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

Pick one room, one that is the least cluttered.

Go through that room systematically; start with one corner and go around the room completely. Each item you own must have a purpose, and if each item you pick up does not have a place in your everyday life, then it needs to either be a) donated or b) discarded.

Start each pile in a section of the room that is not in the main through way and if after two weeks (fourteen days), you have not needed to use any of the items in either pile, then pack up the car and bring them to their destination.

Once you see that one room looking beautiful, orderly, and clean, it will be that much easier to move onto the next most cluttered room and so on.

Each room can take one day or it can take a few weeks, depending on the complexity of the room, the size of the room, and the amount of clutter.

Take your time and work through it. It may seem difficult to let go of things that remind you of times in your life that you may have enjoyed greatly, but there are ways to keep those memories and still get rid of the “stuff.”

1. Photographs can be digitally scanned into your computer (a scanner can be purchased for less than $100 or you can hire a service to do this for you) which can then either be backed up in the internet cloud or on a second external hard drive.

2. CDs can be ripped to your computer using iTunes or various other programs to turn them into mp3s which can then be uploaded to a player.

3. Books can be donated or given away and you can use an ebook reader (I have the Kindle) instead.

4. Childrens’ toys can be donated to those less fortunate, only holding onto the toys/items that the child uses the most and gets the most enjoyment from.

5. Home movies or movies in general can also be made digital so they can be stored on your home computer/laptop and then they can easily be uploaded to an mp3 player with video capabilities for movies on the go. This can also replace the need for a portable DVD player.
[Note: Your home computer or laptop can be hooked up to a larger television set for easy family viewing with just a cable or two.]

6. Clothing should only stick around if you wear it on a weekly basis and if it is transcendent of time and trend so that you can get the most out of each article that you own. Invest the money to buy quality pieces that will withstand years of washing and pay attention to the labels so that you can optimize the wear and tear that the clothes will receive.

This post is small but it says so much. There are a lot of action items and it can seem inundating, but if you take your time and systematically go through your clutter, you will have an easier time actually seeing the value in it.

Do NOT make rash decisions and purge everything as much as you may want to. There may be something mixed in with those items that you truly intended to keep and I don’t want you to regret the Modern Minimalism process.

This process is intended to clear your environment, as well as your mind, so that you may live light in heart and in step and devote more time to your true passions in life. This will inevitably add more contentment and love to your life without having to make huge life changes.

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.

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.