Sunday, June 13, 2010

Suggestions for Getting Started

If you are wondering how I am doing this and how you could get started, here are a few little tips I'm using now... I will add more tips as I go and "perfect" my skill... if we even want to call it that.

1) I keep a small notebook with me. It helps me write down what is headed over to where... and allows me to come back to post later. I have a big problem that every time I sit down at my computer to "check something", I sit here for hours and do nothing. And I don't have time to waste.

2) If I forget to track major trash... I count solid trash bags. If I am in the middle of a closet and I forget what everything is that I threw away, a full bag (packed) will count as 10 items.

3) Do it as you go. Don't say that you are only going to work on one area today... only going to tackle one spot... unless that REALLY works for you. I'd never be able to complete this project this way as my boys would want to be in that area as I am working... making it darn near impossible for me. Instead, I get things into their respective piles while I am doing my everyday life. This is where that small notebook becomes incredibly helpful.

4) Don't think. The longer you hold something and wonder about it's use, the more likely it is to stay... and become clutter. When you have something in your hand, make a gut decision as to its fate. And don't worry... nobody will ever know that you decided that the kitsch your aunt gifted you for Christmas ended up in the Goodwill pile.

5) Don't worry about if you will "need it". Odds are, if you are questioning whether it should stay or go, it's not something that you need. If you haven't used/touched/needed it in the last 2 years, you probably never will. And if you end up needing to repurchase 30 items because they were needed out of the 2010 that you trashed... you are still ahead in my book!

Thanks for joining me! I am planning on posting an in-depth photo "before/after" soon... with my life now and my life on 1/1/2011... clutter-free! Join me!

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