Some years ago I read and enjoyed The Messies Manual by Sandra Felton. I don’t remember how I first learned she had a web site called Messies Anonymous and sent out a daily list of e-mail tips, but I signed up for them. Each e-mail contains a message for the day — one thought or perspective or thing to put into practice — a word of encouragement, a quote (like “Not everything you face can be changed, but everything you change must first be faced” and “Clutter is the result of postponed decisions”), and family reminders (“In our family, we put what we need the next day by the front door the
night before” and “In our family, we don’t drop our things when we come in the door. We take them and put them where they belong.”) There is also a segment called “In the trenches” with a note from someone from one of Yahoos “Messies” groups about something they learned or tried. At least, these things were in the e-mails that I received when I was subscribed to the list.

The e-mails are repetitive by design — sometimes it takes hearing things over and over before they become a part of our thinking. I would copy and paste the things that particularly spoke to me in different sections (one for quotes, one for family sayings, one for tips, etc.). When it got to the point that the daily e-mails were familiar to me, I unsubscribed, but I did glean a host of helpful tips during my time on there. I highly recommend it.

For more tips, head over to Shannon’s place at Rocks In My Dryer.