Just do it! Through countless bus terminal posters, T.V. ads and larger-than-life billboards Nike has been issuing this command for years. And for years I’ve tried to ignore it. Just do it? Do what, I’ve wondered - get more sleep? Already working full time and raising two children I wondered what more I could fit into my day. I put the slogan into the same category as another annoying, but memorable marketing campaign. Does anyone else remember, "Where’s the beef"?

The other day I saw a magazine ad with the familiar "Just do it!" slogan and realized, for the first time, the wisdom in those words because this fall I made a decision to "just do" something and am still amazed at the results. It was something simple, really, but it taught me an important lesson: If you just do it - it will be done! I think I finally get what Nike has been saying all along.

Like many moms and homeowners, I had begun to have trouble with clutter and was feeling overwhelmed even thinking about how to tame the beast. How to tackle it all? Where to start? There was that horrendous mess called the basement, not to mention the mishmash called the kitchen junk drawer. And what about all those photos that needed organization. Oh, and those toys I thought I could fix. Honestly, the list felt endless. I just didn’t know where to start, so, I didn’t.

What changed? One day I made a list of all areas in need of un-cluttering and what items I thought would help me turn the mess into order. I thought about the organization aids I’d seen in stores and realized I would benefit from purchasing some plastic - as in plastic bins for children’s school art, stackable shelves for beads and craft supplies, inserts for drawers, photo boxes with note cards for organizing photos by year. I didn’t plan it all out but just went out and "did it", buying one drawer insert for the kitchen junk drawer. I fixed the junk drawer and then weekend by weekend, over the period of two months, bought all the plastic I needed to get my many jobs done or at least just started. The solution to my problem was so inexpensive, too (in total I spend only $70.00). Now that I’ve started, I wonder why I didn’t start sooner?

I tackled the kitchen junk drawer first and my plan was simple and worked perfectly. I only kept what would fit into the areas provided by the insert and threw the rest away. My family still comments on how great it is to be able to find what they need in there without pricking their fingers on rogue tacks. I have to agree with them.

When I finished the drawer I was amazed not only at how organized and clean it looked but how relieved I felt that it was done. Since then I’ve completed several de-cluttering tasks and I’m noticing how much more relaxed I feel being at home. I’ve also realized that with a clutter-free environment I have more mental and even physical energy (isn’t that funny how the two usually go to together) to direct at interests like writing or my new one - water colour painting). After some soul searching, some tasks, like fixing those broken toys, I finally decided not to do, after all. Fact is, the items weren’t expensive and the children had already forgotten all about them. It just didn’t make sense to spend any more time worrying about them, so out they went. Talk about relief!

I’m not finished with the organization projects (I know it will take a while to finish sorting my photos and re-organizing the basement, for example) but I’m actively working toward my goal, which is for every drawer and closet to contain just items we use or need, nothing more. I have set aside two bins, one for keepsakes and the other I’ve labelled "decision box" for items I’m not quite ready to throw out. It is nice to know that these kinds of items can be stored out of the way and that I no longer have to look at them every day. If, in a few months I haven’t thought about the items in the decision box - out they will go. Throw them out just like that? Why not? All I have to do is ‘just do it’ - and then it will be done!

Just do it really works. Thanks Nike. Who knows maybe tomorrow I’ll even do sit-ups!