Well, it’s definitely autumn in New York.  The leaves are changing, the heat is turned on. Time to pack up the summer clothes and pull out the sweaters! But wait, where are those sweaters? I think they’re in that pile at the bottom of my closet behind my bags… or maybe they’re in one of those boxes from the move under the desk. Did I lend my grey one to a friend? Hmm.. I can’t find it!

Sound familiar?  Then it’s time to clean house!  Energy loves to flow.  And if there’s clutter around, you’re stopping it from doing what it naturally does best. Even the smallest bit of disorganization is preventing you from manifesting all that you truly desire.

Photo by Angie Dykshorn

We all find ourselves in this situation at one point or another.  It takes us a half hour to find something that we could have sworn we saw just the other day, and then we’re late for an appointment – really late.  If we had only implemented a system of organizing, we wouldn’t have gotten into this situation in the first place.  Help!

It’s Time to Get Organized!

Here are My top 5 Easy Tips to Finally Clear the Clutter:

1. Get Rid of Old Clothes

Anything that you are no longer IN LOVE with, still has the tags on it, or that you haven’t worn in over a year goes into the giveaway bag. If you look through drawers full of clothes but still find yourself saying “I have nothing to wear,” something is wrong! If your clothes don’t reflect who you WANT TO BECOME, get rid of them. The law of attraction works with your wardrobe. Dress for success. Emulate who you want to be in the world! If you look like her, chances are you’ll feel like her & act like her.

Here’s what you do: Grab a large trash bag or canvas tote and go through each item in the closet, and each drawer. Take out everything that is a ‘maybe’ and throw it in the giveaway bag. If it’s not a “HELL YES, I LOVE THIS,” then you don’t need it. No ‘”One day, I might wear it” allowed. Trust me, it’ll be sitting in that drawer for years. The more you get rid of, the more space you’re creating in your life to bring in what you truly desire. Say no to the things that you don’t love – and make room for the things that you do!

Once you have your giveaway bag (or bags), make sure to host or attend a swap party once a season.  You should be doing this 4 times a year!  If you’ve never attended one, believe me – they are so much fun! After you’ve traded clothes with your friends, you will most certainly still be left with a large pile of things that no one wants.  Designate someone to take everything leftover from the swap to a local Goodwill or other donation center.  You’ll be practicing another tool for manifesting – Giving!

2. Space is the Place

Your home and your work place are in your first chakra – so if they’re not in order, everything else will be a bit off.  The first chakra is your root or your base upon which all other things grow.  Your surroundings are a reflection of what’s going on in your head. If your place is a mess, how can you expect yourself to think and act clearly?  It’s especially important to clear your work area.  Haven’t you ever found yourself procrastinating by cleaning before working on a big project? This isn’t procrastination at all.  You have to clean your space in order to focus.

The universe rewards actions. Every time I organize the papers on my desk and file things, I ALWAYS get an email or a phone call from a new potential client.  I can’t explain how this works, but it never fails.  For real, it’s that easy.  Make sure to implement some sort of filing system so that papers can be sorted right away (we’ll discuss this more in a bit).  And then make a beautiful alter in a small area on your desk.  It could be as simple as a scented candle that you light when you work.  Or you might add some other meaningful small objects. Your work alter will not only bring you joy everytime that you look at it, but it will enhance the vibration of what you’re doing. And be sure to hang photos or magazine clippings on the wall featuring your favorite things, what inspires you, and what you want to achieve (think vision board, but much more beautifully arranged.)  Once your work area is a space that brings you peace and joy when you step into it, you will attract even more abundance and move your projects forward in ways that seemed impossible before!

3. Get Rid of All Things Negative

Take a few minutes to write down a list of all of the projects on your plate at the moment.  Is there anything that you keep avoiding?  Something that gets written over and over again on each new ‘To Do’ list because you can’t seem to check it off?  If a project no longer brings you joy, it’s cluttering up your list and it’s time to get rid of it.  Start saying no to projects or ideas that no longer serve you. Then delegate tasks that you still must accomplish to achieve your big dream, but might be best left to someone who actually loves to do them.  You’ll be surprised at how much more productive you can be once you clear the icky things off your list.  And don’t just clear negative things. Yes, even negative people can add clutter to your life.  Did you know that you’re the sum of the 8 people you spend the most time with?  It’s true.  Take a mental note of who you surround yourself with the most.  When you get together, are you supporting each other’s dreams & visions?  Or are you talking about other people and bitching about your circumstances? If so, it’s time to start saying ‘no’ to your friends who drag you down emotionally, are draining, or are negative. Choose your time wisely and try to spend MORE time with the people you most admire, the people who are accomplishing things with their life – who are happy, positive and supportive.  You’ll start to notice big shifts once the negativity is cleared from your life!

4. Create Systems

You’ve heard it time after time from every seasoned entrepreneur.  You must create systems in order to be successful.  Systems in your life and business can be as simple as having a packing list for when you go out of town, having a document template for when you send an invoice, or having a step-by-step guide for your product launch.  Maybe you have a system for how you send out press samples.  Is responding to new prospects taking up too much of your time? Then maybe you set up auto-responders in your mail program for when people sign up for your mailing list online. Or a system might be that you write a blog post every Monday, or send out your newsletter every Tuesday.  If you want to go more in-depth with systems, you can use online tools such as hootsuite to organize your social media, or AWeber to automate your emails. Ultimately you are the one who knows which systems are best for you.  It starts by looking at what in your life is feeling heavy or taking up too much of your time.  Those are the areas that need to be systemized.  Systems even include delegating (which we mentioned above).  So if there’s something that you don’t know how to do, or don’t want to learn, then hire someone else to do it for you.  That’s a system!  The more systems that you can implement, the more you will accomplish, and the more you will manifest!

5. Start Rockin’ Rituals

Create your own rituals around organization.  This will help you to remember to keep things organized.  You can add a new ritual to a daily or weekly habit that you already have.  Say for example, every Sunday you take out the trash.  You can add to that by saying, ‘Before I take out the trash, I file the papers on my desk.” Or “After I take out the trash, I sweep the kitchen.” Here are some more examples:”After I eat dinner, I do the dishes.”  “After I do my laundry, I put my clothes away.”  “After I take a shower, I put my dirty clothes in the washer,” etc. Does this make sense? They should be easy to remember.  Something so simple – but for many of us, the dishes can pile up or the nicely folded clothes end up sitting on a table for a few days rather than going back to where they belong. One of my favorites: “After I walk in the door, I hang my keys on the key hook.”

If you have rituals, things don’t get messy.  You stay organized. Try adding one new ritual at a time for a week or two.  Once you’ve incorporated them into your routine, you can add more.

So now, it’s time to implement these ideas!

Photo by Angie Dykshorn

I want to hear from you! Do you have a ritual or a system that you love? Or an organizing tip that I didn’t mention? Do you have a clutter-clearing story that lead to major manifesting? Leave a comment below and share the love. The more we give, the more we receive.

Here’s to organizing and manifesting everything your heart desires!