By Carmen Coker

As the saying goes, the kitchen is the heart of the home. But your kitchen can also be the heap of the home if you let clutter pile up! If you want to know how to organize your kitchen now, then here are five easy, low-cost ways to do just that:

1) Edit your counter space.

It's so easy to put most of your appliances on the countertop. Doing this is totally understandable - you get quick access whenever you need something.

By Carmen Coker

Children live big. They laugh from the heart ... play like there's no tomorrow ... dream without boundaries ... derive joy from the smallest of things.

As adults, the opposite often happens. We laugh less ... play less ... dream less.

The responsibilities of adulthood - work, bills, commitments, family - tend to create such a serious and task-driven environment that it's difficult to enjoy YOU. So you find yourself thinking:

By Carmen Coker

A Zen parable tells of a wanderer who happened upon a river. He wanted to cross it, but there was no bridge. Afraid to wade across the river on foot, he spent hours building his own raft from vines and trees, which ultimately carried him safely to the other side.

By Carmen Coker

The battle drums are rumbling...it's time to suit up for clutter combat. Let Operation Organize commence! Rest assured, this is one battle that will reduce the amount of clutter in your life - quickly.

TheFreeDictionary.com defines the word "blitz" as an intense campaign. Today's challenge is to select one area of your home at random, and for five laser-focused minutes, de-clutter with all your might.

By Carmen Coker

Everyone's got one of those tasks that never seems to get done, no matter what. You know you are in trouble when you start to joke about it, laughing at your failure to accomplish the task. Making light of the situation takes the sting out of the fact that you have procrastinated yourself into Never Never Land.

Yet, when you ignore tasks you should do, that doesn't mean they leave your mind. They remain nagging little thoughts that may:

By Carmen Coker

So you recently made a New Year's Resolution "to get organized." Well, you're in good company! Organization is always a popular top ten resolution every year.

By Carmen Coker

Scarlet O'Hara famously said in Gone With the Wind, "Fiddly dee, I'll worry about that tomorrow!" And if you want to have a hectic morning, then you should definitely try to emulate her. But if you want to have a smooth morning routine, a little planning and prep the night before will help you get organized and ready to be on your way ...

By Carmen Coker

A wise Zen master once said: "Be like the wind. Blow over everything without becoming attached to any of it."

Have you become attached to your clutter? When you are tied to your clutter - whether it's emotionally, spiritually, mentally, or otherwise - decluttering becomes all the more difficult to accomplish.

By Carmen Coker

When you are responsible for taking care of others - whether it is at work, at home, or both - then taking care of YOU can become a low, maybe even non-existent, priority.

Women, in particular, feel incredibly off-kilter when this occurs, but men are also not immune to self-neglect and its repercussions.

Here's what I mean ...

By Carmen Coker

You're sure to find a perfectly organized home when you open up any magazine. And those pictures make you think: Man, I wish my house looked like that!