It’s easy, live with clutter and its difficult to move forward, or you will move forward more slowly. Clear your clutter and you will be supported to create the life you dream of.

1. Use the Ultimate Clutter Test - ask yourself “Do I love it, do I use it, does it make my heart sing?” Get a no? Put it in a box for the charity shop, to give to someone who will treasure it, or to go to a consignment shop.

2. Clear your closet - this is a great place to start. Make space for the new by taking everything out of your closet and only putting back clothes you love, fit you, are ready to wear and show you at your best. You know the ones - they are the ones people comment on when you wear them.

It is better to have half a dozen outfits that make you feel your best, than a closet of clothes that are past it or remind you of the weight you've put on. If you really must keep clothes you no longer fit into, put them in a box, tape it up and put a date on it if you don't fit into them by that date maybe its time to make someone’s day by taking them to the local charity shop - or making some money by selling them.

3. Clear your basement and attic - in Feng Shui the basement represents the foundation to your life. Any stuck energy here will be rising up through your home and affecting every aspect of your life.

Clutter in the attic will be bearing down on you. And there is no hiding from clutter by moving it to the basement, the shed at the bottom of the garden, or even a storage unit. It’s in your environment and will still be affecting you.

4. Time Clutter - do you have too many things on your to-do list? Do you keep trying to fit just one more thing in? Do you feel under pressure? I have come to accept that I cannot possibly do everything in one day, or even in one week. This takes the pressure off! Are you saying yes to what you want to be saying yes to?

5. Handle procrastination - do you put off taking action on some things you want to do, registering for a class, or making a phone call for example, so your head gets cluttered up trying to remember to do it?

Some things are worth taking action on immediately. Some things are worth scheduling so they are not done at the last minute and under pressure, or even worse, are missed. Clutter is decisions put off - in other words procrastination.

6. Clear the clutter in your office. This will be affecting your creativity, efficiency and prosperity. If necessary, pay someone to help you organize your office. Once you get it organized get rid of clutter daily.

Papers, emails, your filing cabinet, and documents on your computer you haven't looked at in months or years. How much time do you waste looking for information? Make liberal use of your best office tools - the recycle bin and the delete button on your computer.

7. Declutter your day - What are your most productive activities at work - the ones that bring you the greatest results? How much of your time do you spend doing them? Most people spend the majority of their time on their least productive activities - reading and answering emails, having meetings, returning phone calls, looking for documents.

Do you clutter your day up with things that could be delegated or things that are not important? Do you allow yourself to be constantly interrupted with emails, phone calls or family members?

8. Your head! Do you have a whole lot of thoughts running around in your head when you get up in the morning? Julia Cameron in the Artists Way suggests writing Morning Pages. There are 3 pages of free flow writing. Just let whatever wants to come up, come up. It’s amazing what does come to the fore and I have found this a useful tool to start my day with a clear head.

9. Things from the past. Do you have the wedding dress from your first marriage? Do you have books on subjects you are no longer interested in, or are they out of date? Do you have vitamins in your cupboard more than 6 months old - they will have lost their potency. Have you moved from a house into a Condo and still have gardening tools you can no longer use? Do you have your grandparent’s clock that no longer works, and you don't even like it? Have you been given gifts that aren't you?

Clear this clutter and notice how your energy changes.

10. Do you have things in a storage unit? Do these pass the Ultimate Clutter Test? Do you love them, do you use them, and do they raise your energy? If not, how much is it costing you to store these things. If they disappeared would you miss them? Do you even remember what is in those boxes? How about your garage? Is it so full that your car/s need to sit outside? How much are your cars depreciating by being out in the elements and are the things in the garage worth that much?

Bonus Tip. Here’s a tough one! Are there people in your life who drain your energy? What is it costing you? What do you have invested in staying in contact with them? Maybe they are close family members. Who do you need to be to take care of yourself around them?

Be ruthless when it comes to decluttering. For the energy to flow easily in your life, and your home, you need to be diligent when it comes to clutter. If you don’t address it, it will hold you where you were back in 2002 or before! Clutter Busting will support you in moving forward into an abundant life.

© 2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/