Spring puts a bounce in our step. With warmer days on the horizon and more sunny hours to work with, it is time to start clearing away winter and getting our houses ready for spring and summer.

Let’s shed the winter blahs, let’s put away the snow boots, hats, mittens and scarves. It’s almost time for flip flops, t-shirts and shorts!

I spent a good portion of this past weekend cleaning out closets, deep cleaning bedrooms and letting more light in. When I was done, I felt like I lost 10 pounds! Not because of the exertion but because I removed things from our space that no longer serve our family.

It is such a great feeling when closets and dresser drawers are clean and organized with clothes for the upcoming season that actually fit. No longer do we have to dig through piles of clothes we never wear to find what we want. The giant bags filled with items we don’t want or need will be sold, donated or thrown out.

After I was done I felt so great I said to myself I’m never going to let clutter get in my way again! (hahaha!)

Even though I despise clutter, it creeps up on me and according to these fascinating stats, I am not alone:

• 80 percent of what we own we never use.   National Association of Professional Organizers
  
• The average American spends 55 minutes a day (12 days a year) looking for things they own but can’t find.  Newsweek
  
• Getting rid of clutter would eliminate 40% of the housework in the average home. National Soap & Detergent Association
  
• 80% of the papers we file, we never refer to again. The Small Business Administration
  
• We wear 20% of the clothes we own 80% of the time. The rest hangs there, just in case. National Association of Professional Organizers
  
• 25% of homeowners polled with two-car garages, fill it with so much stuff, they can’t park even 1 car inside and 32% fit 1, but not 2 cars inside. U.S. Department of Energy
  
• Multi-tasking decreases productivity by 20-40% more than those who focus on one project at a time.  The time lost switching among tasks increases the complexity of those tasks. University of Michigan
• 31% of customers surveyed reported they were more satisfied after cleaning out their closets than they were after sex. IKEA 
  

So what’s a person to do? We tell ourselves we are too busy, we just don’t have enough time to continually clean and keep things organized. Or, it’s just too overwhelming or I might need that.

When we hear ourselves making these excuses we need to ask ourselves if they are really true. Is it absolutely true?

If it is true that you really are too busy or it just seems too overwhelming, then consider hiring a service to help. Cleaning, organizing and junk removal services are everywhere.

Clearing the clutter, cleaning the dust, and letting the light shine in truly transformed and lifted my spirits. I felt energized and rejuvenated. My house smelled clean and fresh. Now I just need the weather to really warm up so I can open the windows.

Oh, and there is still the matter of the rest of the house. No one said this was a quick and painless process!

If you have any tips to share to help stay organized and clutter free, please do!! Or if you want to feel like you've lost 10 lbs without dieting then hop to it!

Do you have a space - a room, a closet, a corner, a stack or something bigger that needs to be cleaned out? A place that for some reason just accumulates things or has just been neglected for a while. A place that tugs at you because you know you need to do something about it? Sometimes even a small space like a basket with old magazines or newspapers in it or a stack of papers in your office brings up a feeling of dread. Maybe you have boxes with clothes under the bed that you’ve been meaning to go through because you know you haven’t worn those sweaters in years and can take them to Goodwill. So why have you put it off?

Does it feel overwhelming? WHY? Does it feel like it's going to take too much time? Are there things there that have emotional attachments that you aren’t ready to deal with? Are you just lazy?

I have a home office that I have been wanting to reorganize for my new life coaching practice. I used the room years ago when I had a work at home job and prior to that the space was reserved for my husband’s music room. In the years since, it has become somewhat of a catchall, a place where things with no home somehow ended up. We are definitely not pack rats, we don't like clutter. I like clean organized spaces, but this room in particular was far from it. As I spent time in there learning my new craft, I would look around and think "I really need to clean that closet out" and "this room really needs to be painted". I am usually not a procrastinator but I just kept putting off getting this done. There had to more to it...what did it mean if I got the room set up as my new office? So I started to investigate my thoughts and ask myself questions around it. Did it mean that I officially needed to launch my business, what if I failed? Wasn't it safer to keep putting it off? The more obstacles I kept unconsciously in my way, the more excuses I had to not do the work I needed to do.

Over the holiday break I decided to tackle this seemingly insurmountable task…organizing my office. I geared myself up with cleaning supplies and trash bags and headed in. It took (drum roll, please), less than an hour. Seriously! Why, why, why did I put this off for so long? Now my office is my oasis, it is clean, organized and a place I WANT to be in when I am coaching clients. With less than an hour’s worth of effort I freed space in my mind and opened space to begin moving forward creatively. Sometimes we set up roadblocks for ourselves and we need to recognize them for what they are.

I urge you to tackle your space and start 2015 feeling de-cluttered and free. You will likely be surprised at how little time it takes compared to the amount of time you’ve spent thinking about it.

Now I just need to paint!