Decluttering

Amish Hacks?

/ Cheryl Wilcox / Leave a comment

I’m just writing to get back into the habit of writing here twice a week. I picked up the book Get Your Act Together by Pam Young and Peggy Jones (from Sidetracked Home Executives) because it’s Sunday, and I’m resting, and I wanted motivation to continue decluttering and assigning homes to everything in my house, and they’re funny, and they make me laugh…

I opened to Chapter 3: “Why You’ll Never Meet A Disorganized Amish.” They made some good points about why an Amish mom wouldn’t have to fly through the house yelling at everyone to get ready for company the next day. There wouldn’t be anything to pick up, because they don’t collect stuff in the first place! And she wouldn’t have to shriek at her teenager to “Turn down that music and get off the phone!” because there wouldn’t be a stereo and there wouldn’t be a phone. There would be no fights over the TV clicker either. Nobody would have to put the cover back on the VCR or round up the tapes and match them to their jackets. (So what if this book is dated. I like the way these ladies think.) There would be no need to work at the nail polish stain on the carpet… So true.

This brought back a memory of me scrolling YouTube into the wee hours of the morning, some time ago, and taking notes on my phone about things Amish people did to simplify life. I looked through my Notes app and found one called “12 Amish hacks”. It was created August 12, 2025 at 1:10 AM. (Sounds like something I’d do.)

What can we glean from my notes?

Inventory

Write what we use daily

What do we never use?

This could be time consuming, but the information could be useful.

One item for one purpose no Duplicates

Bobby would never go for this.

Simplicity over style

How much is decoration only? To impress?

I’d be happy with less on our walls.

Not to serve

Rotate

Rotate what?

Build don’t buy

Could you buy the building materials? This is making me feel lazy. I think of how I can just touch my phone screen and boxes will arrive on my porch. If we had to build everything, we would have much less stuff around here.

Fixing instead of tossing

I fixed my clogged up sink the other day. It took me a couple of hours and some aggressive plunging, but tossing it was not an option.

Respect for what you own

This is admirable.

Empty spaces sacred

They calm the eyes and rest the mind 

Totally agree.

Usefulness is beauty 

What is beautiful in your home?

If it doesn’t serve, then it doesn’t shine 

An idea to ponder…

Quiet over noise

Visual silence

The habit of letting go

Don’t call it loss call it release

Shared over owned

Living with enough

These aren’t really hacks. These are values. 

10 Amish secrets to keep your home, always organized

  1. Keep only what’s necessary Oh my, I have so many things that are not necessary.
  2. A place for everything and everything in its place (looks tidy, don’t waste time searching, set rules for your items, return them to their places after use) I’m working on it.
  3. Functional furniture over fancy furniture (every piece of furniture has a job, a chair is for sitting…) I don’t think I own fancy furniture.
  4. daily routines (morning, afternoon, evening, not delaying, not I’ll do it later, do it immediately, become second nature, doesn’t feel like work) I delay many things, especially working out.
  5. Handmade storage solutions (give everything a proper home)
  6. Seasonal living (living spaces open and uncluttered, rotating, respecting the seasons, stored neatly and labeled, only keep what you’re currently using in sight) This is a practice I do with clothing and decor, and may be able to do with other possessions.
  7. Community sharing reduces excess (create connection, reduces waste, keeps home lighter) I don’t think I do this.
  8. Repair instead of replace (fix immediately, it’s discipline, respect for object) I usually repair eventually, not immediately, but trying to get better about this.
  9. Clean as you go (later creates clutter, later steals peace) 👍
  10. Simplicity creates peace (don’t chase trends, live with less, every extra object is another decision another demand, keep only what matters, don’t waste time, chasing perfection, create order) Good advice.

I’ve been taking lots of steps towards simplicity. Some of them are letting go of physical possessions. I am also really trying to do things right away instead of putting them off until later. Though I’m still struggling with procrastination in working out, I’ve been doing a lot of household tasks immediately… like making the phone call, writing the note, putting things away. Now, I need to stop procrastinating going to bed.

Decluttering Books

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This is a HARD category for me. The good news is I have a deadline, which motivates me. The local library is having a book sale in a couple of weeks, so they are taking donations now. I’m on it!

Here were the piles:

YES SCANNED

SARAH’S

IDK

MAYBE

KEEP BUT NOT IN LIBRARY

YESES TO SCAN

DONATE

HANNAH’S

RACHEL’S

JOE’S

MARY’S

BOB’S

MATTHEW’S

ONE OF THE KIDS

JODIE’S

I know I made progress because the donate pile is pretty large. Many of the books I’m letting go of are homeschooling materials that I’m fairly certain I’d never use again. (A fellow former homeschooler is going to post them in a homeschooling Facebook group for me. I’ll see if there are any takers.) This has been a gradual process of letting go for me. The curricula and books went out in waves. I thought I might be finished last time, but nope, there’s still more I don’t need.

I downloaded an app called Libib to inventory the keepers. One thing I discovered is that I have books all over the house. Check this out.

I started out by keeping the books that I love and think I’m gonna read again, the books that I really want to read someday, and some reference books. I got rid of the books that are not up to my standard for quality, or that I wasn’t really interested in reading again, or for the first time. Then I added in a bunch of picture books that I love, and that are still in decent shape. For grandchildren? Young visitors?

I was considering keeping some books that are on popular book lists in case I might want to read them someday. Uh oh… sounds like just in case…

And what about the cookbooks I don’t use? Like this one…

I don’t use it anymore, but I used to use it all the time. That’s why it looks the way it does. How is this meeting my quality standard?

I decided that I’m not keeping books on popular book lists just in case. One reason is because I estimated that it would take me 2 to 5 years to read all of the books I was already keeping. And another reason is I could waste a lot of time reading lousy books on lists. I recently had a bad experience with our movie poster list. We started scratching off movies we watched on our “Top 100” movie poster in 2020. We’re getting close to finishing it now. A couple of weeks ago we watched part of A Clockwork Orange. We didn’t finish it, and I was quite disturbed that I saw what I saw, and that it would even be on our list, or any list. How many times can I use the word list?

Anyway, this has been a successful purge. Here are the stats for “my” books (not including books in Bobby’s study or in the kids’ rooms). 12% of the books are no longer “mine”. They either belonged to someone else all along, or someone kept a book I was purging. 26% of the books are going out the door, some back to my sister and some are being donated. This means I have kept 62%, but I have let go of 38% of the books! I’m planning to do it again next March or April before the library book sale. Maybe then I’ll be ready to let go of more. For now, I am pleased that I am feeling lighter and freer. I wish I had a better word for it. Also, all of my books have assigned homes.

Experiment #6: A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place

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Let’s talk about this dream of mine. I’ve called this project “home assignments” because I’ve been trying to assign a home to each of our possessions, (and often to label the spots where they go) so it’s easy for people (usually me) to put things away. I start and stop and don’t finish.

I found a great article called “Everything in its Place, Finally and Forever” on a site called Raptitude. Reading about his 11 unexpected benefits, and in particular, the clearer mind, got me so inspired to finish this project. I’m already gathering up stuff that doesn’t have a home.

“I don’t want to own anything that I don’t use or don’t appreciate,” the author states. That sounds so simple. And he completes the experiment in one month, and gets rid of 80% of his things! Now, I realize that he’s a single guy, living in an apartment, which is completely different from my situation. So, maybe it’ll take me longer than 30 days, and maybe I’ll be lucky to get rid of 8% our things, but the results would be similar, right?

“I could hide messes, but the simple fact was that I had more stuff than I could care for. Most people do.” I hear you, brother.

Maybe… maybe… I could do an experiment just like he did. Maybe having a deadline would help me to focus.

Experiment #6:

“I resolve to get rid of everything I am not prepared to use and give a permanent place to in my home.” I’ll go room by room, closet by closet, drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf, and when I’m done everything will have a home. I will give myself until the end of April to complete this experiment. That will be in six weeks and one day.

I read in a book (I think The Joy of Less by Francine Jay) about dealing with clutter as if playing the game, Musical Chairs. (For the record, I’ve never liked that game. People can get pretty aggressive when trying to secure a seat. But we’re talking about clutter here, not people.) This idea gives me a lovely, easy-to-remember visual. Everything in my house should have a place, or a “chair” if you will. When the music stops, all you items lying around without a chair, you’re out!

Weekly Planning

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On Sundays, I do a little weekly planning. I pencil in the activities I’m planning to do at specific times. I fill in the short, daily to-do lists with 2-4 items for each day: calls to make, work-outs, tasks, and small projects.

This week’s projects are:

Belly Fat Bootcamp – This is a six week challenge that begins on January 12th. It’s for women over 40, and it comes with meal and workout plans. I’ve completed similar challenges from Melissa Neill before, and I’ve achieved great results. I started eating the meals this past week and they are quite different for me… quinoa, buckwheat, bok choy, wild salmon for breakfast?

Cleaning out my email – On Thursday, I cleared my inbox. There were over 1000 emails in it. I saved some in folders, and have been unsubscribing from many. This Thursday, I plan to go through all of the folders, deleting what I no longer want to keep.

Take down the Christmas decorations – I don’t really want to this year. It’s not because of the work, but I think I’ll miss the ambiance.

Purge the pantry – It needs to be done. I try to do it every three months, which is seasonally.

New file drawers – This project is taking longer than I expected. I received new hanging folders, manila folders, and Freedom Filer labels for Christmas. I thought I’d switch out the old folders and declutter papers quickly. Nope. There are lots of decisions to be made. Do we want to get rid of certain papers after two years? Do I want the product manuals in the folders or in binders where they are now? Can I get rid of papers from projects I’m not working on? I’ll make decisions.

I’m planning to go to two meetings this week that involve reading books. One is in person (starting up again after a break) and the other is on Zoom (completely new to me). I also have a date with Bobby to see The Fellowship of the Ring on Friday night. We usually watch LOTR together in January. This year we plan to go out for the first and third movies, and watch the second one at home sometime in between the others.

Tonight we’ll be celebrating Bobby‘s birthday. His actual birthday is January 12. He’ll be turning 56, like me. I’m writing about what I know. I’m just happy to be writing.

Thoughts on Projects

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It’s Sunday, a good day to rest. Today I am reflecting on the past week. It started out with my trying to live a more orderly life, and ended in a flurry of activity. I think what got me off track was a project. I have a tendency to lose myself in projects. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. In this case, I was taking advantage of momentum.

Let me explain. I have four projects that I’m working on this month. I post them on the chalkboard in my kitchen to constantly remind me of what projects I consider to be the current priorities.

On Thursday, I decided to work on the preparing for St. Mary’s High School project; specifically, I wanted to find school uniform pants for my daughters. It turned out that we have hand-me-down pants that will fit Mary. Hannah needs new pants. I also thought that I would help Mary to remove some of the stuffed animals from her bed (and declutter or organize all the ones in her room) and get her new bedding, since hers was kind of old and worn. After a trip to the mall, where we didn’t buy any pants or bedding, but bought new pillows and some closet, organizing tools, Mary and I started organizing the dolls. This somehow turned into an all day declutter and organize the whole room project. I felt OK about it because they were motivated, and though I wasn’t planning on doing this anytime soon, it is part of the third project on my list: home assignments. That project involves decluttering and finding homes for all the things we are keeping.

On Friday, I finished decluttering my bathroom and the living room, and then my daughter Rachel, asked if we could declutter the school room. That’s what we call a large room above our garage, where we used to all homeschool, and what is currently Rachel‘s bedroom. You can see it in the room tour, but it didn’t look anything like that on Friday. (Why didn’t I take before and after pictures?) Anyway, just imagine piles of books, clothes, games, DVD’s, nail polishes, and papers.

I couldn’t say no to someone wanting to declutter with me! So we methodically went through the room clockwise, discussing all of the items we picked up, and either keeping them or putting them into one of the boxes: GIVE AWAY ( to donate or sell), PUT AWAY (belongs in another room), KEEP – STORAGE (is going somewhere in the basement), TRASH, and PAPER TRASH. I will go through the books at another time and I have a cabinet of photos, memorabilia and scrapbook supplies that will become another project someday, but we consider the room finished. I think we worked till about 11:30 at night I was all-in.

On Saturday, I had plans in the morning, but in the afternoon I worked on the dining room and my kitchen desk area. Then I was too tired to do anymore.

If you’ve read this blog, or know me in real life, you know that I’ve been trying to “finish” this decluttering and finding a place for everything project for years. My father keeps telling me that I will never catch up on home maintenance. I think he means that there will always be chores to do and something to fix. I agree with him on that. But I envision having a place for everything and everything in its place. I desire to have every room maintained as well as I would if I was going to put the house on the market. I understand that when I get to that point, I will need to continue to fix things when they break and to do chores daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, and annually to maintain it. But I’m not giving up on my goal of getting to that point.

I think I see this project as similar to my transformation challenges. (In which I followed a strict meal plan and difficult, time-consuming strength training workouts, along with cardio, for eight weeks or more.) Both require a large commitment, and a lot of work. They seem overwhelming if I look from where I am at the beginning, to where I want to be at the end. But if I just take it one day at a time, and do the next task, I make progress. Over a period of time, I can reach my goals. The extreme, tedious actions are only temporary. Then, I can maintain what I have achieved with good habits.

At the beginning of 2024, I wrote three posts on habits, routines, and resolutions. This is my post on projects. I am thinking about how I can work on my projects in a more balanced way, without giving up my habits, routines, and resolutions.  I also see the value in going “all-in” with a project when you’re in the mood and when you have willing helpers.

I think my next post will be about systems. I’ve been tweaking my current system of index cards and a big fat planner. I’d love to write about it soon.

Winter Sentiments

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This afternoon, my daughter, Rachel, and I were decluttering up in the school room, which is also her bedroom. (Mary and I homeschool in the living room nowadays.) Rachel got rid of a bunch of squishies. I let go of some jigsaw puzzles and a stack of homeschooling papers about 2 inches thick. And once again, I made a little pile of school books to either sell, donate or throw away, a pile for my library, and a pile of “I don’t know yets.”

I did all of this very quickly. Having my daughter in the room with me seemed to help me make decisions, instead of putting them off. I think I accepted the reality that I will no longer be planning another school year. I was able to express this to my daughter and to say out loud that it is sad that I don’t have those little kids anymore. But I still have those kids. They’re just older now. I told her how I loved reading picture books and doing Five in a Row activities. I told her that I started homeschooling in 2004, so I will have done it for exactly 20 years. And how it’s hard letting go of those booklists that I’ve kept for so long, but I also want to move on…

Then I took a shower and felt the sadness. I miss little Matthew, my oldest son, who’s moved out. We spent so much time together. I watched him grow into a young man. And he’s a good one. Yesterday, I think he was plowing parking lots during the snowstorm. I remember him in his puffy little snowsuit, pretending to snow-blow our driveway. I would wonder if I should tell him to come inside when it was freezing out and he was having so much fun.

I know I can let go of more material possessions. And it’s good to feel my feelings and let them go too. Even after I decide, it takes a bit of work to get everything out of the house. It’ll be worth it though. I think I’m getting prepared for the next phase of my life. I don’t know what that will look like, but I don’t need to know. I believe that I will be led. I am on a journey. I plan to travel light.

Home Assignments

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One of the projects I’m currently working on is assigning homes for all of my personal possessions and the items my family shares. I’ve come to realize that when an item doesn’t have a home, it makes it very hard to put it away. Where does it go? It usually ends up somewhere it doesn’t belong and it becomes clutter. I think this is the way piles are born.

I started this last year. I took some old sheets of paper and sketched the places where things are stored in each room. So in my bedroom, for example, I sketched the nightstand drawers and my dresser drawers. Then, I wrote in tiny letters what goes in those drawers. I did the same for my closet, the bathroom cabinets, etc. Now, when I want to tidy up or declutter, I can look at those sketches and see what should be in those drawers or on those shelves. The extra items will need to be tossed or assigned homes.

So far, I’ve gone through my kitchen desk, the pantry, the living room, and my bedroom. I purged a lot, and I’m starting to gather up a little collection of things I don’t know what to do with. They are mostly gifts that we don’t need, and probably won’t use, but they’re in perfectly good condition. Maybe donations?

I’ve also found things that require some action, such as: gift cards to be used up, new felt pads and socks for our kitchen chairs, and parts of things that need to be repaired. I’ve been trying to do those tasks.

I felt like writing about this tonight to motivate myself. I like to see in writing the purpose, which is really the benefit of the project. It also gives me clarity. It’s like telling a kindred spirit my ideas about simplifying my life. There’s so much scope for imagination.

That Twirling Feeling

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The first purchase I can remember.

I’m taking photos and letting it go. I can’t say that about most of the possessions I’ve looked at during my April Declutter Challenge. Letting go is not easy.

These are the areas or categories I have gone through so far: DVD’s, the TV stand and end tables, sheet music (Sarah did it), the hutch, my nightstand, my clothing, my dresser, my closet, my books, the master bathroom closet and vanity, the foyer closet, my kitchen desk cabinets, the kitchen cabinets and drawers, the fridge and freezer, the utility closet, the pantry, the extra closet, the mudroom, the 1/2 bath cabinets and drawers, the upstairs bathroom closet and vanity, art supplies, fiction books, picture books, scrapbooking supplies, photos, planners, office supplies, homeschool curricula… Phew!

I know it’s boring, I just wanted to see what I have accomplished. I’ve been stuck in the school room/Rachel’s bedroom for at least two weeks. Sometimes it’s been emotional. I am planning to homeschool for one more year. My youngest child (who will be a teenager in a week!) will be an eighth grader next year and will likely go to high school, as her siblings did. I’m letting go of curricula that I know we won’t be using next year, or ever.

I’ve felt sadness about not using some of the things I had planned to use. There are so many unfulfilled ideas/desires. There’s also a sadness from the good memories I have of being in that room with my beautiful, little children. It’s the same feeling I get during the movie You’ve Got Mail. If you haven’t seen it, then this is a spoiler alert. If you have seen it, then you might understand. Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is closing the bookstore that her late mother used to own before she owned it. After going through the process of selling everything but the shelving, she comes to her last night alone in the store. She looks back at the almost empty room and sees a memory of her mother twirling her around when she was a little girl. Add in the dramatic music and I get a lump in my throat every time. It’s that happy and sad at the same time kind of feeling. It’s the grieving of lost moments that will never return, mixed with gratitude that you were blessed to experience them.

I remember the excitement I’d feel at the beginning of a homeschool year. I was so hopeful. I loved planning, setting up the space, getting organized… I so enjoyed reading aloud while they were drawing…. Of course, they didn’t enjoy doing a lot of the work. It was far from perfect. But we had some good times. And just like that… it’s over.

I want to let the past go, appreciate the fine people that they are today, and enjoy my present lifestyle. In many ways, it’s better than the “old days.” But I am keeping many of the books that we own. I don’t know if this is prudent or if I might be trying to hang onto the past. I have this idea in my head that someday I’ll have a cute little library in whatever home I live in. Sure, we are not using these books now, but we might use them someday. Am I making excuses? Am I too attached to material possessions? Actually, I was gonna get rid of more of the picture books, but the kids wouldn’t let me. We kept a lot that I wouldn’t miss.

After books, I moved on to scrapbooks and there are a lot to finish. And photos… there are a lot to scan. All of that will have to wait until I finish decluttering the whole house, and other projects that are higher priority. My daughter, Rachel, is graduating from high school at the end of this month. I have made graduation slideshows for each of the three older children and it is expected that I will make one for Rachel. This will be a very large project. I took the first step yesterday by bringing my laptop to a repair shop.

When I was feeling scared and overwhelmed, this passage kept me going. It was on a calendar in the closet. Just what I needed to see at that April moment.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me, you can do nothing.”

John 15:5

So true.

Whether I’m letting go or not letting go, I am not alone.

April Habit of the Month

/ Cheryl Wilcox / 1 Comment

Do you remember I wrote about the Flylady’s Habit of the Month?

January: Shine your sink (success!)

February: Declutter for 15 minutes a day (failed)

March: Dress to shoes (success!)

April: Make your bed (Baby say whaaaaat?!)

I already make my bed regularly. So for April, I’m giving myself another chance to succeed with the February habit. I’m calling it a “challenge” and I’m tracking my progress on a pretty little paper I found on this website. I just finished the first week.

Before I started, I think I was having some anxiety about failing again. I have been trying to declutter and organize my house completely for 25 years. Why haven’t I done it yet? I start, and then I get sidetracked. Check this out.

This book was published in 1981, and I believe it was the inspiration for the Flylady’s methods. I’ve been wanting to read it for years. I suddenly had the urge to read it, after I had just said I don’t need to read more books on simplifying in my action faking a.k.a. procrastinating post. So what did I do? I signed up for an Internet Archive account, and I borrowed it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, though sometimes it kept me up way past my “bedtime.”

I was extremely tempted to buy all the supplies to set up my 3 x 5 index card file and try-out their cleaning method. But then it occurred to me that this might be action faking. Was I trying to avoid my feelings about starting the decluttering challenge? Was I worried that I wasn’t capable of finishing what I start?

We can’t endlessly prepare if we want real results.

I resisted the temptation. I told myself that if I really want to start a new cleaning method, I can do it after I finish decluttering the whole house. For now, I will focus one day at a time on making progress. I will trust that God will help me if I continue to ask him for help.

I am using the Sidetracked Home Executives’ strategy for putting the house in order. It’s basically: start at the front door and go clockwise through the house, decluttering drawers, cabinets, and closets. Skip the kitchen and do it when you finish the rest of the first floor. Then, go upstairs and work your way around clockwise from the stairs. Then, go to the basement and work clockwise from those stairs. Then finally, clockwise around the garage. Sounds simple enough.

The S.H.E.’s say that the disorder in their house happened because they closed the doors on it. “Psychiatrists call it repression. We called it all dressed up with a dirty neck.” I really enjoyed their sense of humor.

I also liked hearing the origin stories of many of the tools I’ve used for years. When I declutter, I usually sort into these boxes: GIVE AWAY, PUT AWAY, and THROW AWAY. (I call it TRASH.) I learned that they came up with the PUT AWAY box as an “anti-sidetracking device”. It was the breakthrough they were looking for because when they would go return items to other rooms, they would get sidetracked. With this “innovation” they would stay glued to the spot they were working on. I have added another box from this book called STORAGE. It’s suggested that these items get put aside in an area to be sorted when I’m ready to set up the storage area.

The first struggle I have encountered this week has been thinking that I have a long way to go. This was addressed in the book. “Don’t be discouraged at how long a job takes.” They say it takes the average person six weeks to work her way back to the front door, and maybe twelve weeks if you work outside of the home. And it took them three months. They say to keep reminding yourself, “I didn’t get myself into this mess overnight, and I’m not going to get out of it overnight.”

I’m just happy that I’m taking real action, and I am confident that I will have real results.

Action Faking

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SUMMIT One Vanderbilt, NYC

This will be a post about procrastination.

A woman came running over to tell me that she was decluttering all the extra chairs that she took from her mom‘s house when her mom passed away a few months ago. She really didn’t need them. She had heard from my mother, about how I helped my mother get rid of the clutter in her home when she downsized. I told her honestly about how I keep decluttering the “downstairs”, which is what we call the first floor of our home. And how I never quite get around to the basement, which has piles of crap in it. The “upstairs”, or second floor, is mostly filled with stuff belonging to my children/young adults. Although, the school room contains a lot of my stuff too.

Today I was sorting through papers. I have these manila folders full of notes and PDF’s. I have a decluttering folder, an organizing time folder, an education folder… you get the idea. I’ve decided that I no longer need all of these notes. There was one paper that got me thinking while I was in the shower, which is one of the best places to think. It had notes about action faking, that were most likely from a YouTube video.

Action faking is procrastinating. It’s doing what we’re comfortable with and taking only the uncommitted actions. It does little to lead to actual progress.

Why are we action faking?

What are we trying to avoid?

Maybe there’s some kind of suffering attached?

Or not believing we’re capable?

This reminded me of the body transformation challenge that I am currently doing. Before I started, I was afraid. I wasn’t sure if I was capable of doing it. I talked about it with my father, who wondered if I would be able to finish it, and my mother, who was worried I’d lose too much weight, and my kids, who probably didn’t say much about it. When I told Bobby about the eight week challenge, he said, “Of course you could do that for seven weeks.” I corrected him by again telling him it was eight weeks, and he repeated, “Seven weeks is no problem.” (He’s my cheerleader.)

Well, it turned out, I started it two weeks early so now it’s a 10 week challenge and I’ve already finished seven weeks of it. It isn’t easy, but I’m not doing it alone. I know that God is helping me, because I keep asking him. I say things like, “Please help me to get through this next set.”

From my notes:

We may never feel completely ready.

Just take a step forward.

We can’t endlessly prepare if we want real results.

Decide what your first real action is, schedule it, and do it.

Avoidance creates the anxiety.

I’m not sure if all of that is true, but I know one thing, I am getting results in the challenge because I have been taking action.

I suspect this is why I haven’t been getting the results I want from my decluttering for the past 25 years. I’ve been just doing what I’m comfortable with, which is the downstairs. I’ve also been action faking/procrastinating by reading, watching YouTube videos, collecting notes on the subject… getting ready.

I had a college professor, who would say that if you read five books on a subject, you’re an expert. Well, I am an expert on simplifying, decluttering, minimalism, or whatever you would call it. I’ve probably read more than 40 books on the subject. I don’t believe that knowledge is power. It may give me some advantage, but without action directed toward my goal, I’m not gonna get there.

I believe prayer is powerful. God supplies the power. I’m going to pray that I will stop getting ready and start taking action. My first step is going to be getting rid of some of these action faking papers. I know what to do.