Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight (56 page)

Task 5:

CLEAN OFF ALL HORIZONTAL SURFACES

Every horizontal space in your home is prone to collecting clutter. But the accumulation in the bathroom tends to be acute, given the small size of the room and the high number of small objects it contains.

In your bathroom, this clutter can prevent you from cleaning up the splashes and puddles that also gather on flat surfaces here. This, in turn, promotes mold and mildew. Again, a basic rule of organizing: Flat surfaces are
not
storage areas! Clear off everything but the basic essentials from your sink area and countertops, such as a soap dispenser or bar of soap in a dish. Everything else needs a better home to ensure that the space stays clean, open, and uncluttered.

Keep the top of your toilet tank cleared off, too. This isn't a storage area, either. Items on this flat surface are likely to fall into the toilet. If you have to go after them, it's gross. If the plumber has to go after them, it's expensive. Also keep the floor of your shower or sides of your tub free of containers, razors, and stray objects. These are a safety hazard and they make cleaning more difficult.

If you have a child in the home, it's okay to have a few toys in the tub. But keep it to a half dozen or fewer.

Task 6:

CLEAN CABINETS, DRAWERS, AND UNDER THE SINK

It's amazing how much can accumulate under a sink in a normal-size bathroom. Take a deep breath and start making this space work for you. First, pull everything out from under the sink and also from your drawers and cabinets. As you
do so, throw away anything that's out of date, ignored, or just plain nasty! Arrange like items together and, after you've wiped out the drawers, cabinets, and under-sink area, make a decision about what will now reside there.

Make sure that the items you use most frequently are placed closest to you in the easiest-to-access drawer or cabinet. Again, decide how much space you'll allow for each type of item (such as cleaning products, bars of soap, rolls of toilet paper) and move out anything that exceeds your limits.

Space is generally limited in any bathroom. Make wise choices so that this room is now a pleasant and useful place that helps you get ready for your day and, later, settle in before you go to sleep.

Task 7:

BRING IN ORGANIZATIONAL TOOLS

A simple but effective strategy, in your bathroom and throughout your home, is to always keep like items together. This approach makes it easy to find anything you're looking for, saves you money by avoiding repurchasing items you already have, and helps ensure that every space stays uncluttered and organized.

Consider buying small plastic storage containers, caddies, or sectioned trays to hold:

Products for your lips

Products for your skin

Products for your hair

Gadgets for holding your hair, such as barrettes and scrunchies

First-aid supplies

Create new storage spaces in areas that are going unused. For example, your bathroom is filled with empty vertical spaces that could hold items. Consider:

A clip with a magnet to hold your tweezers on the corner of your mirror or on the inside of your medicine cabinet door

A caddy that hangs from your showerhead to hold bathing products

Shelves on a wall with open space

Racks that hang on the inside of your cabinet doors

Task 8:

GET RID OF ALL YOUR MALIGNANT ITEMS

Go back and take one last look at the malignant objects you pulled out of your closet and bathroom earlier in the week. Sell them, share them, or donate them. Enjoy the freedom you feel without them under your roof.

Week Three

Mindset Adjustment

You're probably the harshest critic of your looks. That's because you likely care more about your weight and appearance than anyone else does. You definitely have greater access to harass yourself—in bed, in the bathroom, in the car—than anyone else does.

And odds are good that you direct a level of critical, harsh comments to yourself that you wouldn't tolerate from anyone else. As you learned in
Chapter 4
from Kristin Neff, PhD, the self-compassion expert, critical self-talk doesn't encourage you to make self-improvements. It actually holds you back.

If you give yourself a hard time about your weight when you try on clothes or about your appearance as you stand before your bathroom mirror, it's time to adopt a kinder tone. Sometime this week, I'd like for you to do this self-compassion exercise that Dr. Neff recommends.

1. Take out a blank sheet of paper.

2. Write down what you'd do and say if a close friend were feeling bad about himself or herself. What would your tone of voice be like?

3. Now consider what you tell yourself when you are feeling bad or facing a challenging situation. What kind of tone do you take with yourself? Write this down.

4. How are these approaches different? What factors cause you to talk to yourself differently than you would with someone else you care about?

5. Write down how your life might become different if you talked to yourself in the way that you'd talk to a close friend who was in need.

The next time you're dissatisfied with your weight or your hair or your complexion or your posture, try to modify the internal comments you direct toward yourself. Speak to yourself like a good friend would. If you can change
the tone of your inner conversation, it will become a powerful force that helps to propel you to better health, fitness, and organization.