![]() Don't spend time inventing reasons to keep these things. You will be amazed by the sheer volume of unused and unneeded items in your home. Remember: The objective is to get stuff out of your home, not to move it into another room. Is it worth the space it takes up in my house?.How long has it been since I've used it?.Take the plunge and get rid of it! Ask yourself these questions as you encounter each piece of clutter: Face it: If you haven't used an item in the last year, it is highly unlikely you really need it or that you are going to ever get enough use out of it to justify it cluttering up your home. Cleaning up is a family affair, so get everyone on board by scheduling your kick start at a time that works for everyone and make attendance mandatory! Set aside a Saturday or a Sunday, or a few hours every day, to start the process.Ī: Anything not used in 12 months. Schedule a time that suits everyone involved. Here's a step-by-step breakdown on how to clean house and get organized.į: Fix a time. Until further notice, do not go out and buy anything new and unnecessary-no retail therapy, no "great deals" and no sales! Instead, purge as much clutter as possible as quickly as you can using the F.A.S.T. Andrew Mellen, Professional organizer and author of Unstuff Your Life (You can also log on to, a free service that will stop these unwanted mailings from being sent to you.) Or get those back pages you ripped out, call the companies that sent them and tell them what you don't want-their catalogs. When you're done sorting, then you can read your magazines. If there's room in your home office, have small bins in which to stack bills, invitations and the correspondence you're keeping. Put any invitations aside later on, you'll transfer those into your calendar and send your response. All you want is the bill and the return envelope. All the stuffing that says, "You've been selected to receive these free gifts" goes into the recycling bin. Open the bills first, because they represent a relationship that must be honored if you want the services, you have to pay for them. Then separate the rest: bills, personal correspondence, time-sensitive invitations, requests for charitable donations, membership renewals, new credit card offers and so forth. The new catalog replaces the old one, which gets recycled.) If you're getting catalogs you never wanted in the first place, pull off the pages with the mailing label and put them aside that's an action item for later. If you're shopping for something specific, save them. First, pull out the circulars and flyers and set them aside you'll either clip the coupons or put them in the recycling bin-later. When you're ready, take your mail basket to wherever you deal with paperwork. You don't have such a container? No wonder there are so many piles of mail around your house. You can't slice chicken for dinner and sort your bills at the same time, so when you come in the front door with a stack of mail, put it in the basket, box or whatever container you have handy for this purpose. If you can't finish the mail, don't start the mail. Martha Beck, life coach and author of Finding Your Own North Star As you consider each, ask yourself (1) Do I truly need it? (2) Do I truly adore it? and, (3) Would I trade inner peace for this? The answers can help curb your pack-rat impulses, allowing you to clear out and move on. With this in mind, walk into any room of your home and focus on 10 random objects. ![]() Empty space is more valuable-psychologically and physically-than almost any object. When I ask clients what they long for, the most common responses are "peace," "space" and "freedom." Clutter keeps us from achieving these goals, and we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars buying larger homes. Instead, use your powers of analysis to outwit the primitive logic of these phrases. Obeying these protests will keep you overstuffed and off balance forever. My clients' top three are: "I have to go through those," "Someone could use that," and "But I need it!" Unless you use the object in question at least once a year, such righteous exclamations are actually symptoms of dysfunction. So, the first step to a clutter cure is to write down your favorite pack-rat phrases.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |