your

schedule to include those things just as you would schedule an appointment.

Choose the top 3 What are the most important things you can do this

week that will give you the greatest boost ahead or give you the deepest satisfaction?

Give yourself time limits to do those other things. This is very important! Deadlines are a way that keep us efficient. You may have

heard: “Work expands to fill the time allotted” and it’s true. The more time we have, the more time it takes. Here are a few ways to keep

yourself limited and efficient: o Emails? Save time by checking emails at most 3 times a day. Folks

will get used to it and won’t sap your energy with back and forth emails. Handle the questions and give solutions. Rather than go

back and forth about scheduling an appointment, instead say: “I am available this day at this time or this day at this time. Do either of

those work for you?” It is part of the decision-game and cuts out the clutter so you can enjoy your time doing something else that

supports you better.

o Phone calls? If you have to make a few phone calls, make the toughest one first, allot a number of minutes for it and move on.

Make your next phone call. How much is your time worth? Come to a conclusion and then move on.

o Have an Exit strategy. When you want to leave a conversation or someone is taking you down the path of “oh isn’t it awful” have a

pocket answer that will take you out of the loop. Narrate your moves: Dane Cook the comedian, said one way

to exit a boring conversation is to Narrate your next steps: ‘I am going to get a go to the bar and then get some hor

d’oevres and then go to the bathroom.” Of course, he’s a comedian, but I tried narrating my next steps and it works.

Give yourself permission to say, "I would love to talk, but I need to go right now, do you want to schedule lunch for

sometime?"

Use the Switch method: “Oh, I forgot, I have to run, have an appointment in __ minutes, nice to see you…” (Even if the

appointment is with the steering wheel of your car or for some


quiet time for yourself…it’s true and you don’t need to have

someone edit your life choices for you.)” When you place your life as your first priority, you won't be diddled down the path of

someone else's meandering conversation about the same old stuff.

By giving yourself boundaries, you will be opening the space for all those things you want to do, and with your last few breaths, you'll be saying, "What a ride! I

had a GREAT life!"


This Week You'll Need:

Trust, Courage, Resolve and Decision power! Trust yourself that

you make good decisions, have courage to not look back. Resolve to keep going and to make those decisions. "Just Do It!"

15 minutes a day for the challenge items. 10 'stolen' minutes a day to stay ahead of clutter.

Your self-coaching and 'switch' phrases:

o Narrate what you are doing. It will help to keep your mind on the task you are performing. (i.e., "I am clearing the clutter," "I

am organizing this shelf in my laundry...” etc.) It really helps! o Use ‘Switch Phrases’ to keep you motivated in the moments

when your brain is playing sad, sorry old tapes. You may even try putting these on sticky-notes and place them around your

house:

"With everything I release, I open myself for More joy,

happiness and abundance."

"How can I get even more

goodness (money, love, etc.) to flow effortlessly into my

day?"

"My mind is at peace. I am safe

and I deserve to feel happy."

A trash bag/bin/box If you decide to tackle a larger

project: o Labels, sharpie or a Label

Machine o Three bins or laundry baskets

Label these: Donate, Discard, Decide Later

Tip: Accelerate your

progress! I recommend using a Professional Organizer.

It is worth your time and the money. In a span of 2 hours you will get so many good tips, get a major plan and get a system for getting and staying organized.

Check the web for a competent professional organizer at the National Association of Professional Organizers:

http://www.napo.org

http://www.napo.org/


Week 3 Necessary Rooms: Necessary to keep CLEAN and working Perfectly!

Many of us don't realize that it's vitally important to have all these necessary

rooms cleaned and clutter free. Feng Shui looks at your home as reflective of your life and also as impacting your health and your body. The necessary

places: bathrooms, utility rooms, laundry rooms, garages impact your ability to

stay healthy. Just as we need a clear and flowing lymph system, a clean and well-working colon, our homes need the same. The first step to a well-working

health system is to make sure that you are able to eliminate the toxins (clutter) and then

rejuvenate...the same with your home.

Day 1: Laundry Room

~ In the same way you won’t be able to clean

a window clean with a dirty rag and your clothes won't be as clean as they can be from a dirty laundry room. So let's take a few minutes to begin to clear up

this very important area.

1. Eliminate misfit items...If there are

items that are just waiting for attention (socks to be matched, buttons or zippers

to be sewn, laundry that just can't get done) start making decisions. Take it to

where you watch TV and mend or match it this week. If you don't do it this week

then move it out of your house because you just won't do it. Can someone else

use it? Move it on. If not, discard it.

2. Clear out the bottles and excess

stuff that you don't use. If there are cleaning products here that you haven't used in a long time, discard them. The bottles you are currently

using and 1 back-up is plenty.

Tip: Do a Web Search

for Top Places to Donate Items such as this one:

Top 10 places in Pittsburgh to Donate Items

Feng Shui TIP:

Remember those unmatched socks? What you see creates your reality and pairs of things help you create the space for relating to another and bringing in that wonderful romance; Yes, even your pairs of perfectly matched of socks!

http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/charity/tp/donate.htm




3. Washer & Dryer: Wipe the top and the outside of the washer and

dryer; clean the fabric softener reservoir, and of course, the lint filter. Consider cleaning the air vent...your dryer will work better if the air can

flow through your clothes.

Day 2: Linen Closet/Storage

The items we use to clean ourselves and to sleep on affect our bodies directly.

1. Is it Spa Worthy? You’ll feel like you

are in a spa when it looks like you are in a spa. Are your towels, wash cloths and linens

beautiful? If not, discard the ones that

aren't, cut them into smaller pieces to use as cleaning rags.

2. Keep only 2 sets of sheets per bed

and 2 sets of towels per bathroom. In this area, less is more. One recommendation is

to have all the beds in your home be the same size (Queen)…this is not always feasible but it does cut down on the different linens you have to purchase and

track. You can donate the excess to the local homeless shelter, as long as they are cleaned and in good shape, or to an

animal shelter…otherwise discard them.

Place them in a bag in your staging area for moving them on.

3. Pretty Shelves and Baskets Remove

everything from the shelves, wipe them with orange cleaner (or scent you love) and

replace neatly only those things you love.

This step may take a few more minutes, but

go for it if you can:

4. Baskets help…label them. What other items are in your linen storage area that you don't use? Place personal items (hot water bottle, flashlight, cotton

balls, etc.) grouped in baskets that are pretty. Place these on a shelf so that you can access everything easily.

TIP: Many animal rescue

places and shelters need old towels, blankets and linens for

the injured animals.

Donate your items to

Animals needing safe haven:

The wish list for the Animal Rescue League

http://www.animalrescue.o

rg/giving/wishlist.htm

This one is from my sister,

Amy: Thanks Amy!

TIP: Find out how to donate

to Women’s Shelters. Do a

Web Search similar to this one.

Donate Clothing, Furniture and Household Items

to Women's Shelter

http://www.wcspittsburgh.org/4

7.php

http://www.animalrescue.org/giving/wishlist.htm

http://www.animalrescue.org/giving/wishlist.htm


Day 3: Book Shelves

~ Some people recommend that you have all your books in one space. I

recommend that you have your system that works for you. Do have the bulk of your books in one place, but the books you use in the kitchen (cookbooks and

perhaps address books) should be there, the books you use in the study (reference books, school books) should be there, etc.

Feng Shui tells us that the placement is important, but only secondary to the efficiency: only stuff you love or use. Move the rest on. Do both of these or

deal with one shelf today that will make the most impact on your ability to be effective in your own life.

1. Kitchen: What books are in your kitchen? Which cookbooks have you

used this year? If you have those that you haven't used but want to keep, move them to a place where you are going to keep all your books. If you

won't use them, they are outdated, or just beat-up beyond recognition (unless you LOVE them), ship them out of the house.

2. Where is your "Command Central"? If you have a home office, feng

shui sees this as a double-whammy (not a technical term) influence on your finances. It is imperative that this is organized and neat. Let's start

with one shelf today and get the momentum going.

3. Magazines: we LOVE our magazines, but they are meant to be timely

not timeless. If you have some that you love and refer to often, get some magazine boxes and organize them. If there are clips in some that you

want, tear that out and put it in a binder marked "my idea file," ”for creation board," etc. Clear out the stacks and piles from every room.

Bring them with you to the "Creation Board" Workshop and get them to work FOR you!

Day 4: Utility Room

This is the area where your furnace and water heater are located. It's important that these are clean, clear of clutter surrounding them and working perfectly.

This relates to your health as well, but mostly to your connection to the Life Force.

1. Remove all clutter from around these machines. They need space to

http://www.designandfengshui.com/new_page12.htm


operate properly. We often keep ratty looking mops or brooms…why?

Send them back to the Universe to be recycled and get new ones that are fresh and clean. The Feng Shui of this is obvious…new and fresh equals an

uplifted environment. Vacuum or mop here. Wipe down the outside to remove cobwebs (what is a cob?) and to let you know if there are any

significant issues to deal with.

2. Look for rust, leaks or water marks. This is an indication of

something not working perfectly and this is a very negative drain on you. If you need to, call a plumber or HVAC person.

3. Filter Check Check to see that the filter on your Air Conditioner and

Furnace is clean. If you have a de-humidifier, make sure that the hose is not encrusted with rust or sludge. Keeping these items clean and working

perfectly is a vital step in good Feng Shui.

Day 5: Photos and Artwork

As with everything else: this creates your reality. Too many photos or too few

representations of what is important to you is not good Feng Shui.

1. Remove all artwork with negative connotation. Really look at the

subject of the artwork. Describe it using adjectives of color, feeling, your relationship to it. I even go so far as to recommend that titles of books and

movies be hidden if they are not conducive to joy, happiness and ease. If it's not positive, happy and uplifting, get rid of it.

2. Are you there in your life? Do the photos in your home include you?

Make sure you hand the camera to someone to take photos that include you in your family’s life.

3. Photos in your bedrooms: In a romantic bedroom, limit the photos of friends and relatives. This will allow you to be more private and intimate

with your significant other/spouse. In your child's room, make sure there are photos of family, parents especially and include the child. Come to a

workshop to discover the best place to put photos of parents and friends in your rooms or in your home.


Day 6: Garage It is most important that you can get into and out of your car, your garage, on

your bikes, or whatever, easily and effortlessly, and that it looks beautiful and welcoming!

Make it a Foyer…If this is your daily entrance, the state of the

garage sets the tone for what

you experience in your home. Make it beautiful and welcoming.

Depending on where this area is located according to the Feng

Shui Ba Gua, that aspect of your life will be greatly influenced.

There are other Feng Shui considerations, but the first of

these is: Clear the Clutter!

Just Do It! This may be a multi-

Weekend job; don't be daunted...just start. If this looks

like it's a bigger job than you can do yourself, enlist some friends, turn on the tunes, and order after-clearing

pizzas. Make a “For Sale” pile and you may sell some stuff to passers-by who

might need what you don’t! You'll be glad you did.

All out, only beauty back in. If you can, I recommend taking everything

out, sorting and discarding what you don't use. Then deciding exactly what you are able to put back.

Tools, Trash & Storage Depending on how big your garage is, how many cars or how much lawn equipment you use/store, there will be decisions you

need to make. Can the equipment be stored somewhere else? Do you use all the tools? Can they be organized and housed behind closed doors?

Paint? You need to be very careful how you dispose of paint, oil, or any toxic substance. If not useable, you need to take it to a paint recycling

center. A Web Search for Hard to Recycle Items could help with Paint, etc. If it is a useable quantity of good paint, try a local recycler such as the one we

have in Pittsburgh: Construction Junction, or call Habitat for Humanity. They'll gladly take it and use it on the homes they are building or re-sell it to

raise funds.

Feng Shui TIP: If you don't

use your front door daily, it is

equivalent to covering your mouth and trying to live your fullest. Your front

door is known as the Mouth of Ch'i...if you are not using it daily, you are not

getting your full breath of fresh air and

opportunity.

Open it daily, welcome the new, and use it often! The Life Force doesn't listen to 'Reason' or excuses. Have

you tried to have a conversation with a storm lately? It’s an advanced move.

http://www.constructionjunction.org/


COLOR? What color is your garage painted? Is the floor beautiful? Have you

been to a high-end auto dealer? These are beautiful places to be in. Honor yourself and your daily entrance into your home by

making it wonderful. Garages are fast moving, metal energy, with what Feng Shui calls a Yin

environment. You can use colors that help to support the gua (from the bagua) that this is in, or

use soothing and happy colors to welcome you at the end of the day, or send you off to a glorious

morning.

Artwork? Of course. Remember this sets the tone for what you will experience in the rest of your

home. How about a print from Jack Vettriano (pictured here) , or a nature scene, or something

that says to you, “Welcome Home, I Love You!”

Day 7: Finish your garage and then REST!

You might even take a look around at all you accomplished. Get out the BEFORE photos and gloat!

This evening, plan your week, and get ramped up for MORE life affirming clearing next week!

Look at your schedule and decide when you are going to make

arrangement to get rid of the stuff. Slate some time early this coming week to make phone calls, schedule pick-ups or have a neighborhood

garage sale! You are on it! Be proud of yourself. I am proud of you. You are making a huge

investment in your happy, healthy, wealthy life!


You have changed Your Life

Week 4 Staying on track for the Best of Your Life

Creating a Sacred Life through creation of Sacred Space

This is the last week of the Challenge! You made it. Congratulate yourself! It can be a

lot of work to turn the tide and take control of your life but the Inside and the Outside are connected and when you change one, the other follows.

Does the prospect of having an extra hour a day to do ANYTHING you want excite you? You are well on your way to living the life you want to fashion for yourself. Are you

feeling better? Are your spaces feeling cleaner and clearer?

Now we need to talk about keeping you and your family or roommates on track.

You have worked very smartly these last few weeks, putting energy into your home and your life. Clearing, organizing and building habits into your body and your days, it

becomes easier to carve out a sacred place for you and your desires, easier to say "No" when there is a bigger "Yes" which is the freedom you now have from to do your

greatest life.

Whether you have completed your entire home or not, you can see what it feels like to be in control of your space. As long as we are alive, setting boundaries around clutter

and space is a process, internal and external. It takes awareness and self coaching.

You can do it!

So keep your head down and keep going! Here's some more help:

Quick Recap:

Here is a quick recap to help you keep digging through old stuff to access that

well of riches we call life:

You are building life skills. Clearing clutter isn't something that you do ONCE...just like we don't only have to eat once in our lives, we are

constantly moving through life and if we don't let it move through us we get sick. What we are doing building healthy habits that keep the

energy, life force and stuff moving so that it doesn't become clutter and stagnation.

Be patient with yourself. If one of us can do it, all of us can do it. Start

each day fresh and decide to be happy. In fact, reach for the happiest


thought you can muster. Push happiness ahead of you and before you

know it, you'll be receiving more goodness into your life.

Get help. Call a friend, call a professional organizer, call me.

Have a 'staging' area: one room or section of your house where you

place all the things that will require deeper decisions (financial papers, kids memorabilia, someone else's stuff, art and craft supplies, magazines you

will sort and label).

Stay focused and narrate what you are doing, it helps. For this first

round of clearing, let it be just that and don't get too fussy or dally in detail. Once you move all the stuff you want to decide about later into that

space, leave it there until you get the rest of your home clear and then deal with the 'staging' area.

Decide: the power of decision becomes a habit. Decide and trust yourself

and the fact that you can trust that you have the wisdom, knowledge and support to get what you need when you need it. Decide how you are going

to discard the items you no longer 'need', love or use. Make separate piles for those and schedule a pick-up or delivery for that week. Check the

Challenge for places that are looking for discarded items.

Follow the steps in the Challenge. You decide: start small or start large. Starting anywhere will build your success. If you want to start larger, do

only one room: your bedroom. Remove everything and only put back your

bed, your side tables, your lamps, your dresser, maximum of two books per person, not mirrors (they activate the space unless it's to be able to

see the door from the bed), nothing under the bed (preferably; if you must store something there, sweaters, quilts, etc. make it beautiful).

Some Questions Folks Who Did “The Challenge” Had:

Q. Would you please explain the concept behind using the timer? Is the idea to

be under pressure, stressed out, adrenaline pumping, competitive trying to beat

the clock, getting as much done as absolutely possible OR just to work at the particular project at one's normal speed, & also knowing at the end of 15

minutes that one can quit the task. Thank You, Judy


A. The idea of using a timer is to work with an end in mind and allow

yourself to create a boundary. Knowing that the task at hand is finite makes it more manageable. It is proven that humans have a 90 minute

time limit on our ability to focus. After that we lose interest and focus. If there is a task you don’t like, limiting the time you have to do it will help

you to see the end in sight.

Work at your normal speed (use the decision making skills –even deciding to decide later and placing that item in the “decide later, or check with so-

and-so” bin will help you move along and keep the time draining nostalgia to a minimum); knowing that the job is finite makes it more manageable.

Of course, if you work best in a competitive, beat the clock mode, go for it. My intention was to ask you to be gentle and to begin to know how to

incorporate these 'Life/stuff management' tools into your life.

A few Success Stories from the KDKA Pittsburgh Challenge:

One woman doing the Challenge stopped me on the street and said: "You

won't believe this: I was, at 11:45 at night, cleaning my underwear drawer and found $300 cash! I am so excited!"

Another woman discovered that every one of her doors was blocked or not working properly. Her response, "No wonder my career is stopped cold!"

Getting the energy flowing in one area of your life will help you flow more beautifully through all of it!

Small things make a big difference:

Stay focused on what you want to create. Think wealth, think clarity, feel happy. Remember to use your 'switch phrase' and repeat it like a mantra.

"I am deserving of all the good things in life." -or- "I am accepting richness into my day." -or-

"I am beautiful, happy, etc." -or- "Money comes to me in large sums frequently from

expected and unexpected places." -or- any of the others that you create.


Continue to do these things every day:

Start Leaving: Give yourself 10 extra minutes before you leave your

home each day to clear the counters, load the dishwasher, fill or empty the trash, etc. When you come home it will make a great

difference. You may find this a real challenge at first, but as you move through this month, you’ll find you HAVE even more time than

that!

“Same Bat Time, Same Bat Place”*: Put your phone, keys and

purse in the same place every day...hang a hook for your keys or shelf for your charger. *from the TV Series Batman Open your mail, even

bills, the same day; do this over the trash can to immediately discard junk. (place the rest in your desk’s inbox)

In and Out: Every week, clear out the fridge of expired or uneaten

items. Every day, clear the clutter and stuff from your car as you get out.

Set your boundaries. Give yourself permission to be strict with

how and where you spend your energy. If phone calls take longer than you have allotted, be your own boss and wrap it up and move to

your next energy-building 'thing to do'. Be sure to schedule the

things you enjoy into your days.


Week 4: Creating Sacred Space

During this Challenge, we have set aside a block of 15 minutes to deal with one, manageable space in your home. We then made a special coup by scoring for ourselves for those spare "down moments" to build habits of staying clear.

We have worked on clearing clutter to get ready to use feng shui to make your homes work for you.

It may be a bigger job than you were able to complete in just last 3 weeks. Be

okay with that...I am sure you are ahead of where you started, even if it's only that now you are aware of what is blocking you and now you know a plan to

remove the blocks.

Keep moving ahead: Refer to the Challenge and keep moving forward. There'll

be times it's specifically difficult, plan to do a bit more than you thought you could then give yourself a rest. take a salt bath, write your wish list, listen to

"The Secret", go outside and breathe, call a friend for help, or call me, I'll help you continue to move forward!

Days 1 through 6: Other rooms

Family Room, Kids Bedrooms, Living Room, Basements and Attics

Usually a big job, the principles remain the same. Choose one room that you

haven't approached and take time each day to build toward clarity and freedom. You can

use this program for the next few weeks to finish all the rooms of your home.

Remember: What doesn't work FOR you is working AGAINST you. There is no neutral in the energy realm of Feng Shui. It’s energy UP or energy DOWN. If you don’t

believe this, just leave your sandwich on the counter for 3 days and you’ll see it’s moving in the life cycle toward the decay spectrum. That is how everything works.

Use it, love it or lose it. Choose who you want to be and start to build your

spaces to reflect what you think that would look like...first: clear the clutter, remove or repair and then, we'll get to feng shui!

http://www.thesecret.tv/


Here is an example of how to approach a 'community' room:

Family Room:

This is where the family gathers and everyone should have fun in this room. The things that stay in the 'family' space are for community...this is not the domain

of any one person. When this stays clutter free, organized and reflective of what you want to create with your family, your family's style and tastes, you are

building community strength and unity.

Look for the stashes of stuff and move them all out. Sort them into baskets

or bins foreach family member and deliver it to their private space.(We'll talk in a bit about getting your family/children/roommates on board.) Storage should be

neat, labeled and if it all looks the same (except for the labels) it will not look like clutter.

TV/DVD’s/CD's: Get all the videos from every part of the house and collect

them to one space.

Sort them: VHS, DVD's, Beta's,8MM?

Go through each pile; decide what you want to watch again and put them into genres (comedy, drama, music [jazz, rock, rap, easy listening,

what was I thinking? (move these on]) or sort them alphabetically. Getting a system will make you feel SO together. Label your system so you don’t

forget what you did. Take your 8mm's, your reel-to-reels, your VHS's and have them put onto

DVD's; I'm sure there’s a store near you. You'll love yourself for it. Don’t Want Them? Take them to a library, to the local church 'sale day',

put them in the donate pile, etc. Move them out within a week if you can.

Games: which do you really play? Sort them and put them somewhere, perhaps in a bin, basket or behind closed doors.

Pillows and Blankets: are they neat and beautiful? Are they clean and warm? How many do you really need? Take the old ones to the Animal

Shelter or the Local Shelter, they’ll love you for it.

Make sure everyone feels comfortable in this space. Personal things can go into personal rooms, your own room, office or studio/craft room.

Kids Bedrooms

Please take a moment to remember when YOU were a kid...remember that you loved someone to just be with you, be nice to you,


listen to your meanderings or just stand there and say, "you are great!" That's

what your kids want, so be gentle with both of you.

If your clutter clearing skills weren't good before the Challenge, it's a good bet you inherited YOUR skills from your parents. Here's your opportunity to give

your children a life-long gift: the ability to keep their spaces clean, organized

and neat will help them in ways that you are only beginning to experience for yourself.

We are building life skills, not life sentences. Make this as fun as you can and ask

your kids to spend only 1 minute per year of their age...otherwise you are defeating yourself and them.

Give them some advance notice: for instance in the morning say, "after lunch we are going to sort your toys to see which ones you are done with and which ones

might need to be fixed." This helps them get on board with the project and gives them a sense of control, allows them to budget their emotional resources and

makes it about them, too.

Approach this room with care and allow them to learn how to make good choices. The decision boxes will be:

o throw it away, o store it for later,

o donate or return to owner o misc. toy parts (this one is a must:

that way, when a game piece or toy piece is found and lost, you'll know

where to find it. Keep this one in your active storage area.)

Agree on the rule that the toys need to be put away before bedtime or better yet, before you begin to play with

another. This will help focus and cut down on the tendency to be scattered and easily distracted.

Clothing: It may be best if you go through this one alone, but if you know that

your child is particular about their clothing, be sure to include them. Use the same guidelines as for your clothing. See Addendum

TIP: Click here to discover the

pit-falls of asking 'Why'. This is a

great article (and a site for great Parenting information...even if you

are re-parenting yourself!) If the link fails, go to

http://www.janebluestein.com/handouts/bound_why.html#

http://www.janebluestein.com/handouts/bound_why.html




For a complete room redo: wait until after the personal items have been

sorted. Let your child know that you'll be doing this, engage them only if it will

be advantageous to both of you. The promise of a new color of paint (that they choose) will always help brighten the reason for a cleaning. Then use the same

bedroom guidelines for your bedroom from Week 1. for clearing your child's space.

It will be up to you to keep it clean at first. Enlist them with games (my kids

loved this one: when we were picking up toys, I would say, "I got that one" "I got this one." They took the challenge and forgot that they were cleaning!)

TV/Electronics: a feng shui bedroom "don't". Especially in kids

rooms…through the TV and the Computer you will invite anyone in the world into your children's lives. It's important that you monitor who is filling

them with ideas and spinning their reality; not to mention taking liberties with your children that have included abduction and worse.

Laundry: I remove all my laundry from our bedrooms before we go to sleep.

It's a good practice. That way, you aren't sleeping with the stress of the day.

Day 7: You are amazing. Here's your To Do for To Day!

Write a list of 10 things that you 'always wanted to do'. Include them all. Then cross of things that no longer apply to who you are now.

This is another way of clearing clutter and regrets. If you always wanted to be a

cheerleader and realize that honestly, that’s not important to you: LET IT GO.

Those wants and regrets are holding you back as much as all the clutter you just cleared.

Include big things and small things, free things and things that will cost a

significant amount. Just put them all on that paper.

Things like: sleep on a bed of roses, take a milk bath, have a song written about

me, have a beautifully decorated home, learn more about Feng Shui, play the piano/violin/bongos, do photography, learn to speak another language, read my

favorite magazine from cover to cover, wear a smaller size, travel to Europe, learn to scuba dive, make fresh pasta with my husband, make wine, meet a

celebrity, cruise the Nile, you name it: it’s your life.


Look at that list. It is a picture of your hopes and dreams and who you are.

In the next week, do one thing (gather

information, make the phone call, sign up, book the tour) toward making

something on your list happen. When

you do, know that the forces of the Universe are aligning themselves to

make it happen for you...the time, the funds, the people are all coming to you

right now.

Next step: Feng Shui to make your life work.

Now that you have no clutter blocking you and new skills to keep your spaces

fresh, you are ready to start to activate those spaces in a feng shui way to get

more of what you want.

Be your best self!

Be what you think you want to be: just start being it. It is the way

you will walk into your best you.

I am always here to help you! I would love to meet you, hear your successes

and help you whenever you need it. Just email me or call me.

Email me with ANY questions, comments or successes!

[email protected]

All my best to you,

"Be careful what you pretend to be

because you are what you pretend to be."

Kurt Vonnegut

"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso"

“It's YOUR life, go out and make it the one

you've always wanted." Dustin Hoffman to Will Farrell in "Stranger

Than Fiction"



Forms and Worksheets:

1. Roles & Time Spent Wisely

Transport yourself to a time when you might be sitting in a rocking chair, white-haired and looking back on your life. This exercise will help you re-organize your days to include things that will help that reflection time be one of joy and acknowledgement of all the things you allowed to be important in your life.

This is an example of what my sheet would look like:

Role What I’d like to be known for

What I do to honor this role and care for it

What I Want to have Done in my life

What I can eliminate from my life regarding this goal

Self Happy, Honorable, Reliable, Fun, Smart, Capable, Easy to talk to, Loving

Eat well, drink plenty of water, yoga or run daily, take time off to play, listen to my body’s wisdom and messages, read delightful books

Travel to New Zealand & Australia, Bali and a 5-star Photo Safari in Africa, The Galapagos, fly a float-plane in Alaska, ski more,

Regret, guilt, thinking about other’s lives

Mother Reliable, helpful, reasonable, good resource for following/knowing your heart’s desires, offering creative solutions when asked

Text periodically just saying ‘hi, I love you’, make dinner/lunch appointments, send little gifts they like, stop sending when they ask…

Travel with my sons to China, laugh a lot, take archery lessons with them, talk talk talk about everything

Friend All of the above BE with my friends, listen to them, smile, be myself, love them, call frequently, text periodically just to say HI, set boundaries that honor myself

Anyone that doesn’t make me feel good, anyone who I can identify as “not my people”, anyone who is overly negative

Health Vibrant, healthy, lively, flexible

Eat well, drink water, yoga, run, bike, laugh

Ride a horse, rock climb, ski, bike Paris to the Sea, Cooking lessons in Tuscany,

Coffee, sugar, wheat, dairy, non-organic products, etc.


Role What I’d like to be

known for

What I do to honor

this role and care

for it

What I Want to have

Done in my life

What I can

eliminate from my

life regarding this

goal

Self

Spouse/SO

Friend

Child

Career

Wealth


Tips for Organizing your Wardrobe:

1. Take everything out of your closet and place it in piles in your staging area.

a. Have a bin, basket or pile for each category of clothing you have: sweaters, t-

shirts, workout clothes, shirts, blouses, shorts, slacks, coats, suits, etc. Pile them

each separately.

2. Now that everything is OUT of your closet, dust the shelves, sweep the floors, wipe the

hanger bar and hooks and repair what needs to be repaired.

3. Next, put back only what you love, what fits now, and what makes an ensemble (outfit).

4. Next, if you have an entire wardrobe of a different size, put that all together so when you

are that size you'll know where they are. We'll deal with that in a bit.

Great start!

5. Next: you'll probably have things left in the "staging" area that don’t form a great

ensemble, but that you LOVE. For instance a blouse that really doesn't go with anything

you currently have and you put it on and take it off every time. What do you do? Make a

bin of those items you try on over and over but never wear. There'll be shoes like this too.

Set the bin or basket aside for right now.

6. Put all the things you LOVE back in your closet today, you can organize them by blouses,

skirts, trousers, pants, jackets, etc. or by color, but you choose.

Here are some other options:

Match your outfits as though you were dressing a mannequin, will help you actually wear

the clothes you buy. It's also a great tip on how to pack your suitcase for a trip.

A wardrobe, consultant can actually save you money. Department stores such as

Nordstroms or Neiman Marcus offer wardrobe assistance as part of their services. You can

also check for a consultant in your area. Together you'll match the outfits in your

wardrobe, make a list of what you need to wear with what, what shoes and accessories to

keep and then you'll be 'TO-GETHER'!

Take a photo of each item and print it out; take this with you when you go shopping so

that you what you need to match up. Make a list of the things that you need and carry

that with you also so that you can start wearing these great things.

Donate them; give them to someone who would wear them.


Now it’s time to begin your Feng Shui. Next steps:

Come to a workshop or take the training class to understand how you can be a part of the

dance of your own life.

Use the Bagua to map your spaces.

Learn your Feng Shui energy

Go to: www.fawnchang.com/fengshuicalculator.html and download the guiDi to

Discovering Your Elements

Lear to trust and use your intuitive guidance system.

Notice everything around you. We are intimately connected to our spaces and often the

orchestra of life is sending us messages—

Call or email me if you would like your own personal consultation [email protected]

I am always here to help you. I wish for you the sweetness of feeling alive and held softly in the

loving arms of the world.

Warmest regards,

http://www.fawnchang.com/fengshuicalculator.html


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