Now that you’ve systematically decreased the clutter in your home, you have to be proactive about its return so that it…doesn’t return.

It would not be efficient to sort/file/deal with things as they come up, so you need to have a system in place to prioritize tasks as they make themselves known.

For instance, the mail comes every day at 3pm. That does not mean that at 3pm you need to collect the mail and sort through it as soon as possible and address every bill and letter and card that you receive. Collect it every other or every third day and toss the junk mail as soon as you see it. And along those same lines, you should put yourself on the Do Not Call list to further reduce the mail that arrives in the mailbox in the first place.

Then you can sort the mail into bills and correspondence that way when you have the time and inclination, you can just grab a stack and do what needs to be done.

It’s not necessary to save up larger tasks to do in one day like cleaning, cooking, or laundry. If something were to come up on those designated days, then your routine is ruined and you immediately start backing up with clutter. Instead, do short bursts of cleaning, cook a little more every time you do and freeze the leftovers, and start a load of laundry before you start your day so you’ll be more likely to continue the process and complete it before nightfall.

Efficiency and proactivity is not about what everyone is doing. It’s not even about what I’m doing. It’s about what works for you. But you’ll never find what works if you ignore the problem and don’t try out various solutions. Use what works for you to free up the most time to spend with those you love and to pursue your greatest passions in life.

Remember, we are bombarded with media that tells us what we should want and what we should look like, but at the end of the day you are the only one that can make those decisions and you must choose wisely.

Love your life. Live your life. Lead your life. It’s the only one we get.

This has been the Modern Minimalism Series written for The LOVEolution by Brianne Villano

You know when your life has become too hectic, too cluttered to be considered productive. You see laundry and dishes piling up; you see dog hair piles on the carpet; you forget to check the mail for a few days straight.

You’re too busy focused on the piles of stuff strewn around your house to actually do anything productive. Those piles invade your mind; they wear you down and you find yourself feeling exhausted at the mere prospect of going through them to clear them away.

Tackling them is not as difficult as you’d think, however. The hard part is having the courage to actually discard or donate the items that you know in your heart you will not use. If you jump right in, the courage may come but it may not. If you go through your belongings systematically, reason is more likely to win out over emotion.

I am an emotional person but, unfortunately, emotion is the antithesis of an uncluttered life where “stuff” is concerned. Emotion should be saved for experiences and sharing them with loved ones.

This is just the very tip of the iceberg of “stuff” and what you can do to get out from under it all. In order to begin your journey to a simpler and more focused life, here are the first logical step:

Do a generalized sweep of all of the main living areas and address the most obvious every day clutter.
Leftover glasses and dishes, laundry (clean or dirty), books, paperwork, etc., can all be easily put in a dishwasher, the hamper, the closet, the bookshelf, or the filing cabinet.

Then once that is addressed, do not allow it to build up again. If you have laundry that’s done, hang it up immediately. When you are done eating, put the dishes directly into the dishwasher or wash them, dry them, and put them away. That way nothing compiles and this step will not have to repeated ever again.

Minimalism means something to different to everyone. For some, it is living simply, living with only what you need to survive and little else.

For others, like me, it is a way to clear your living space and your mind from the clutter that often times gets in the way of things you want to accomplish in your life. Remember, we only get one lifetime and it is very short.

This series is going to include information on tips, tools, and projects you can undertake to not only clear your mind, but also your heart. I would like to show you that by uncluttering your home and your to-do list, you are able to find a peaceful calm within yourself that you may never have known existed.

But it does exist and it’s a very powerful tool for love. When we are calm and centered, love can flourish more easily without hindrance. When we are peaceful and relaxed, we enjoy everything more intensely than we do when we are stressed out or not in the moment.

Modern minimalism is about removing distractions, focusing on the people and experiences that bring us contentment and joy, and learning to love our lives simply because they are ours.