This book, by “Flylady” Maria Cilley www.flylady.com and “Dinner Diva” Leanne Ely www.savingdinner.com, is a friendly, fast-paced, and supportive book for those of you attempting to live in a more healthy and health-giving way. The book focuses on identifying old “broken records” that play in your mind that give you messages on how/what to eat. Then, through a series of stories, personal revelations, and handy tips, the authors walk readers through de-cluttering, de-stressing, and re-making those messages into positive ones.

De-cluttering, as many of you know, is super-important to me, and any time something new comes into the home or office, it’s time to get rid of something else. I’ve found, in my own experience, that the more you pare down your physical stuff around you, the more open you become to mental, spiritual, relational, and financial abundance. Read some tips in A Successful Woman’s: 30 Days to Focusing.

As background on the authors, the “FLYlady” focuses predominantly on creating clean and clutter-free households: FLY stands for “Finally Loving Yourself.” Cilley has a devoted following of women who have used her tools to fight “CHAOS” (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome”) and to create happy living spaces. She sends out a number of e-mail reminders for those of you attempting to start new habits.

The “Dinner Diva” has a number of easy-to-prepare meals, pre-prepared shopping lists, and kitchen organizing tips on her website. Ely’s tips are a lifesaver for those of you who want ideas on preparing easy meals for hungry families on a regular basis.

Now, I know that more than 90% of people who read a book (or a website!) about making changes for the better simply do not make any changes. Mostly this is a matter of wanting to make changes, but not *really* wanting to make changes (raise your hand, anybody?)

If you’re at a point where you truly do want to make changes, or if you’re prepping to make big changes, or if the prospect of continuing forward in your existing ways is too disheartening for you to contemplate, then this book may work for you.

The book’s backstory is an interesting one: at one point during the writing of the book, both authors found themselves in a situation where they were not “walking their walk” and thus they were at an impasse: they couldn’t write with authenticity and they themselves realized they had their own “body clutter.” Before they were able to move forward with the book’s production, they had to identify and overcome their own issues. With that in mind, the authors are very gentle, and they encourage readers by reminding us that all of us have an opportunity to find out what our own “blocks” are and to identify the baby steps we will commit to taking to overcome those blocks.

I recommend this book for people with weight issues who realize they want to take a holistic approach to identifying and changing their nutritional habits. As a message from FLYLady, “Please do not get impatient with the process. Everything we do is going to help you replace those voices that put you down. We are here to lift you up and celebrate every little accomplishment.”

Anything that works, friends…. anything that works.

Today, go through your in box in your e-mail, and organize by date. Anything that’s more than six months old that hasn’t been addressed and is unimportant, delete now!

The additional clutter of overstuffed e-mail boxes causes many of us heartache and dismay, even at a subconscious level, every time we open our e-mail box. What we want is open space and the ability to respond, immediately, to requests, new items, or ongoing items. There is no need to hold on to a bunch of e-mail. Your friends and associates are still your friends and associates, and your partners and clients will continue to be your partners and clients, even if you delete their “hello and what’s up?” e-mail message.

So, here’s a quick tip for today to clean up your e-mail boxes:

1) Delete or back up any mailboxes that are no longer current or refer to finished projects. If you must maintain an archive record, export your mailbox contents to a file and back up that file on disk.

2) Check your in-box: how many messages are there? Delete or file away NOW so that there are half that many messages within the next ten minutes: delete any old circulation announcements, listservs of groups that you’re not interested in, and spams, forwards, or requests from people you do not know, folders or files of pictures, chain letters, and news items.

3) While you’re at it, scroll to the bottom of each listserv e-mail that you don’t like or utilize and UNSUBSCRIBE so you no longer receive these mails.

Come back when you’re done deleting emails.

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Really! Go through and delete at least 20. Sound easy? Okay, delete 45 e-mails that you haven’t read and don’t plan to read.

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There! Doesn’t that feel good?

Congratulations!

Monica S. Flores is an author, educator, and speaker.

You’ll also like:
Tip #2: Calendar Cleaning

Tip #4: Back to the Basics

Tip #5: Assembling Your Dreamboard

Tip #6: Maintaining and Growing Friendships

Have you taken a look at your calendar or appointment book lately?

• Are there items on there that you’d rather not see?
• Are there items that you’d like to see on there but you don’t have them scheduled?
• Do you enjoy opening up your calendar or is it a chore to manage?

For the next four weeks only, go through and systematically delete any appointment that you do not appreciate or enjoy. Here are some criteria:

1) Is this appointment meaningful to me?
2) Does this task make my life better?
3) Does this to-do item fit into my grand purpose?

If there are “filler” items on your calendar, NOW is the time to get rid of them!

I use the Google.com calendars on their personalized homepage, and it is a *great* tool for me: I schedule in meditation time, quiet time, and basic household tasks like watering the plants. This way I don’t forget any rote items, and I know I have specific appointments that help me grow and increase my abilities.

Monica S. Flores is an author, educator, and speaker.

You’ll also like:
Tip #1: Take Stock and Organize

Tip #3: Unsubscribe, Spam, and E-mail Boxes

Tip #4: Back to the Basics

Tip #5: Assembling Your Dreamboard