LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S SHOW ON iTUNES, STITCHER OR SPOTIFY OR LISTEN RIGHT HERE:

I get asked all the time: “I want to leave a review but HOW?” So here’s how to leave a review on iTunes on your phone?

Don’t be “in your show” where you see all the episodes, you won’t be able to do it. Just go to general podcast app and hit the search icon. Type in Low Tox Life. DON’T click on one of the single episode /shows that comes up, click on the Low Tox Life square tile. Once clicked on that, you’ll see 3 tabs: Details. Reviews. Related. Click subscribe, then click reviews and there you can write your review – or just give it a quick 5 star if you love it. 2 words, 1 sentence, biggest AHA… Doesn’t matter, just for you to leave one is so much appreciated and helps us stay visible in iTunes charts and Thrive. Thanks so much guys, Alexx x

Now onto the show…

Let’s start by saying this is not an evil ploy to make you have a new year’s resolution about tidying and decluttering more this year. No. I was inspired to start the year off with Sally because early January is often a time we have more time to focus inwards, at home, no rush of school or offices yet, no inbox full with demands… And many of us live in spaces we’re not entirely happy with, whether it’s how they look or feel in general, or whether it’s an “I’ve got too much stuff” feeling. Sally Flower was the first Aussie to train with Marie Kondo herself in the USA, and she brings us her best strategies for falling in love with your home, by falling in love with a mindful tidy. It’s a great show, super practical and I hope you enjoy it! I know I’m feeling more tidy already.

Here’s a little snapshot of the juicy bits in today’s episode…

• Make a plan: visualise and write down how you want your space to look, feel and function. What do you love most about your home? What do you want to be able to do in your home?
• Treat tidying like a project and remember that it’s going to take a little while to get there. It’s a life-changing process that will see you work through categories slowly to ensure you reach your vision. Celebrating success along the way is key to give you the drive to keep on going.
• Start your decluttering journey with clothes: it’s a good way to start exercising the mechanism of “does it spark joy”? Being honest to yourself is a very important part of the process. Organising clothes in sections is helpful as is having all of the front of your clothes facing the same way to clean up your wardrobe and make it easier to scroll through your clothes. Going through this process with your clothes should help you make more purposeful purchases next time you need to buy something.
• Tidying category by category as opposed to room by room, will make the whole process easier. For example tidy your books and bring them all together in one space to go through them. You could even create sub-categories: business books, cooking books, etc.
• If you want to start with one area, find out where in your home the energy doesn’t feel right for you and break down the space into categories to tidy up.
• The KonMari method recommends thanking the object you want to get rid of before discarding it so you don’t feel bad about it and you can let go of it in a happy way. With kids, it is a good idea to bring them with you to the op shop or the place you’re going to bring their toys/clothes, etc. so they can follow the journey and be at peace with the idea of letting go of some of their stuff. From 8 years old onwards, they’ll be able to make decisions about which toys they play with the most and which ones they’re ready to let go of. It also makes them aware of what they have so next time you’re in a shop they’ll know they don’t need another truck/doll, etc.
• Going through a thorough declutter is a great way to rewire your brain to think about how you’re purchasing things so you don’t fill your home again with things you’re going to want to discard at some point.

 

And here are a few extra important links:

If you’d like to see some of Sally’s work you can access a “before/after” inspiration board HERE

If you missed my podcast episode with Clare Press, Wardrobe Crisis, there are some great tips one how to make smarter fashion choices: you can check out the show notes HERE or listen to the episode HERE.

SilkRoll: a great US based clothes swapping platform, where no money is used to exchange clothes. A brilliant concept! Check it out HERE. They are running an equity crowdfunding campaign that ends January 31st. Globally, anyone can invest in the company, as little as $100USD with just a credit card. This is the campaign link republic.co/silkroll

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