Clutter Busting

Conquering Chaos: Five Organizing Tips

May 10, 2008 by clutterbusting Leave a Comment

Just the thought of getting organized can create a feeling of anxiety and stress especially if you have several areas in your home where you feel out of control. Being overwhelmed by the thought of getting organized can lead you to feeling stuck or paralyzed.

Here are five tips to help you get unstuck and create order in your home:

Perform one household chore each week night before or after work.
Create storage areas in your attic or basement. Arrange and label boxes by owner versus by item or category.
Schedule a ten-minute pick up time each night. During this time all family members are responsible for putting away their belongings in the designated storage places.
Keep a donation box handy. Every time you come across an item you no longer need or want add it to the collection. When the box is full immediately pack it up and take it to your favorite local charity.
Specify one area in your home as your storage area for household staples and/or supplies. It will be easier to identify what needs to be added to your shopping list that way.

Doing just one of these tips can get you started on your goal of being more organized.

Which tip will you focus on this week? Remember all it takes is one step forward to begin the journey. It is progress not perfection.

Have Your Books Become Clutter?

May 7, 2008 by clutterbusting 1 Comment

I am an avid reader (if you couldn’t tell from my previous entries). I have always read for pleasure and for self-improvement. But books can become clutter.

How do you know when your books have become clutter? You know when you are buying more storage units to store your books, when they are all over your home or when they start to weigh you down.

Here are some steps to thin out your book collection:

Progress Not Perfection

April 28, 2008 by clutterbusting Leave a Comment

Are you overwhelmed with the thought of getting organized?

Here’s a challenge – set a timer for 20 minutes and pick one area. Sort things by “keep here”, “trash”, “store elsewhere” or “donate”. Sort first and then toss, then replace or relocate the items.

Or try the “Famous 27 Fling Boogie” suggested by Marla Cilley (The FlyLady) in the book Sink Reflections: FlyLady’s BabyStep Guide to Overcoming CHAOS (FlyLady Press Inc 2002). This is actually a fun and fast exercise she adapted from one of Suze Orman’s books The Courage to Be Rich. The suggestion is to take a garbage bag and run through the house to collect all the things you don’t love or use in 15 minute increments. Suze recommended 25 things at a time while the FlyLady recommends 27 things. Stop when the timer goes off. Afterwards get the items immediately out of your home.

Try this. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish in a short amount of time…it’s all small steps. It’s progress not perfection.

In fact you could use this technique to put your whole house in order. You can do anything for 15 or 20 minutes. Right?

The Link Between Clutter and Weight Continued

April 26, 2008 by clutterbusting Leave a Comment

Continuing with the theme of excess weight or body clutter… I recently read the book Body Clutter: love your body, love yourself (Fireside 2005) by authors Marla Cilley and Leanne Ely.

Are you cluttering your body with food? Many times we use food to comfort us instead of dealing with the pain or emotion we are experiencing.

All of us have foods that trigger some type of past experience for us. What food can’t you get enough of?

Emotional Food Choices

April 24, 2008 by clutterbusting Leave a Comment

I keep coming back to the food and clutter connection…

One of the connections that I think is important is the emotional link to what, how and when you eat. Are you eating because you are hungry? Or are you eating because you are tired, sad, bored, stressed or happy? Try focusing on eating only when you feel hungry. A food journal can help you identify if you are eating because of emotional triggers or because of hunger. Keep a food journal for at least three days. Then review it for emotional triggers. You may be surprised at what you learn.