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It’s ORGANIZING WEEK! (Plus a couple Bonus Tips at the tail end...)  A major part of self-care is getting and keeping your space organized. It’s a kindness, being able to function in your home/office, and it’s a kindness, being able to find your things when you need to. Whether you do your work in an office, your home, or on the road, take a moment to assess what message your primary work space sends about you. When you take time to clear the clutter, you set the conditions for your success. Your external world is a reflection of your internal world. Fortunately, this can be reverse engineered. Create peaceful surroundings, and a peaceful mind is more likely to follow. There are 5 areas for potential clutter traps - pick the one that speaks to you, and start eradicating the clutter! Depending on your current situation, you can stay focused on one area or knock ‘em down one by one. 🗂Desktop 📌aim to clear it of anything you aren’t actively using on a daily basis 🗂Piles of paper on the floor 📌Keep paper from coming in by keeping a small recycling bin just inside or outside your front door to get rid of junk mail instantly. 📌Take the few extra minutes it might take to immediately file the important mail you do have in your filing system. 📌Cancel any magazine subscriptions for titles you haven’t found time to read in a few months (or go digital for everything). 🗂Overflowing shelves 📌Consider doing a clean-out of shelves to clear out and donate old books and make room for new ones that might come in. 🗂Email newsletter subscriptions 📌Try “Unroll Me” for free help getting your subscriptions under control 🗂Email inboxes 📌Delete or deal with inbox items older than two weeks Take the time - you will not be sorry!  Self-care means you’re nurturing your relationship with things like your physical and emotional self, to be sure, and ALSO things like your money. Why your money? Because how you do one thing is how you do everything. Feng shui is a concept rooted in Taoism and Buddhism that teaches us how to achieve harmony with our environment. Today, we’re going to feng shui our wallets to enhance our relationship with abundance. 1. Clean it out. Pull out everything you have in your wallet - every receipts, every card, every coin…all of it. Then wipe it down with a towel or slightly damp microfiber cloth. Go the extra mile and burn sage while you do this, clearing any stagnant financial energy that has overstayed its welcome. 2. Sort through what you have. File receipts, and toss or safely dispose of anything that’s outdated or irrelevant, like expired membership cards. Straighten and smooth any cash bills, organizing them by value and keeping them in order all facing the same direction. According to feng shui principles, the better you treat your cash, the more it will respond favorably to your attention. 3. Store daily essentials in the most easy-to-access places in your wallet. The things you always reach for should be front and center. Streamline the contents so you only carry things you actually need to have with you. 4. Treat your wallet well. Acknowledge the abundance it represent with gratitude, and make a vow to keep it organized going forward. If that proves to be exceedingly difficult, consider a new wallet that suits your needs better. 5. Extra credit: add a dash of magic. Write an intention or affirmation down on a small note card and store it with your cash. Borrow an idea from the Law of Attraction and carry around a check you wrote to yourself for whatever amount of money you’re aiming to obtain. Thank your wallet every time you see, touch, or handle it. Feng shui tells us that dynamic energy flows freely in spaces that are harmonious and organized. Even getting an area as small as a wallet in order can lead to big transformations. Give it a try!  It’s a space you (presumably) use every day, so it makes sense to get it organized and let it work for you. As with ANY organizing project, start by removing things that don’t belong in the room. Next, empty every shelf, drawer, and cabinet. Take stock of what you have by going through each item one by one. Toss anything that is expired, empty, doesn’t work, or you don’t use. When replacing items you use, consider what you use the MOST, and give it prime real estate - the eye level shelf, the top drawer, the closest cabinet. Group like with like: make-up and beauty items, appliances, first aid, excess tissue and tp, etc. Use baskets and drawer separators where you can. Find a place for everything you want to keep, and put everything in its place. Consider moving full toiletries in good shape to a guest bath or donating to a women’s shelter. Clean all surfaces. Once everything is sorted and put away, wipe down any and all counters, sinks, mirrors, toilets and floors; empty and wipe down the trashcan. Establish a day for weekly or monthly maintenance, depending on your schedule and needs.  Here’s another space that likely gets used on a daily basis (or maybe even hourly, if your home is like our home). The longer it’s been since you’ve cleaned and organized the fridge, the longer it might take to get it back into tip top shape. (On the flip side, the more often you do it, the easier it becomes!) First step, as always, is to take it all out. Remove every single item from the shelves, drawers, and doors and take inventory. Release anything expired, empty, you don’t like or don’t use; consolidate where applicable. Clean all inside surfaces, remove and rinse/wipe drawers, wipe down doors and handles. Only replace items you will use, and be mindful of where you put what. We keep our veggies on the eye-level shelf for easy access and easy inventory - seeing them every time I open the fridge acts as a trigger for me to assess if I can add them in to whatever it is I’m about to make vs. “out of sight, out of mind.”  I love, love, love organizing closets! I’m a strong believer that your closet should be a place that inspires and comforts you. As such, everything in your closet should fit you comfortably, be aligned with your personal style, be in a clean, wearable condition, serve a specific function or speak to a specific type of occasion, and/or be appropriate for the season/s in which you currently live. Does yours pass the test? If not, carve out some time to get it in order - the cusp of a new season is actually perfect timing! To start, empty the entire closet out (just like we did with our bathrooms and our refrigerators). We do this because it’s much easier to be discerning about what goes into an empty space than about what should come out of a disheveled one. Clean all the surfaces - vacuum, dust, spray and wipe. You won’t see this space empty again any time soon, so take advantage. Go through each item one by one. Ask yourself: Does it fit? Do I love it? How often do I reach for it? Do I like the way I look and feel in it? Would I buy it again? Decide if you’ll discard, donate, or repair items with stains, missing buttons, ripped hems, small holes, or other signs of wear and tear. (Don’t forget to also look at your shoes, coats, scarves, hats, purses, socks, etc.!) Hang up as much as possible; group like with like. When you opt for hanging over folding, your cloths will have less wrinkles and it’ll be easier to see your options. Categorize by type: tops (long sleeve, short sleeve, sleeveless), dresses, skirts, blazers, cardigans, pants, workout clothes, pajamas, etc. Pro Tip: Color-coding each category can save you time in the long run (plus, color-coded anything is always more aesthetically pleasing!). Mend, donate, or sell gently used items within 7-10 days. Any longer and you’ll suffer an unintended consequence of having to navigate a new pile of clutter in your home. Final step: bask in the fresh energy and gorgeous state of your newly organized closet!  What’s something you want to do more of that would make your life healthier and happier? It might be something you already do but want to increase its duration and/or frequency, or something you don’t do yet but are now ready to begin. A key component to setting yourself up for success is knowing WHERE you’ll execute your chosen activity. Whether you want to… 💛meditate/journal 💛lift weights 💛knit/sew/quilt 💛food prep 💛work from home 💛paint/sketch/draw 💛practice yoga 💛grow your own food 💛read/write books 💛get better sleep …then you need to make room for it to happen! Designated space doesn’t have to be elaborate or expansive. You don’t need to have completed different rooms set up for meditating, exercising, and crafting - you just need to have spaces that cater to the activities you want to incorporate into your life. Today, pick an activity you want to increase that supports your health and/or happiness, then designate the place in your home to set up specifically for it.  Outer order invites inner calm - we are happier and more productive in tidier spaces. Plus, it’s much easier to KEEP an area tidy than it is to MAKE an area tidy. PLUS, knowing there is a finite time you are going to dedicate to the task each day helps alleviate potential feelings of overwhelm. Studies show a cluttered home can be a stressful home, and while there are different schools of thought regarding HOW to best declutter (touch everything! touch nothing! do it all at once! break it into bite-sized chunks!) the bottom line stays the same - a tidier home makes you happier. Your Action Step here is to set a timer for 10 minutes each evening before (or as part of) your bedtime routine, with the goal being to knock out as many “it takes less than a minute” tidying tasks as you can before the countdown ends. When the timer stops, so do you.  I say it every month in my love letters - you are an investment worth making. I believe in the power of self-care to serve as a foundational piece of our overall health and wellness, and I can testify to the way that habits like the ones we’ve covered this month can sustain you even during your darkest hour. I do Self-Care September for a few reasons. One, I want you to have both the opportunity and the tools to boost your self-care game and strengthen some of the foundational pieces that lend themselves to a successfully healthy life. I also want to spread the word that taking soulful, loving care of ourselves is accessible, affordable, and so, so, SO important. Today, make it a point to acknowledge that you know you are an investment worth making. It doesn’t have to be extravagant - just choose at least one way you will invest your time, money, and/or energy towards prioritizing your own well-being. Maybe you… sign up for that fitness program you’ve been eyeing, commit to the Thought Leader training you’ve been so curious about, book a weekend getaway, buy the new bedsheets, take yourself out to a fancy lunch, order more bath bombs or skin care products or books. Hire a coach. Find a therapist. Call to make an appointment for your next haircut, facial, or massage. Take the plunge. Pull the trigger. Treat yourself. Heck, *spoil* yourself. Life is so short and you are so worthy.  “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience” -John Dewey Reflection is a skill worth honing, as it helps you learn from your mistakes, generate new ideas, gain fresh perspective, and understand yourself better. “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” -Peter Drucker Today, take a moment to consider the way you show up for yourself. Ask yourself:
It’s been a complete joy and honor bringing you along for this year’s Self-Care September, Soul Fitness Style. I hope you have gleaned at least a few nuggets of actionable wisdom to enhance your life experience through the rest of 2021 and beyond. I love you! Review Week 1: Back to Basics here! Review Week 2: Nutrition Nuggets here! Review Week 3: Mindset Matters here! Schedule a Free Session to see if a Soul Fitness Coaching program is the right fit for you and your goals. 
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