clutter

10 Simple Tricks to Living a Less Cluttered Life

by patricia on August 14, 2012

OYou 2012 Boot Camp Challenge: Organizing Your Life – Week 3

There are days that I feel swallowed up by certain spaces in my home.  You know those areas that no matter how often you clean, clutter just appears. Overwhelmed by the tasks at hand, I often turned away pretending I don’t see it….knowing that by doing so I rob myself of the peace the space could bring.  Eventually I break down and take care of my space, but not without my body resisting.  It is as if I am honestly repelled by clutter. I have always been drawn to clean lines and structure.  I am not a neat freak; however I do wish that organization came easier.  This week with our Peter Walsh organization challenge I realized what is holding me back…my stuff.  I have way more than I could ever need.  So this week I am challenging myself to trim down the amount of stuff that intrudes on my space. 

Here are some quick and easy steps you can make towards a clutter-free life:

  • Closet Space. Choose one section of your closet to tackle.  Sort out the clothes that you can donate.  If you are having a hard time deciding on whether to get rid of it, place it in a special area of your closet.  In the next 3 months, put the items you wear back into the regular mix.  If it doesn’t make the cut, get rid of it.
  • Loose Papers. Many of us have phone numbers, recipes and sticky notes lying around the house with information that we don’t want to lose.  Pile them up and sit yourself down.  Email all of the information to yourself and recycle the excess paper!
  • Clutter Buckets. Baskets become a catch-all for all sorts of items that people are too tired to return to their proper place.  Empty them out and donate them.  If it isn’t there, they can’t fill it up.
  • Ask for Help. Call a family meeting and have everyone take 5 minutes to go around the room to grab whatever they personally left behind.  This works great with laundry, too.  A couple of loads of towels can be folded in no time.  If everyone helps out, it will save you a ton of time!
  • Dishes.  In order to save time on dishes, have each person rinse their dish and have it dishwasher ready.  If the dishwasher is actually empty, remind them to go ahead and load their dish. By doing this, the whole family will cut down on kitchen clutter and dishes won’t be so overwhelming.
  • Magazines.  Take 15 minutes to walk around and grab old magazines and take them up to your local hospital.
  • Medicine Cabinets.  Go through your cabinets and containers that hold all of your medicines and first aid supplies.  Get rid of anything that has expired or doesn’t work…even the 10-year-old band aids that many of us hold on to.  It is time to get rid of them!  (Learn how to dispose of the medicines properly.)
  • Mail. Sort your mail into two piles: things to keep and thrash.  Throw away all the inserts and junk mail before it hits the table.  This will help you to eliminate the piles of junk that accumulate on your desk.  I try to sort mine before it even makes it in the house leaving the junk mail where it belongs…in the recycling bin.
  • Kitchen Help.  Peter Walsh has a great idea for de-cluttering your kitchen drawers.  Take all of your kitchen utensils and place them into a box.  Pull them out one by one as you use them.  After four weeks donate whatever is left in the box.  You don’t need it!
  • Teach your Children.  If they learn how to sort and organize at an early age, you will save yourself time having to clean up after them…and they will have a chance at a lifetime free of clutter.

Photo credit: Wall Street Journal

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Bishop T.D. Jakes – Learning to Value Your Time

by patricia on July 5, 2012

During Oprah’s Lifeclass in Toronto, Bishop T.D. Jakes broke it down for all of us. Thankfully OWN shared more of these moments with us on Super Soul Sunday. At a time where we are busier than ever, we find that we are also less effective. The clutter in our daily lives has drained us from the passion and insight that we crave. In this clip from OWN, Bishop Jake tells us how to turn all that around. Enjoy!

 

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Sneak Peek of “Extreme Clutter” Premiere with Peter Walsh

by patricia on December 31, 2011

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Live Your Best Life – Go Clutter Free with Peter Walsh & our OYou Boot Camp

by patricia on August 20, 2011

Peter Walsh has said that your house is a metaphor for your life. I realize the clutter in my home is NOT representative of me at all. What I want my house to say is that it is a wonderful, creative, uplifting and stress-free space. With my OYou Peter Walsh week coming to a close, I am going to do one last push to bring my home up to the level I want. WOW- totally flashing back to Nate Berkus from OYou Boot Camp week one about your house rising up to meet you. All I need is to have those 2 come in and strip it down and build it back up. What a dream team! But since that isn’t going to happen, I better get back to work. Before I do so, I want to leave you with more tips I picked up this week from Peter Walsh.

OYou’s Peter Walsh has consititently given us great ideas…all we have to do is implement them into our lives. The trouble sometimes is just getting started. Where to begin? I guess the point is not where, it is the when or the NOW that makes a difference. Even if you walk away with just organizing the books and magazines in the house…it is a start. Personally I’m going to start with the bathroom – the easy win is sure to inspire and encourage me.

Once we are motivated and ready to work, Peter has given us a great technique to move through the stuff – “Sort F.A.S.T.” he tells us.

Fix a time and stick to it. Haul out any item that fits in one of the following categories:

Anything you haven’t used in a year

Stuff that doesn’t belong

Trash

Once you get moving, just allow yourself to keep moving. Committ to your day. Don’t let anything derail you. Whether it is family calling, a box of old letters or an invite to dinner…stay focused on doing this for yourself. You deserve to have an uplifting home; so make it happen! I need to get back to work, but take a moment and check out the video that Peter did for California Closets. It goes over the F.A.S.T. concept a little more. Enjoy!

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Cleaning Out the Emotional Clutter with Peter Walsh – OYou Boot Camp

by patricia on August 17, 2011

Clutter accumulates for a reason. Sometimes it can be paralyzing to let an item go that you have held onto for years. The old flyers from your friend’s band in high school are reminders of good times…but do you really need them? AND don’t even get me started on old photos and wedding memorabilia. Clearly items can hold memories for many of us.

As the process of trying to de-clutter my life began this week, it started off surprisingly easy. I used some of the Nate Berkus advice from OYou Boot Camp week 1 and addressed the stuff that means something to me and the stuff that doesn’t. Cool trinkets from unique stores and great finds from Goodwill soon find their way to the donation box.

The problem is when my hands hold something that takes me back to a special memory…because I have a LOT of that. Although I will never be able to get rid of my mom’s old t-shirts that I have grown to love and wear, I have been able to move forward and eliminate a few things. The shift for me came after reading a short article by Peter about freeing yourself from memory clutter.

One concept that was easy for me was to never hold onto something that doesn’t hold a positive memory. I am already in the process of making this change, but it is an important one. If you hold it and it makes you sad, dump it!

Peter also reminded me that people do not live through items. So, if I let go of my grandmother’s cup, I’m not letting go of her. I believe many of us have items that encourage us “to keep up a ritual based on grief” and it is important for us to let that go…focusing on the positive allowing us to move forward. Only keep the items that hold special meaning and truly represent your loved one. Those are the pieces that matter. So, save the quilt and get rid of the old thread and fabric.

Another great tip he offered was to be sure that the items you keep are a good representation of my past BUT that to remember to leave space to “celebrate the present and plan for the future.” That particular piece of advice hit me…I don’t want to get trapped in the past with my memories. If I fill all of my space with the past, how can I live in the present? The items I keep should lift me towards making new positive memories, not hold me back.

When trying to do this, Peter offered a 3-step process to make it a little easier:

Step 1: Place all items in another area.
Step 2: If you’re looking to renovate a room, decide how you want to feel in that space.
Step 3: Sort everything into three categories: charity donations, keepsakes and items for a memory chest.

I don’t expect miracles from myself in this process, but I know I am off to a good start. This OYou Boot Camp has been all about baby steps for me and this was a good solid step forward! If you are having a hard time, start small…one box or one closet at a time. Before you know it, you will be breathing a little easier in your clutter-free home.

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