Backstory: This was inspired by one of my favorite websites, FlyLady. It’s a free site that offers loving advice (FLY stands for “Finally Loving Yourself) on how to declutter every area of our lives in small steps. The basic process is simple and totally doable: Set a timer for 15 minutes and tackle a “hot spot”, one of those many areas that have become dumping grounds over time. Then stop. Repeat tomorrow, maybe on a different spot. Bit by bit, you’ll start to see progress, she promises.

My nightstand is one of those spots:

Nightstand before.

It’s nothing like the pretty photos I ooh and ahh over in magazines such as Real Simple, Victoria, and Martha Stewart Living. In fact, the photo I see above is depressing.

So this week, I’m going to take everything off, wipe down the surfaces, and consider what I want to see there when I wake up in the morning and turn off the light at night.

What might you spiff up this week?

What Happened: I had some quiet time before dinner Sunday night, so dove in. I cleared everything off. I dusted the lamp, wiped the surfaces with cleaner and a soft cloth, then looked at everything in the pile on my bed. Do I really need that unattractive pill box front and center? (No, taking those pills are part of my routine, so I won’t forget them if they’re out of sight.) Am I legitimately reading any of those books in those haphazard piles? (Just a few, really.) Is this what I want to see when I start my day? (Heck no.)

I recalled clipping a photo from a magazine or catalogue a while back of a very lovely, feminine, serene nightstand. Just a few items were on it, including candles and flowers. I wish I could find that image so I could share it here, but I think I did a pretty good job of recreating it from memory:

Nightstand after.

Ah-Hahs: Immediately upon resetting my nightstand, I felt a new tranquility. Isn’t that amazing, to get that from what was truly a small act? The first night was a tad awkward as I carefully moved the candles aside to get to the book I wanted to read, but it was no big deal. Meanwhile, I experienced no temptations to re-clutter the space.

Lovely.

What was most interesting to me was how “contagious” this was. FlyLady talks about how when you start with one small area and get it all nice and pretty, you then find yourself moving on to other areas nearby. For example, if you visit her site, you’ll see she starts with “shining” the kitchen sink. Next thing you know, you’ve cleared off the countertop next to it…then the stack of junk mail gets recycled…then a pantry gets reorganized, and so on. For me, I found it was easier to make my bed first thing every morning. Then the laundry got folded and put away, and the empty basket returned to the basement. Little things, that all added up, so that when I walk into that room today, I’m not immediately stressed by “all I have to do.”

P.S. In one of the magazines I found buried in the pile, I discovered a link to Windy Chien’s amazing story of The Year of Knots. Ms. Chien left a job in tech to live a more creative life. She challenged herself to learn how to tie one new knot every day for a year and, in the process, reinvented herself. I’m eager to learn more of her story — and I’m thinking “Learn how to tie a new knot” may be added to my Nudges box!