In Simplicity and Success, Bruce Elkin helps you find what you love and then organize your life and work so that you can create it – in spite of problems, circumstances and adversity.

Daffodils are in full bloom, tulips are popping up, and bright yellow forsythia blossoms are cheering up the neighborhood. Deep inside of us a hungry primal urge says clean, clean, clean! Shake off those winter blahs and get yourself ready for sunny skies to come.

Spring-Clutter-Cleaning gets the home and office in order so we can enjoy the good weather to come. So what is Spring-Clutter-Cleaning and how to go about it without getting overwhelmed?

Start small and start simply. Get out a bag for garbage, one for recycling, one for charity and one for the undecided. Walk around your space and toss the obvious stuff – newspapers, magazines, multiples, broken items. Focus on clearing surfaces of tables, shelves and desks. Don’t let yourself get caught up in emptying out drawers or closets. The focus of this task is to free up space. Think about creating a more spacious place that reflects the season.

Winter is for hibernating in our safe, warm, luxurious dens. Spring is about new beginnings, wide open fields that we can get out in and enjoy without frostbitten noses and toes. Let your personal space reflect the change in seasons. Pick-up anything that you haven’t used or appreciated in the last season and put it in the undecided box. Perhaps it is too valuable sentimentally to toss or it might be important to someone else in the household. Before making any decisions put it in the undecided box to look at later.

Often once you make space after getting rid of superficial clutter, new homes open up for important things that weren’t being properly honored and appreciated in their original location. Make space for a vase of fresh flowers liberated from the neighbor’s garden. Clear winter boots and heavy coats from the hallway and put out your gumboots, umbrella and rain jacket instead. Out with winter weather gear and in with spring. Pull back heavy winter curtains so you can enjoy the clouds flying by and bright green buds on the trees. Then you can get down to business and vacuum up the dust-bunnies that hopped out of hiding.

There is greater efficiency in clearing out clutter before cleaning so you don’t dust unnecessarily. If you have a whole day or weekend to dedicate to this task and know that you can do so without getting overwhelmed – great! For the rest of us mere mortals it would probably be wiser to turn up the stereo, set a time limit of one or two hours and get to it. The key is to de-clutter first, then organize what survived, and lastly clean those long-lost surfaces that magically appeared where ‘stuff’ was before.

1. Dress simply (including jewelry) and comfortably with clothes that do not wrinkle. Roll your clothes when traveling, hang them up when you arrive and the wrinkles will fall out. There are many new fabrics out now that are perfect for those traveling.
2. When traveling by car, keep a travel box that has a few of your favorite things you can take with you to your hotel so it feels more like home.
3. When traveling by air take a few of your small favorite things like photos, a favorite pen and book. I have a client who frequently travels to the same city/office and took these things which made that office feel more like her home office. There was an amazing shift in how she felt and her level of productivity.
4. Go for a walk whenever you can and at least once per day. It will boost your spirits and get your blood moving.
5. Keep a travel checklist on your computer so that you are not having to re-invent one each time you go away. This will eliminate a great deal of mental clutter wondering if you have remembered everything.
6. If traveling to the same city for work, find accommodations you like and use them each time. You will get to know the staff and create a routine for yourself, which will reduce the stress and save you time and energy.
7. Keep some energy bars with you in your travel box or in your briefcase just in case you are stuck somewhere for some reason. Low blood sugar can create negative moods and poor concentration resulting in low energy and productivity.

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The month of March started off with me being sick with a cold/flu/laryngitis for a week, feeling better, then sick again for another few days. I am good now. Think there was just too much going on in February with all the house stuff; buying, building and selling, plus my work. March 11 came and all the “subjects” were completed and our house “SOLD”. By the time you are reading this we will have become tenants in our house. I cannot believe, well, actually I can believe how differently I feel now that all the real estate stuff is done with our house. There is such a load (mental & emotional clutter) lifted from me. I always knew it was there just never realized how heavy it was till it was gone. That’s the thing with mental and emotional clutter. We don’t always see the impact it has on us and in our lives, like getting sick or impacting our work or relationships negatively. I frankly felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin at times this past month, the clutter was so heavy. Identify the clutter and then choose what works in order to eliminate or manage it differently. It has been so wonderful to not have to “stage” the house or adjust my schedule to accommodate a showing. Relief is spelled S O L D.

To add to the mix we had an offer accepted on another little house in Cumberland. I love real estate or at least the buying part. The house is an old-timer, updated in many ways and very cute. The short story is after having it inspected there was a substantial problem with what was under all the living part of the house, which meant increased costs that could not be all told till we jacked up the house and put in a foundation wall. We wanted to negotiate a different price now that we had new information and unfortunately the sellers were a no go. We collapsed the deal, which is good. I still want to purchase another property to rent as part of my long-term vision and retirement so in the meantime we will sit back and watch the market while we move along with our house building.

I have started some de-cluttering, organizing and packing now that our house has sold and this feels very good. I have this thing about space; feeling like I have enough so this de-cluttering is helping me have that feeling.

David and I are awaiting news of our grandson’s arrival. He was to have arrived on March 26 and is obviously delaying his grand entrance to the world till he feels like it. His parents, Brad & Tania, are waiting too and are excited and nervous about being first time parents. Expect some pics in next month’s newsletter.

Seems like there is a lot of new beginnings this Spring like new life and new houses.

Cumberland Chronicles
As you can see from the photos, the footings and forms are in. This was a bit of a slower process than we had planned, as the guy heading up this part was sick for three days. The plan is to pour the foundation this week and begin framing a few days following. It has been interesting for me to see all the work that goes into the forms and footings and how they manage to be able to do that all from blueprint drawings. There is a great deal of skill in getting the measurements and angles just right. The footings and the forms had to be ok’d by the structural engineer and pictures taken to confirm measurements. Maybe those pics will be our first new art work in the house! I am excited to see the foundation completed as it will then begin to take on the shape of our house. After our potential purchase of an older home I see the importance and the value in having a strong foundation and I am glad we are putting the time, money and energy into ours. I stood at the different levels of the slope and it was neat to see what my view would be from each floor. It is a peaceful view that gives me the feeling once again of space. I think we have chosen almost everything there is to choose with regard to the interior. We finalized the flooring, put in the order yesterday and paid the deposit. Next up will be to finalize the number of windows and doors, put in the order and pay another deposit. We need to know the size of window openings before framing starts. We also have changed the design a bit of my office. Actually, Don, our builder came up with this in the middle of the night (nice to know I’m not the only one up in the middle of the night with an idea) and I love it. My office is now a bit bigger and has double French doors for the entrance. The doors will be glass and increase the feeling once again of more space and light. Next on my list will be to talk with Kathryn and look at a plan about how to set up my office so that it is efficient and a struggle-free environment for me. Before the electrician comes in I need to know where all the outlets will be in my office because making a change after he has wired everything will be costly in money and time.

Stay tuned for the framing and all that I have learned about building in next month’s newsletter.

-Linda