Space For Grace

Studies show that we secrete the stress hormone cortisol when our surroundings are in disarray. I know that when I am feeling stressed, the first thing I do is to start straightening and pruning things and a trip to the nearest Goodwill store goes a long way towards putting me back on track. I feel good when I know someone else might use the things that are no longer contributing to my sense of beauty or usefulness. Less stuff leads to more serenity. I've been inspired lately by reading articles about the minimalist movement. It means looking at things with fresh eyes and letting go of possessions that you have too many of or that don't bring as much joy as they once did.

I recently went through my pantry and came up with a small box full of things I bought but will never prepare. These went to our local food pantry. I disposed of duplicates in my kitchen drawers. Pulled clothes from my closet that I haven't put on in months. Some people have experimented with wearing only 33 items of clothing (or less!) for a certain amount of time. Most report that they were perfectly happy and few people seemed to notice they were rotating the same items. I'm not going that far but I don't need five pairs of black pants.

The gentlest way to declutter and move toward a less stressful environment is to use the Swiss Cheese approach, introduced by famous time-management specialist, Alan Lakein, in his book "How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life."

Very often people prefer to postpone complex or unpleasant tasks than to start doing them. According to Lakein, “the underlying assumption of the Swiss cheese approach is that it is indeed possible to get something started in five minutes or less. And once you’ve started, you’ve given yourself the opportunity to keep going … Swiss cheese is supposed to lead to involvement.”

Try to do a small part of the task even if you have 5-10 minutes of free time. Returning to the task again and again during the day, week or month, you will notice that the task is moving along. And you might be amazed at how much you can accomplish with these bite-size chunks of time. And see if this doesn't boost your mood.