Dear Organizer:
I enjoyed reading your article and wish to get started. I have several cluttered areas in our home and I am
overwhelmed. Where do I start?! Barb -Wooster
Dear Barb:
Whether it’s a countertop, drawer, closet, or the garage…it all goes back to the best use of your time. Begin by allowing yourself a quick 20 minutes to Cut the Clutter in the area that BUGS you the most! Start with a highly used space in your home such as the kitchen countertop. Attack the problem knowing that the time you’ve allowed is short enough to not take away your whole day, but long enough to make a good dent in the mess. If you feel like continuing on for another 20 minutes so as to reach a good breaking point, that’s up to you. Onceyou start and you’re involved, you’ve overcome the highest hurdle and may find that it actually isn’t as bad as you expected.
Be realistic with your time by giving yourself this limit. You may have the feeling that a project will take forever so you never get started. Or, it might seem that you have ‘plenty of time’ on a Saturday, only to be left with more of a mess because you’ve tackled an entire garage instead of breaking down the space into small manageable parts with a time limit.
Work with the time available to you. Promise yourself one or two 20 minute sessions next week. Remember that messy work and living areas not only clutter your space but your mind as well. As you begin to regain the control over an area like your kitchen countertop, you’ll immediately start to feel relief and think more clearly.
First Step-Analyze This!: Look at that space you want to tackle and ask yourself “what is the true intention and best use of this area?” If it’s the kitchen countertop, look closely at what is landing there.
Step Two-Sort It Out: Begin to sort and group like things together. Anything that relates to your kitchen and cooking can stay. Group all those recipes in a pile for now. Mail, kid’s papers, screwdriver, keys….. everything else that doesn’t belong must go.
But where?
Step Three-The Answer: Designating ‘homes’ for items and taking the time to return them to these spots is the answer. A drawer or hook for the keys, a big basket or two in the family room for magazines. You may find that a lot of what is collecting already has a proper home but when lumped on the counter just helps translate to a ‘mess’. Ask yourself, “Is the home for this item close enough to our main living space?” If it is not, find a closer spot to store that item that always lands on the counter. Important Tip: The trash can is a home.
Step Four-Teacher Mode: Brag to your family about what you are accomplishing in these clutter cutting sessions. Ask for their help only in the area that you are tackling, at first.
Step Five-Use What You Have: Don’t be tempted to purchase any fancy containers or organizing tools at this point. Rather, teach yourself the routine of getting the magazines to the family room. Use a container, basket or box that you already own.
Treat yourself to that perfectly sized, decorative container purchase once you really see how many magazines you collect and how often you recycle them.
Final Step-The Step That Never Goes Away: Maintain your newly cleared countertop and guard against accumulation. Backsliding is normal but if these non-kitchen items have a ‘home’, you can quickly reclaim a functioning countertop on which to cook and create! And even if you go out to dinner, coming home to the cleared space will just plain make you feel good!
