Clear Clutter - How to clear your clutter

[Craig]

Clearing the clutter is often an overwhelming task - so many rooms, shelves, cupboards and drawers to go through.

The secret to making progress is simply to start with small, achievable tasks. Start with just one room. Or even just one shelf. Do that one area quickly and fully and then move on to the next.

Don't set unrealistic goals (eg I'm going to get the whole house clutter free today...) since this will only serve to demotivate you when you inevitably fail.

Michele has lots of good ideas in these posts:
Declutter Your Life - Get More Energy
Hoarding - 7 Lies that keep you caught in Clutter
The One Thing you must do if you want to Get Organized
Tip for a Clutter free home

Plus, for achievable, motivating 30 minutes tasks to get rid of the clutter make sure you sign up for the 52 Missions program.

For some great advice, check out her How To Declutter Your Life ebook, and her Organize In 5 program (organize your life in just 5 minutes a day).

[ccb1972]

Craig, I am brand new to this site. I love what I have seen so far! I saw that you said the 52 missions is a free program on your post, but it looks like if you follow the link, at the bottom of that page there is a $79 fee? Could you help me with this? Thank you!

[Craig]

Hi there,
Thanks for pointing this out. That was the old link (which is now a product). Here's a link to the 52 missions post on the site:
Get Organized – Get Accountable! | Get Organized Wizard
Note, the full 52 Missions product with 4 workbooks is also available to Design Your Life members from their dashboard.
Regards,
Craig

[leahuvalea]

Great tips on clearing clutter. I have two children so your advices are very useful foe me.

[Kylie]

The weekend paper^ had an interesting article on hoarders and the flow-on effects it can cause. Here are some points I thought interesting:

*Hoarding is nothing new. It's been with us for centuries.
* Sherlock Holmes hoarded. Watson described him as having a 'horror of destroying documents', which piled up in every corner of the room.
* Hoarders relate more to objects than they do to people. This emotional attachment creates great distress when they need to consider throwing something out.
* Hoarding is currently considered to be a symptom of OCD. There is talk about it being recognized as its own disorder.

So where do you think you lie on the 1 to 10 Clutter Rating Scale?

Michele's blog highlights the 'lies' we tell ourselves to hold onto things. However, letting go of 'stuff' will free up your life. It's a great read. Check out the helpful comments by Members too.

^Good Weekend Magazine, April 14 2012.