Oh--another one:

"If not now, then when?"

That's a line from a Melanie song, I think.

I call it up when I'm tempted to stick something in the wrong place. I'll have to put it ALL the way away at SOME point, why not now?

Also, I'll make my bed eventually; why not first thing in the a.m.?

I've found myself using quite a few of these lately. Thank you. I think I may transfer them to an index card so they'll be readily handy to inspire and remind me.
Keep those sayings coming!

tre3 - I reread this thread often, hoping more of these slogans will sink in to my subconscious. Some of my favorites have been mentioned, I'll just add another one - "Do it now." I tell myself that when I'm tempted to leave some little task undone until I "feel like dealing with it"

caroline - I remember a snappy song of that verse (This is the Day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.) It got me through a lot of painful rehab after an auto accident. I sang it in my head while going through my paces. I was sorry when they started playing the radio as the music clashed with my internal song.

I love *plow in*. When faced with tasks that seem insurmountable--just start somewhere--anywhere! Thanks!

These are . Lately one that has helped me is: Its only stuff.

What great inspiration! Here are mine:

'Just do it!'

'Just buy what you need for now' (to keep myself from overbuying, having to store stuff and pretend I'm saving money by buying in bulk).

"Just because I like it doesn't mean I have to have it."

and

"Just becasue I have it, doesn't mean I have to keep it."

They both work for me.
-Donna

I can't say that I use this as my mantra, but it sure is something I ASPIRE TO: As long as you have STUFF, you'll never have money. (Paraphrased from Suze Orman) I must admit, though, that it usually comes to me as an afterthought...

When I'm working around the house, TalleySue is always there saying "TAKE IT TO....."what ever I'm doing, instead of going to get something to fix an item...take the item TO the fixing point!!, so thank you TalleySue!!!!!

I was raised on this one:

"If the field is hard to hoe, think only of the present row."

It is taken from a sampler embroidered by my GGG-Grandmother in Lancaster, PA., in 1846.

Molly~

A new one for me:

[A yard is hard,]
an inch is a cinch.

-Lena

I just went to bump this up...Looks like you did already Lena...that's for the tip to read this post!
Margie

If there is anything I envision as I clean and declutter it is:

"Tis a gift to be simple..."

In other words, the less stuff you have, the less you have to clean and put away. If you truly need something, then by all means, you should keep it, or get yourself one. But it is a very liberating feeling to realize how little you really need. That is the "gift" part.

okay - don't laugh - but sometimes getting it done feels awful so I really encourage myself. My phrases during those times are:

"Good girl"
"You can do it"
"Keep going"

It does provide a boost when I'm tired and trying to put away the last of a project, or do the last bit of cleaning.

This one gets me through everything. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Phil 4:13

Don't Pass It Up, Pick It Up

Begun is Half Done

I like the "Progress not Perfection" one too...have to remind myself when I am not feeling sure of where I am putting my newly organized stuff. At least if I have weaned it down I can always move it to a different location at a later time.

Today, when I vacuumed the basement exercise area, I remembered the "90/10 Rule."

The biggest improvement (90%) only takes a little effort (10%).

If you insist on going after that last 10%, it would take 90% of the time & effort.

Best to spend that 90% in nine other places. I still remind myself that "It doesn't have to be perfect!"

We can't take it with us. When we die someone has to go through it all.

It is easier to DO yourself into feeling better, then it is to FEEL yourself into doing better.

I love all these quotes, and while I don't really have one for cleaning or de-cluttering, this is my mantra when the going gets tough: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." - Saint Julian of Norwich. It helps me slow down, think, and put things in perspective.

I really like Flylady's "You can do anything for 15 minutes," too.

I love St. Julian of Norwich...have heard this for years, and never knew its attribution. Thank you!

When I worry too much about perfection, I think of what my mother told me (in her soft, southern voice..):

"Dear, you wouldn't worry nearly so much about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do."

Use it up, wear it out, then at last, throw it out.

I'm bumping this favorite thread of mine.

Is anyone else in cleaning mode?

-Lena

Suck it up and get it over with.

"Just swallow the frog". For anything unpleasant I don't want to do, but need to, from dentist appointments to cleaning drains.
"80% is perfect too" My DIL made this one up for us to overcome our perfectionism, and we use it all the time with each other.
"Stuff is just that... stuff."

You can only buy something if you have a place to put it.

If you are buying new pants or a shirt, which old one are you getting rid of? Same w/ shoes, books (I could start a whole thread on books), picture frames, toys and on and on and ...

"Get thee behind me satan" or Reality Check do I really need it?

"If you can have two babies, you can do this."

I spend about an hour every morning doing my "regular" clean up - dishes, beds, laundry, maybe sweeping and dusting, and then each day I do one "JulieJob" = one thing that would not be part of a daily regular routine. It might be cleaning ceiling fans, or sorting out the sock drawer, cleaning out the bathroom vanity, whatever. Just one extra thing each day. Done. One JulieJob.

I have to ditto on the,

Just because I want it, doesn't mean I have to have it.

Saves me lots of money, that one!!

Bumbeez I love your "Do not be anxious...." Very wise.

I'd have to say that my montra is the similar to Steve O's with one addition. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Repurpose.

If you haven't used it in the last 12 months you don't need to keep it.

'Where is it?'

Enough times having to say it and I become motivated to get my stuff together.

Here's another one, courtesy of bleusblue:

My motto is "Notice Stagnation"

The idea being, stuff that's in your house that isn't actually in use; it's easy to stop seeing it after a while.

When times are hard...."this to shall pass"

I have a couple of others, but they are gone for the moment. LOL

Good to see this thread back at the top. I think someone already mentioned one of mine, eat the frog. It is accredited to Mark Twain who supposedly said that if one starts the day by eating a frog, the day can only get better. As a kid, that meant eating the food I disliked first before consuming the rest of the meal. As an adult, it is a reminder to get the difficult or unpleasant task over with first and the rest won't seem so difficult. Dreading a task is often more stressful than doing the task, anyway.

Mind over matter is another favourite. As in, I'd rather have peace of mind than more matter to clean and store.

Less a motto than a directive, take care of your tools so they can take care of you. As a gardener, cleaning tools means the difference between buying new every year or not. It means a wet/dry vaccuum that does not smell like musty cat fur because it is cleaned out after every use. It means knowing where that one drill bit is because it was put back in the case after its last use. Mister thought I was crazy the first couple of times he saw me clean our brooms but he quickly caught on to the idea when he got tired of constantly buying new paint brushes because he would not bother to clean them immediately after use.

My mantra used to be"Clutter free in 2003"....now it's "Clutter free when I am 63"

âÂÂDonâÂÂt let perfect be the enemy of good.âÂÂ

âÂÂFor every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.â Ben Franklin

As soon as I get home from work, I look at the clock and spend 15 minutes cleaning. 15 minutes ONLY, and then STOP wherever I may be, so I can unwind and enjoy the rest of the evening.

We need to remember to keep balance in our lives! You can do so much in just a few minutes. :)

When decluttering, Fly Lady says to sing the Englebert Humperdink song, "Please release me, let me go" sung from the point of view of whatever you are getting rid of.

"In order to seek one's own direction, one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life."...........Plato

This one "came" to me when I was laid up with knee surgery and unable to take care of my horse farm, my yard or my home. I was totally frustrated and miserably unhappy. I knew I had to find a way out of this so I could rest and let my knee heal. The thought appeared to me that I should "Concentrate on what I CAN do instead of what I CANNOT do." This helped me spend time on navigating to the kitchen to eat, to the bathroom, then lying down to read and nap. I didn't worry about the things I couldn't do - just did what I could. It was all still there when I was able to walk again [thanks to my boyfriend, barn help and good friends]. I refer to this saying when things to do start overwhelming me - I just do what I can do at that time and forget the rest.
Judith

Here is another amazing Flylady quote:

"Your attitude has to change from 'Why do I have to do this?' to 'This is my home and I deserve to have a wonderful place to live. This blesses my home and my family and most of all, me!' Do you feel the difference that these two statements make in your heart?"

"What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger"

From my grandmother:

Yard by yard, life's hard. Inch by inch, it's a cinch.

I copied and pasted my response from another mantra/motto post. I have since bought a Nike Just Do It tee shirt that I wear on clean up days to keep me on track.

This is strange but I have found something that has made me more productive and happier. With Nike staring at me from every closet and garage shelf, their "Just Do It" slogan hit me.

I have a bad habit of letting things slide; simple projects/tasks that are staring me in the face, things that make me think of them in the middle of the night, or reach out to me as I pass. This constant nagging brings me down but I still don't tackle them. Examples: For 3 weeks the empty bird feeders kept saying "fill me" every time I looked out the window; clean out the refrigerator vegetable bin; or dust the guest room.

I have changed my 'I'll do it later' mentality to a "Just Do It" mantra. For a month I have followed this tactic and it is paying off. I "Just Do It" and I am happier that I have completed the task and my mind is no longer nagging me with a multitude of little but annoying unfinished tasks; kind of like defragging your computer. Granted, there are still major organizing and cleaning projects that need to be done but I am clearing out the little naggers daily.

I know we all have to find our own motivator to keep the Procrastination Monster at bay. Thanks for letting me share mine.

I love that you have that on a T-shirt!

I like this--
"In order to seek one's own direction, one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life."...........Plato

At work, I'm always creating computer shortcuts, dictionaries, etc. I ran around this week setting all sorts of more efficient defaults and installing those shortcuts and dictionaries on everybody's computers. They may seem like piddling little things, but the editors will now have more brainspace to focus on what they're editing.

That's what I find at home, too--the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life can get in the way. When I find ways to streamline, it really makes a big difference! Sometimes the point is to automate something so I don't have to think about it. (Even if that "automate" is simply to have a routine, or to have things stored right where I need them.)

At work I say, "I do it this way because I'm lazy!" What I really mean is, I want to be efficient.

Talley_sue, Your at work story reminds me of a mantra that I learned at work and now apply at home. Annually my department conducted 360 feedback; one of my colleague's feedback to me was "Cathy spends too much time on projects that don't add value". He explained that I too frequently organized my office and our communal area and spent too much time designing "tip sheets" and "visual aids" in the employee instructional manuals I wrote.

Of course it was painful at the time but "does this project add value?" became my mantra at home. Years later I thanked him because it was a behavioral changer.

Guess mine would have to be "Cleaning is WAY over-rated". When it really comes down to it....is having a spotlessly clean house truly all that important? I'd rather spend my time with my dogs or with friends, enjoying my life. My home is not a pig-sty, yet it's not spotless either. My home looks lived in, which is exactly the way I want it!! :)

My REAL mantra these days is, "Kill 'em with kindness". When people treat me mean or say something really hurtful, I simply remind myself of this quote and I instantly find myself calming down and realizing that life is too short to get all bent out of shape over someone else's opinion.