Low Hanging Fruit

"I don't even know where to begin." 

I hear this often in response to the mere suggestion of simplifying.

Low hanging fruit are the easy decisions.  Things you already know are useless to you.  You just haven't taken action yet.

Where is that sweater your great aunt knitted with reindeer on the front?  How many pieces of clothing in your closet still have tags on them?  Do you have votives with 2 centimeters of candle wax caked in the corners?  Are there mismatched food containers floating around in your cabinets?  Perhaps there is a Windows 98 textbook gathering dust on your bookshelf?  Have you perused the expiration dates on all your food?

"What next?" you may ask.

The out-the-door pile is my personal answer.  I reserve a spot in the basement for all the "fruit".  It's a holding place until further decisions are made.  I'll address this in a future post. 

Meanwhile, you can breath in the newly discovered free space.  You get a feeling for what it can be.  You are able to reorganize important items into the new space.  The remaining valuables are more visible & easily accessed.  You're not distracted by unwanted stuff.  You become motivated to rid the house of these leftover things.  You start to notice more low hanging fruit.  You make decisions on things that were previously in limbo.  Not to mention, you will feel a momentum build - steam rolling from the easy stuff to the more difficult decisions later.

Try it for a half hour - more if you feel inspired. 

What's the worst that could happen?  Tomorrow you put it all back?  Believe me, after you taste the freedom on the other side, you won't want to.