Agents of Transformation: Prepping Your Home for the Holidays

Good News! I have 2 holiday gifts for you, in which I share my best practices for you to prepare your home and your heart for the holidays.

  1. The first is a 40-minute Agents of Transformation interview with organizer Annie McGuyer Cox. Annie describes how, after she did my Holistic Professional Organizer apprentice training, she cleared away decades of clutter from her home and life, and now offers similar transformations to her clients.

  2. Below is a 45-minute Women Connected in Wisdom podcast in which I was interviewed about how our homes can function and feel better at the holidays—so we can, too!

Agents of Transformation: Prepping Your Home for the Holidays

Several years ago, Annie took my Holistic Professional Certification Training. She became her first client, finally able to sort, declutter and organize decades worth of possessions. Now she helps her clients create similar transformations in their own homes. She lives in the Chattannoga TN but is willing to travel to work with clients. Reach out to her at anncanhelp@gmail.com for details.

Highlights:

  • at minutes 1-5: Annie shares how she transformed her own home

  • at minute 3:30, she shares the MOST important part of her decluttering and organizing project

  • at minute 6: I share how to think like an engineer

  • at minute 7: Annie “If you don’t know your choices, you don’t have any.”

  • at minute 7:32: Annie discusses mail and paper clutter

  • at minute 9:15: Melody teaches about the intersection between space and time: we need a system for everything and we need scheduled time to maintain that system

  • at minute 10:45: we talk about how to prepare for a big event (family coming for the holidays, friends coming for a party)

  • at minute 12: Melody describes the Easy Sort

  • at minute 15:10: Annie describes a household Command Center

  • at minute 16:10: Melody and Annie describe how to tidy up guest rooms that have been used as an organizing staging area, and how to create the magical FEEL GOOD state after a decluttering session

  • at minute 20: We discuss how to decide what to release and what to keep.

  • at minute 25: We discuss best practices for working with clients who are decluttering.

  • at minute 32:40 Melody discusses what to do if something you love is damaged.

  • at minute 40: Annie shares how to know if you need professional help.

My friends Christine and Shannon, of Women Connected in Wisdom, interviewed me about how our homes can function and feel better during the holidays—so that we can too.

Have a listen to this podcast while you’re cleaning your home, or getting some exercise, and let it inspire you as you prepare your home for the holidays.

Show Notes are here.

  • The interview starts at minute 10.

  • How to Create Right Relationship with our Land: minute 12

  • Is the space inside your home dead to you? minute 16

  • You have a Relationship with your Home (and everything in it): minute 18

  • How to make space in your home at the holidays for grief and sadness: minute 22

  • How to clear your space with the elements: minute 24

  • How to create inexpensive altars to honor the holy days: minute 30

  • How to heal the “original wound” on your land: minute 35

  • We don’t rise to the level our organizing goals, we fall to the level of our systems: minutes 41

  • Understanding the 80/20 rule re: decluttering our homes: minute 43:27

Melody LeBaron