How Do You Eat An Elephant?

One bite at a time, of course!

I was having lunch with a dear friend the other day and she told me about her attempt at KonMaring her closet. Pulling out her phone she brought up a pic of a giant pile of clothes covering her bed. "After about an hour and a half," she laughed "I was completely overwhelmed and gave up." We both laughed at the ridiculousness of that enormous pile of clothing, but inwardly I cringed. She doesn't really function in the "tackle a giant task" way. Smaller bites would have been a much better way for her to tackle that elephant.

For those task oriented peeps out there (ahem, totally me!), a much more affective way to accomplish and maintain things is to take small bites here and there. This is how I prefer to maintain my house. I clean, organize, weed out in bites. Wash the windows in one room, do a load of laundry and vacuum a room or two. Pay a bill, write a blog, do a zoom meeting. I feel like I've accomplished a lot of small things and I don't get overwhelmed or exhausted. The result is feeling more balanced in my overall energy and well being.

Maintaining your wardrobe doesn't necessarily have to be a giant seasonal or annual PROJECT. The very thought of that stops a LOT of people from even attempting to weed out their clothing.

When you are getting dressed, and you pull a piece that you thought you might have wanted to wear that day, but it just didn't work, immediately ask "is this worth me hanging back up or should I just thank it and send it on its way?" If the answer is, "I think I'm done with this," put it in the give away pile right then and there. Then reach for your next pick for the day ahead and decide if its what you want to wear right now or not. If you like it for today, put it on and go on about your day. You have successfully weeded out one article of clothing. By doing this every time you get dressed, you are basically rotating the stock, keeping only the best fresh stuff and effortlessly maintaining your wardrobe.

(actual photographic evidence of the KonMari pile)

If you are challenged and excited by that enormous pile, good for you! I admire your dauntless spirit. I myself, will be taking one bite at a time. Being able to KonMari in the way that works best for you is truly honoring the process itself and honoring how you function at the same time. Being aware of how you function is part of the methodology I teach my clients, which I call Conscious Dressing.

(FYI, today I did a load of laundry, cleaned the windows in several rooms, did some miscellaneous dusting and wrote this blog. I'm feeling pretty darn happy with my bevy of small accomplishments.)