A decluttering practice that helped change my life...
Will you join me in OHIO?
So much of our clutter is delayed decisions. One piece of mail here, one item of clothing there, one unloved impulse buy over there...
Over days, weeks, months, years all those one things add up...and WOW do they add up, right?!
We have the choice every time something comes into our hands to add to the piles or not, to vote for a more cluttered future or a less cluttered one.
As we move through life we have a nearly constant stream of "stuff" moving through our hands.
Whether we're just doing our day-to-day activities or decluttering our home, the simple idea of OHIO can help - it helps me every single day.
What OHIO really means
Only Handle It Once means instead of putting down what's in our hand without deciding what to do with it...
We make a decision about what to do with what we have in our hands and put it where it belongs.
It sounds so simple and sensible, right? So why don't we do it every time we have something in our hands?
A Moment in the Hands, A Lifetime in the House
OHIO is the 'stuff' version of the saying, "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips."
We know eating fattening things when we're not hungry leads to weight we don't want.
And deep down we know that putting something down without dealing with it now means we'll have to deal with it later.
But we do it anyway and the clutter builds up. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Here's what I see:
We're busy thinking about the future or past
We don't notice what our hands are doing
We don't have a place for the thing in our hands
We think it's too hard
We think it'll take too much time
We're overwhelmed by clutter so we don't think one more thing matters
These are some of the reasons I have a job as an organizer and decluttering is a booming industry!
It takes practice to pay attention to what we're doing each moment, and most of us are in the habit of constantly being somewhere else in our minds.
It also takes time and practice to figure out a home for everything.
Thousands of delayed decisions in a home add up to a LOT of clutter, so it seems easier to think, "I don't know where to put this, so I'll just put it here for now..."
Rather than figure out what to do with aaallll those things.
But is it really easier?
After years of feeling angst about all the piles and living surrounded by things I didn't like but didn't know what to do with, I finally took the time to give a home to EVERYTHING I wanted to keep in my a home, including things I didn't know what to do with.
Yes it was time consuming, and yes, it was challenging.
But was it worth it? YES!!
Now I take the time almost every single day to practice OHIO.
Whether clearing piles or just bringing in the mail, we can practice making decisions and putting things where they belong as soon as we touch them
The days I DON'T practice OHIO, it's mind boggling how much of a mess I can make!
My living room after returning from leading a kayak camping trip
You don't have to wait until everything in your house has a home.
You don't have to wait until your home looks like a Pinterest post or a magazine photo.
You can join me in OHIO starting right now!
But first...
Practicing OHIO doesn't mean stabbing yourself with guilt every time you realize you put something down "just for now" again!
It just means practicing paying attention more often and practicing making decisions when you can. Be curious, give your Self grace, and practice without judgment...
The OHIO Challenge:
Notice what you're doing with your hands
Give yourself a moment to make decisions when you find something in them
Make decisions that spare your Future Self from more work later
You've got this!
Join me in the land of OHIO and let me know how it goes!
XO
Spring
PS - Want to get organized but feel stuck and overwhelmed? Schedule a free call with me!
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I practiced OHIO and cleared that room above! Read my Top 10 Tips for Decluttering Success to see how I did it
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