In Zen practice it’s important to set an intention. One way to do that is by keeping an altar with whatever items you see fit. The first intention is to keep the altar pristine. It can also be good to place flowers that reflect the season. That energy spills out into the rest of the home.
Yesterday I decided to clean and reorganize my garage. The first reaction I had was that the task was too much and I could not decide where to start. A while back I had started an altar on the top shelf of a toolbox where junk had accumulated. I decided to start with cleaning the altar and from there the garage practically cleaned itself!
My take is that when I have intention set, the rest comes naturally and almost without effort. What’s more is that the intention doesn’t need to be conveyed in words. And from there I try to carry it with me during the day.
Fog Sutra 