Two words

Thank you.

That's it.

No need to elaborate, explain, or embellish.

Acknowledged silently to yourself or
spoken quietly to another.
Two words that honor how rich your life truly is.

Be grateful for the life you're creating.

How we spend our days is, of course, 

how we spend our lives.  Annie Dillard

How are you spending your days?
What are you buying with your time?
What are you willing to pay to have the life you want?

Your life,
your choices.

Finish the task.

Clutter is often the result of not finishing a task.
Dirty dishes piled in the sink.
Mail half sorted left on the desk.
Laundry folded but not put away.
Bags from the store abandoned  on the table.
Toys or games in the middle of the floor.

I know that distractions happen.
We get interrupted in the middle of a chore.
Someone needs our help and attention; right this minute.

However, if we go back to the task we were working on and
finish it before we move to the next thing, the clutter will be eliminated.

Follow through on your intentions to:
Sort the mail everyday.
Wash, fold and put away the laundry.
  One load at a time.
Empty and put away everything from every bag
  when you get home from the store.
Factor in time not only for playing the game, but
  for cleaning up the pieces and putting it away at the end of play time.

Close the circle.
Finish what you were working on before you start on a different task.
Complete the steps necessary to be done with that project.
Focus your energy on one area at a time.

Not only will there be less physical clutter,
there will be less mental clutter too.
There'll be no need to remember all the half completed jobs clamoring for your attention.
Of course there will still be plenty of tasks,
but you will be taking care of them completely,
one at a time.  

Know your tendencies.

Most of what we do all day is habitual and routine.
Although that makes our lives easy,
those behaviors may contribute to not making changes-
even if we've expressed a desire to do so.

Gretchen Rubin's latest book, Better Than Before is about mastering the habits of our every day lives.

Part of that mastery comes from knowing ourselves.
One way to know ourselves is to become aware of our tendencies.
Paying attention to how we act and react in certain situations,
what motivates us,
why some change is easy for us,
and why we struggle in other situations.

Take Gretchen's Four Tendencies Quiz and find out if you tend to be
An Upholder, a Questioner, a Rebel, or an Obliger.
According to Gretchen:
"Upholder—accepts rules, whether from outside or inside. An upholder meets deadlines, follows doctor’s order, keeps a New Year’s resolution.
Questioner—questions rules and accepts them only if they make sense. They may choose to follow rules, or not, according to their judgment.
Rebel—flouts rules, from outside or inside. They resist control. Give a rebel a rule, and the rebel will want to do the very opposite thing.
Obliger—accepts outside rules, but doesn’t like to adopt self-imposed rules."

These are not necessarily hard and fast rules about behavior or personality.
The quiz and the categories are intended to help you know yourself a little better by seeing how you 'tend' to act.

Changing our actions, reactions and habits can be challenging.
Perhaps with a sliver of insight that knowing your Tendency might offer, you may find those changes come a bit easier.
You may see how you can use your Tendency to support
the new habits you are interested in creating.

Here's a surprise, (not) I tend to be an Upholder.
(Although I never make New Year's Resolutions)