I gotta get this mess cleaned up. I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day, Man vs. Debt, and he had an idea that has been rolling around in my head for a couple of days. "Clean Slate".
That's exactly what I need to do with my office/craft room. I need to remove everything from it and only place what I really want and use back in it. Sounds easy enough. Just haven't had time.
So, I've been collecting boxes from work and stashing them in my "ironing room". I've been putting unwanted items into the boxes and placing a lid on top when it's full. My plan is to have a yard sale sometime ... soon. Just haven't had time.
I have done the clean slate thing before but obviously it's been a long time. I have been hanging on to things that I should let go of that might be useful to someone else.
Adam Baker, in his clean slate post, says it should only take 20 - 90 minutes to accomplish this. I'm going to give it a try this weekend. And you can bet your last paycheck I'll be putting it on my timer. I think that's the thing that scares me the most ... that I'll spend a half a day weeding through my junk. Adam has it right when he says, "Clutter slowly sucks away more of our time, energy and money." Just looking at the piles makes me feel bad about myself. So ... I'm setting aside 90 minutes this weekend and gonna git-r-done!
Another method of decluttering I've used in the past is from Fly Lady. I used to follow her daily emails and I still do go and look at them once in awhile. She uses a timer for everything and I love that idea. She has this little thing she calls the 27 Fling Boogie. You set your timer for 10 or 15 minutes and find 27 things to fling. I love that! I haven't done it in a while, obviously. It doesn't matter if it's a piece of paper or an old box of crap that just hasn't made it to the trash ~ it all counts. In the time I've been sitting here writing, I could have 27 less 'things' in my life. Gotta go now.
If you're reading this and you have a method for keeping your clutter under control, I'd love to hear about it!
love, susan
I admire that spirit of unclutteredness... but don't really think that I will emulate that anytime soon. I rather enjoy my clutter to some degree. Just need more cabinets and shelving. Then I could get my clutter more organized. Yes that is it Organized Clutter.
ReplyDeleteMy idea is to have SUE for 90 minutes. I think that would be faster than any other idea I might have.
ReplyDeleteI finally got my closet cleaned out, and moved my photography stuff upstairs into the office, but it's still a mess up there! I really need to get organized. But with the weather getting better every day, I just want to get out and RUN! So much for house chores!
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you for this post....it helped me remember that I need to clear out some clutter piles I moved out of my office and into a storage room. Mine is paper clutter. I try to use the "Getting Things Done" method where I make myself handle one paper at a time and make a decision right "then and there" if it needs filed, tossed, or another action. (If it needs another action, I make a note of it on a master list, then put the paper in a "next action" file...unless it will take less than two minutes, then I just take care if it.)
ReplyDeleteNow since I am remembering my paper piles in the storage closet, I better go start sorting, huh?
i will blog about MY mess! Thanks for the idea!!!
ReplyDelete