I I was having a GOOD Saturday. I woke up early and got in a walk before my girls were awake. I had already been to the Farmer’s Market for some delicious produce. And I had cleaned my house from top to bottom. I was just about to sit down and have a minute to myself when I saw it.

While I had been working my booty off to get the house nice and clean and cozy, the girls had made a mess in the playroom. Let me rephrase. They had destroyed it.

Every toy was pulled out, every art supply was open. Were my girls just living their best lives using all their imagination in the middle of it? Nope. Nowhere to be seen. In fact, I could hear them arguing in the next room about whose turn it was to play on the beloved iPad.

DEEP sigh.

I was defeated.

I could see 60 patients in a day, calm anxious mothers who are worried about their babies, and run a successful business but I could not keep my house clean. What the hell?

I felt so disorganized. I was always cleaning, planning, DOING. And nothing was actually accomplished.

And then I remember something I heard Allie Casazza say: You don’t have a storage problem. You have a stuff problem.

Getting organized wasn’t going to help until we got rid of some stuff. And not just physical clutter. Time clutter. Mental clutter. It can take over before you even know there’s a problem.

I reminded myself I’m a smart, capable woman with a LOT going on. I just needed tools and systems to help me make life easier. I needed a plan for how to spend my time and energy. AAAAnd I needed less stuff.

Living your centered life requires you to take stock of what you want and need. Both to do and to physically have around you in your space. One of those things that will keep popping up as you work through this is what I call “The Contaminators.” These are the tasks or commitments that fill your schedule but aren’t really necessary. They eat up your time and your family’s time, keeping you unnecessarily busy. 

These could be extra committees or volunteer obligations, your child’s fifth extracurricular activity, or even your physical clutter of toys, gear, books, etc… They take your time and energy where they certainly don’t have to.

Questions you can ask yourself about commitments to see if they can stay or go:

Do I really enjoy this?

What value is it bringing to me or my family?

Does this line up with my centered vision for my life?

Questions you can ask yourself physical clutter:

When was the last time this item got used?

Do I have more than one of these?

Does it have all of its parts or is it broken?

Is this necessary OR does it bring joy into my life? (It’s definitely okay to keep things that aren’t particularly important or necessary but simply bring a smile to your face.)

Have you listened to our podcast episode with Allie Casazza from earlier this month? Run, don’t walk to go download it. It’s SO good. We chat minimalism for moms and WHY it’s so important as well as how you can actually pull it off while still keep your house feeling warm and homey. 

Check out these other resources for streamlining your home: