Saturday, October 27, 2007
You Can Have a Clutter Free Home
| By Agatha Curtis If you are trying to save money, time and effort in your household and in your life, one of the biggest and best ways to begin is by getting rid of clutter. We all have clutter of one kind or another. It doesn’t have to be jumbled on your dresser or piled in the corner of your room to be defined as such. Clutter is the non-essential “stuff” that fills our lives. After more than a half-century of accumulating things and then getting rid of them, I have a few suggestions that may start you on the way to a clutter-free home. If you get overwhelmed (as I do) when you take a look around your room at the end of the week, and you wonder where it all came from, don’t despair. Even the messiest room can be cleared. It just takes focus and some time. Start by getting several laundry baskets or medium size boxes. Pick up everything that doesn’t belong in your room and put it into a box. Don’t sort right now. Just clear the room of all items that are not essential to the function of your room. Let’s take a minute here and figure out what that means. A chair is essential. So is a lamp for lighting. Aunt Minnie’s lovely hand-crafted tissue box cover is not. We may decide to bring it back later, but for now, take it away. When you have reduced the room to its bare bones, you can stop gathering and start tidying.  Take a few minutes to run a duster around, sweep the floor, make the bed or straighten the cushions and pillows. Light a scented candle and sit down for a minute. When you look around the room, how do you feel now? My guess is that you get a feeling of accomplishment and a sense of calm instead of frustration and disarray. Ready for some more? Pick up the boxes and start on room number two. Again, don’t sort through anything. Gather the clutter, put it into the box, then tidy the room. By now, if you’re like me, you’re already beginning to dread the big “Sort Out” that you know is coming. Don’t worry; we have plans for that. Just keep up with your room by room clearing until all your rooms are done. Depending on your personality, you can break our de-cluttering process down into two work sessions or you can try for one big sweep. If you tend to procrastinate and you know you won’t get back to the job if you stop midway through, then definitely keep going. Believe me, you won’t be sorry when it’s all done and you can enjoy the results. Let’s assume you have de-cluttered all the rooms, tidied them, and you now have 5 overflowing boxes of stuff. Take these boxes to the largest clear work area you have and line them up in a row. Now is the time to call in the troops. If you have anyone other than babies living in the house with you, bring them in to help sort out everything that’s been gathered. If you are the only clutterer in your house, hopefully there are only 2 or 3 boxes and not 10. Believe it or not, sorting can be fun. It’s going to be up to you to make it so. The good news is, someone is probably going to find a least one or two items that have been missing for a long time and they’re going to be really happy. Other someones may have to be bribed with pizza or popcorn and a movie to get them going. Whatever works for your family, use it. A little preparation before the sorting is helpful. You’ll need boxes or baskets labeled with the room or area where the items actually belong. Also, a box for trash, one for donations and one for miscellaneous that you just can’t decide on yet. Now is the perfect time to think about recycling any unneeded treasures in various ways. It is not a law that Christmas gifts have to be purchased new at the mall. And most of us love getting little presents, used or new, Christmas or not, that may be mementos from our friends, thank you gifts for taking the kids to school, or just thinking of you gifts for no particular occasion. Be generous to others and kind to yourself. The less “stuff” you have, the better you will feel. As soon as the boxes are empty and the labeled boxes are full, have a helper take that box to the designated room and put the stuff away. Don’t wait to do this later. Get it out of the way and off your mind. If you simply cannot decide whether or not to get rid of some of your things, then designate a box “To Be Sorted Later” and put everything you’re unsure about in there. Move the box to a closet or storeroom, and don’t visit it for at least a couple of weeks. In the meantime, don’t let your rooms get cluttered again. Once a week, take a basket and pick up what has begun to gather in each room while you weren’t looking. These things have a way of creeping up on you when you’re not paying attention. When some time has passed and you have been enjoying the sensation of free space and easy movement throughout your house, then you can revisit your “To Be Sorted Later” box and decide if you need the items or whether they can be given to a friend or a charity. Or put in a yard sale. Or sold on E-Bay or Craigslist. You will realize more benefits than expected when you de-clutter your surroundings. Cutting the ties that bind you to unnecessary material things will not only give you more time and more space, but will also free up your mind and give you more energy to pursue your goals. |
posted by Krista at 7:56 PM
