Clutter….last year I wrote a post about having too much clutter in my life. It was true. I vowed to do something about it, but the truth is, I did NOTHING! I was busy, my son was a senior in high school, there was college visits and applications, then there was graduation, and then a trip to the beach and then then a trip to Europe. Before long we were packing him up to go to college. Then it was time for me to catch up on all the routine things I had put on the back burner, and then it was time to plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas and here we are again and I still have way too much junk!
I not only have most of what I had last year but probably added a bunch of stuff to it. When you can’t find what you are looking for because you have too much stuff, you go buy the same darn thing again.
Now let’s be honest. I’m sure I’m not the only person in the world that has bought something a second time, either because I couldn’t find the first one, or I forgot I bought it. Either way, it means I have too much stuff and I bet some of you reading this have too much stuff too.
Well this year, I AM doing something about it! I am participating in the Clutter Free Challenge. It is a program where during the course of a year you eliminate 2000 pieces of clutter from your surroundings. ( I made my personal goal 2015 items in 2015!) You can give the items away, throw them away, or turn the clutter into something usable. (example – picture frames sitting on the counter top can be hung on the wall for display.) Now I know some of you probably think 2000 things sounds pretty drastic. But most of us have far more items of clutter than you might imagine. I cleaned off a counter top and found 25 old pieces of mail that could be trashed. Went through my sock drawer and found 30 trouser socks with no match. What have I been keeping them for? This is something everyone no matter how neat and tidy can probably accomplish.
Kathi Lipp, author of 12 books, has struggled with clutter most of her adult life. She has found ways to deal with it and is sharing them in her book, Clutter Free, Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space. She deals both the with physical and spiritual aspects of clutter and the effects it has on our lives. Her book motivated me into action.
This first thing I tackled was my island top, most of it was paper clutter and you can see the difference. This had become the space where when we walked in the house we put everything. Mail, newspapers, stuff out of our pockets, dishes out of the dishwasher that we would put away later, papers that needed our attention, grocery list, gloves, etc. It has been two weeks and it has stayed uncluttered.
Clutter Free
I tackled a junk drawer. This was supposed to be a recipe drawer, but when we were to have guests, we cleared the island by throwing things into the junk drawers. So they were a mess. This is one that I de-cluttered. Not perfect and still some things that need a new home, but much better.
I have also gone through several dresser drawers and closets. I’m in the process of moving my home office to a different room and going through clutter as I move things. So far, 3 large bags to goodwill and countless bags to trash. Total of over 1200 items gone!
I have a beautiful house, but the hidden areas of closets, drawers, and spare room have way too much clutter. That clutter is weighing me down, eating up too much of my time dealing with it and limiting my opportunities. I can’t tell you how many times I have had opportunities to do something fun on the spur of the moment that I didn’t participate in because I had to organize my clutter or hunt for something in the clutter, etc.
This is going to end. I am going to continue going through my possessions and eliminate what I don’t need till the whole house is Clutter Free. Just to make sure I didn’t change my mind mid-course I added some accountability, I volunteered to be part of Kathi Lipp’s Book Launch team. As part of the team I need to contribute successes and pictures of my progress. Clutter here I come!
I invite you to join me on this quest to have a better life with fewer things cluttering your house and your mind. Who knows what wonderful things might happen when we remove the clutter and have room in our lives for new opportunities.
Please join me on the journey either by starting your own Clutter Free project or follow along with my progress. I will be blogging about my small successes throughout the year. I will also be posting some pictures on facebook. Most of them will be posted in my group, Robin’s Clutter Free Project.
You can purchase Kathi’s book on Amazon or on her site. It is available in Kindle or paperback versions.
If you want to kick-start your Clutter Free project, sign up for the 21-Day Clutter Free Challenge.
Is there an area of your home or life that could use some decluttering?
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