Attics are the handiest places to store seasonal decorations, winter (or summer) clothes, luggage, large (but rarely needed) kitchen pots, and Grandma's ceramic serving platter.
Attics are terrible places for storing things that heat damages, such as photos, candles, crayon drawings, books, and anything containing adhesives. Attics are miserable places for storing heavy things, such as chairs, folding tables, artificial Christmas trees, and baby strollers, which are awkward or heavy to move up and down narrow stairs.
To help you clean up your attic, collect a few medium sized moving boxes (for give-aways), a trash can, and a few cleaning rags. Select one small area at a time, such as one shelf, one box, or one stuffed corner. Touch each item and ask yourself:
Do I like this enough to justify keeping it?
Will I honestly use it within the next 12 months?
Why am I really keeping this?
Does someone else have a greater need of it?
These questions will help you determine what to do with (keep, trash/recycle, give away) every thing in your attic.
Friday, May 23, 2008
"What do I do with all this paper?!"
There are only six options for handling a piece of paper:
1. To do
2. To file
3. To pay
4. To read
5. Pending
6. Trash
For #1-5, you can create file folders for those actions ("To Read" could also include a tray or decorative shelf or box to include books). For "Trash," you can put paper in a trash can, recycle bin, or you can shred it.
That's it.
Anything more is complicating the issue.
I will go over additional ideas for processing paper in upcoming posts, but for right now, start with these 6 ideas.
There are only six options for handling a piece of paper:
1. To do
2. To file
3. To pay
4. To read
5. Pending
6. Trash
For #1-5, you can create file folders for those actions ("To Read" could also include a tray or decorative shelf or box to include books). For "Trash," you can put paper in a trash can, recycle bin, or you can shred it.
That's it.
Anything more is complicating the issue.
I will go over additional ideas for processing paper in upcoming posts, but for right now, start with these 6 ideas.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Oftentimes, when your life changes, you don't consider that your organizational needs have changed as well.
When you move to a new home, when you start a new job, when you marry, when you have a child, when your last child leaves for college or military service, when you need to make room for an ailing relative, when chronic illness strikes, when you start a home business, even when you bring home a new pet: all these situations require re-evaluation of your organizational needs.
For example, when I moved into our current home from a much smaller house, I did not consider that I would need to alter my storage systems. My newer home was almost twice the size of the former house, so surely I wouldn't need to worry about storage. But the bedroom closet shelves in my new home were much narrower than in the home we left, and the things I stored there would not fit on the narrow shelves.
My carefully thought out storage system, which worked brilliantly at my former home, fell apart. I put the large bulky items in a separate storage area, which was inconvenient and disorderly. I struggled along for over a year, thinking I simply owned too much, when in fact I hadn't sat down and considered the best places for the things that were formerly stored in deep closet shelves.
Perhaps that is one of your struggles: moving on to a new phase of your life without sitting down and figuring out how those changes impact your organization.
Sit down with paper and pen, and think about the previous 12-24 months. What major changes have occurred in your life during this time? Write them down.
Now think about how those changes have impacted you at home. Perhaps you need some creative thinking to bring your current home and its organization in line with your life's current needs.
When you move to a new home, when you start a new job, when you marry, when you have a child, when your last child leaves for college or military service, when you need to make room for an ailing relative, when chronic illness strikes, when you start a home business, even when you bring home a new pet: all these situations require re-evaluation of your organizational needs.
For example, when I moved into our current home from a much smaller house, I did not consider that I would need to alter my storage systems. My newer home was almost twice the size of the former house, so surely I wouldn't need to worry about storage. But the bedroom closet shelves in my new home were much narrower than in the home we left, and the things I stored there would not fit on the narrow shelves.
My carefully thought out storage system, which worked brilliantly at my former home, fell apart. I put the large bulky items in a separate storage area, which was inconvenient and disorderly. I struggled along for over a year, thinking I simply owned too much, when in fact I hadn't sat down and considered the best places for the things that were formerly stored in deep closet shelves.
Perhaps that is one of your struggles: moving on to a new phase of your life without sitting down and figuring out how those changes impact your organization.
Sit down with paper and pen, and think about the previous 12-24 months. What major changes have occurred in your life during this time? Write them down.
Now think about how those changes have impacted you at home. Perhaps you need some creative thinking to bring your current home and its organization in line with your life's current needs.
Friday, May 9, 2008
I can give you practical tips and theories 'til Jesus comes back, but without understanding why you are cluttered in the first place AND MAKING PROFOUND CHANGES in your actions, your home will continue to look cluttered and you'll think my tips don't work.
There are many reasons why people become and remain cluttered, and I discuss those in my upcoming book. One example is shopping for pleasure. Shopping can be an enjoyable and stress-relieving hobby. The problem I see with shopping as recreation lies in the results of shopping: the clutter in your home. If you continue to shop for recreation and bring your purchases home with you, your home will continue to stay cluttered, no matter how many handy tips I give you.
If shopping as recreation is one of the reasons your home is cluttered, then you can set limits on what you allow yourself to buy and bring home if you want to live a clutter-free life.
The easiest limit to set in regards to shopping is the "one item in, one item out" rule. When you purchase something new, get rid of (trash, recycle, or share) a similar item. When you buy a new book (CD, pair of flip flops, bottle of perfume, pair of sunglasses), let go of an old one. This way you will never add clutter to your home.
Another alternative for recreational shoppers is to buy things to immediately give away. You will still enjoy shopping, your purchases with be used and appreciated, and you will feel happier by giving. A great sale on winter gloves and hats? Buy some to donate to the homeless shelter. Found a like-new baby stroller at a yard sale? Purchase it to give to a single mom. Found a clearance on good, Christian books? Buy them and donate to your church's library.
You don't need to give up a cluttering habit or hobby; figure out how to enjoy it without adding clutter to your life.
There are many reasons why people become and remain cluttered, and I discuss those in my upcoming book. One example is shopping for pleasure. Shopping can be an enjoyable and stress-relieving hobby. The problem I see with shopping as recreation lies in the results of shopping: the clutter in your home. If you continue to shop for recreation and bring your purchases home with you, your home will continue to stay cluttered, no matter how many handy tips I give you.
If shopping as recreation is one of the reasons your home is cluttered, then you can set limits on what you allow yourself to buy and bring home if you want to live a clutter-free life.
The easiest limit to set in regards to shopping is the "one item in, one item out" rule. When you purchase something new, get rid of (trash, recycle, or share) a similar item. When you buy a new book (CD, pair of flip flops, bottle of perfume, pair of sunglasses), let go of an old one. This way you will never add clutter to your home.
Another alternative for recreational shoppers is to buy things to immediately give away. You will still enjoy shopping, your purchases with be used and appreciated, and you will feel happier by giving. A great sale on winter gloves and hats? Buy some to donate to the homeless shelter. Found a like-new baby stroller at a yard sale? Purchase it to give to a single mom. Found a clearance on good, Christian books? Buy them and donate to your church's library.
You don't need to give up a cluttering habit or hobby; figure out how to enjoy it without adding clutter to your life.
There are whole groups of material possessions that you don't need to buy. You probably have enough as it is, and adding more of these things to your home may not be in your best interest. They add clutter to an already full home. Here's a short list of things that most people already have enough of:
- file cabinets
- yard art
- kitchen knives
- coffee mugs
- pencils
- DVD's or videos (movies)
- shoes
- coats
- umbrellas
Thursday, May 8, 2008
How do you determine whether or not something you own is junk?
The things you love and use are easy to identify. For example, your favorite pair of earrings, your child's baby book, the CD you listen to twice a week, the teapot you use daily are not junk. They are loved and/or used frequently. You don't have to explain to yourself or to others WHY you want to keep them.
The things you really dislike, too, are easy to identify. Out-of-style clothes, a too-heavy dutch oven, that TV your ex-boyfriend bought for you on your 20th birthday. You can easily get rid of those things when you have your supplies (trash bags, donation boxes) handy and a way to conveniently get them out of your home (a donation truck scheduled to drop by, you neighbor's garage sale next week-end, your own scheduled trip to drop off donations at a thrift store, etc.).
Those maybes are the tricky things. How do you determine whether or not to keep them?
A simple test is this: if you have to spend any length of time justifying why you own a particular object, then it's probably junk. If I were standing next to you helping you declutter, and we came across the needlepoint pillow your cousin gave you (which you don't like), you would probably try to justify why you've kept it for twelve years and how hard your cousin worked on it and that you and your cousin were best friends for years, blah blah blah.
If you have to explain why you are keeping it, when in your heart you don't like it, then it's junk.
Quit wasting your precious time reminding yourself why you should keep it. You shouldn't keep it. Trash it, recycle it, or share it.
The things you love and use are easy to identify. For example, your favorite pair of earrings, your child's baby book, the CD you listen to twice a week, the teapot you use daily are not junk. They are loved and/or used frequently. You don't have to explain to yourself or to others WHY you want to keep them.
The things you really dislike, too, are easy to identify. Out-of-style clothes, a too-heavy dutch oven, that TV your ex-boyfriend bought for you on your 20th birthday. You can easily get rid of those things when you have your supplies (trash bags, donation boxes) handy and a way to conveniently get them out of your home (a donation truck scheduled to drop by, you neighbor's garage sale next week-end, your own scheduled trip to drop off donations at a thrift store, etc.).
Those maybes are the tricky things. How do you determine whether or not to keep them?
A simple test is this: if you have to spend any length of time justifying why you own a particular object, then it's probably junk. If I were standing next to you helping you declutter, and we came across the needlepoint pillow your cousin gave you (which you don't like), you would probably try to justify why you've kept it for twelve years and how hard your cousin worked on it and that you and your cousin were best friends for years, blah blah blah.
If you have to explain why you are keeping it, when in your heart you don't like it, then it's junk.
Quit wasting your precious time reminding yourself why you should keep it. You shouldn't keep it. Trash it, recycle it, or share it.
Do You Live with a Clutterer?
I do.
I won't give names because she's reading over my shoulder as I type, but some little person who lives in my home likes to collect many diverse and interesting things, and keep them all in her room.
She's learning to throw away, share, and organize her things year by year. She is developing a growing understanding of the place that material possessions are to have in a Christian's life.
She's a Christian too, and has this to say about things:
"Sometimes things can overwhelm you by distracting you and taking you away from God. It's hard to get rid of stuff when you're attached to it. I know that I can never get rid of 10 of my toys because they're so special to me. Don't hold too tight to things, because they're just things. If you get rid of one thing, you may lose something you want to keep, but if you donate it, some other person will have the joy of having it too. "
Tremendous insight from my little daughter.
Now just don't peak into her room this week. It needs "loads of work," as she says.
An easy way to help kids learn to declutter is to do it WITH, not FOR, them (once they are around age 8 or 9). Kids know which toys and books and clothes they no longer want to keep. Don't hinder them; encourage them.
Bring in a huge garbage bag for trash, several give away boxes, and some disinfecting wipes to clean things off as you go. My daughter made up sounds as to which item to keep and which to get rid of. She whistles to keep it, and makes a reject buzzer sound to indicate "out it goes." Her invented sounds makes the process more like a game for both of us. And I can't think of an activity I enjoy more than helping people free themselves of unnecessary burdens, sound effects included.
I do.
I won't give names because she's reading over my shoulder as I type, but some little person who lives in my home likes to collect many diverse and interesting things, and keep them all in her room.
She's learning to throw away, share, and organize her things year by year. She is developing a growing understanding of the place that material possessions are to have in a Christian's life.
She's a Christian too, and has this to say about things:
"Sometimes things can overwhelm you by distracting you and taking you away from God. It's hard to get rid of stuff when you're attached to it. I know that I can never get rid of 10 of my toys because they're so special to me. Don't hold too tight to things, because they're just things. If you get rid of one thing, you may lose something you want to keep, but if you donate it, some other person will have the joy of having it too. "
Tremendous insight from my little daughter.
Now just don't peak into her room this week. It needs "loads of work," as she says.
An easy way to help kids learn to declutter is to do it WITH, not FOR, them (once they are around age 8 or 9). Kids know which toys and books and clothes they no longer want to keep. Don't hinder them; encourage them.
Bring in a huge garbage bag for trash, several give away boxes, and some disinfecting wipes to clean things off as you go. My daughter made up sounds as to which item to keep and which to get rid of. She whistles to keep it, and makes a reject buzzer sound to indicate "out it goes." Her invented sounds makes the process more like a game for both of us. And I can't think of an activity I enjoy more than helping people free themselves of unnecessary burdens, sound effects included.
Possession Theory
The things you own are not yours. They aren't. They belong to the Lord! You are His steward, and can use things you "own" for your own benefit, for your family's benefit, and for the benefit of others unrelated to you.
I discuss this further in my book, Better Than Feng Shui, but I want to throw this out and get you thinking along these lines now.
When you steward something, it is yours to manage, not to hoard or fret about. If there are things in your life that are causing you stress, then GET RID OF THEM. They are not worth the strain they are causing you.
I don't care if the thing is a brand new car or an uncomfortable turtleneck. If something causes you stress, it doesn't belong anywhere near you. That stress-producing object is taking your eyes off of serving the Lord and enjoying the life He died to give you.
Perhaps the things that cause you stress are stressful because there are too many of them (as in too many clothes, too many books, too many magazine subscriptions, too many scrapbooking supplies, too many cleaning supplies, too many pets, too many framed pictures to dust, too many drinking glasses). JUST BECAUSE YOU OWN SOMETHING DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO USE IT OR KEEP IT.
If you are a steward over these things, then let them go to bless someone else. Get rid of the things that are cluttering up your life. You don't have to use something up or wear it out just because you own it. Let someone else enjoy it. Bless them and free yourself from unnecessary burdens!
The things you own are not yours. They aren't. They belong to the Lord! You are His steward, and can use things you "own" for your own benefit, for your family's benefit, and for the benefit of others unrelated to you.
I discuss this further in my book, Better Than Feng Shui, but I want to throw this out and get you thinking along these lines now.
When you steward something, it is yours to manage, not to hoard or fret about. If there are things in your life that are causing you stress, then GET RID OF THEM. They are not worth the strain they are causing you.
I don't care if the thing is a brand new car or an uncomfortable turtleneck. If something causes you stress, it doesn't belong anywhere near you. That stress-producing object is taking your eyes off of serving the Lord and enjoying the life He died to give you.
Perhaps the things that cause you stress are stressful because there are too many of them (as in too many clothes, too many books, too many magazine subscriptions, too many scrapbooking supplies, too many cleaning supplies, too many pets, too many framed pictures to dust, too many drinking glasses). JUST BECAUSE YOU OWN SOMETHING DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO USE IT OR KEEP IT.
If you are a steward over these things, then let them go to bless someone else. Get rid of the things that are cluttering up your life. You don't have to use something up or wear it out just because you own it. Let someone else enjoy it. Bless them and free yourself from unnecessary burdens!
Donations
Donating things that you no longer use will bless you in many ways. You will have more space in your home. You will feel more happiness when you consider that those unwanted things are enriching someone else's life. You will love the freedom you feel in NOT living as a slave to material possessions!
I have a shelf in my hall closet that I reserve for donations. There seems to always be a few things ready to share with others: a magazine I've just finished reading, a jacket my daughter outgrew, a nice gift a friend gave me, which isn't quite "me," a book I've enjoyed but don't want to keep in my personal library.
You might like to try this: think about a place in your home where you can always keep things to share. This way, you'll have a place to put things the minute you decide to share them.
This works best once your home is already decluttered, but it's good practice to start using it now. There will always be much to share!
Donating things that you no longer use will bless you in many ways. You will have more space in your home. You will feel more happiness when you consider that those unwanted things are enriching someone else's life. You will love the freedom you feel in NOT living as a slave to material possessions!
I have a shelf in my hall closet that I reserve for donations. There seems to always be a few things ready to share with others: a magazine I've just finished reading, a jacket my daughter outgrew, a nice gift a friend gave me, which isn't quite "me," a book I've enjoyed but don't want to keep in my personal library.
You might like to try this: think about a place in your home where you can always keep things to share. This way, you'll have a place to put things the minute you decide to share them.
This works best once your home is already decluttered, but it's good practice to start using it now. There will always be much to share!
Did you take out the trash?
Great!
An important skill you need to learn to keep your life from becoming cluttered is throwing away (or recycling) things that are truly garbage.
Here's a short list of things that you can get rid of this week. These things are trash and are burdens to you. Get rid of them:
Great!
An important skill you need to learn to keep your life from becoming cluttered is throwing away (or recycling) things that are truly garbage.
Here's a short list of things that you can get rid of this week. These things are trash and are burdens to you. Get rid of them:
- newspapers (recycle)
- chipped dinner plates (trash)
- socks with holes (I recycle them into one-time use rags)
- hand or body lotion with a scent you dislike (throw in trash if over 1 year old; otherwise, see if your co-workers want them)
- pens that don't write (trash)
- scissors that don't cut (trash)
- glue that's dried out (trash)
- expired medications (trash--you may be able to recycle the bottles. Keep pets and kids safe! Don't let them get into medications and cleaning supplies!)
- eye makeup older than 6 months (trash)
- computer manual from 2 computers ago (might be recyclable--check around)
- more than two current phone books (recycle)
- broken video or computer game controller (trash)
- scratched CD's that you tried to repair (trash)
- CD scratch remover gadget that didn't work (trash)
First lesson: You own too much.
Yes, you do.
If you are an American living in an apartment, home, condo, RV, or houseboat, you own too much.
"Too much" is the nature of life in America. For many reasons (which I discuss in my book, Better Than Feng Shui, to be released this year!), we buy, keep, collect, give (yes, give) and own too much stuff.
I am into theory. But I am more into the practical side of living, which is why I aim to give you as much practical help as I can.
Your first assignment is very simple: go to your closet and select one pair of shoes that hurt your feet. You don't ever wear them because they hurt your feet. You won't miss them when they're out of your life. Take that pair of shoes and put them in a bag to drop off at a homeless shelter, a charity thrift store, or an abused women's ministry office.
Share your excess, for the glory of God.
If this assignment is too complicated for the cluttered state of your entire life, here's a different assignment that anyone can do, and it takes only a few minutes. TAKE OUT THE TRASH. Yes, very simple. I want you to empty every trash can in your home and take it out (where ever "out" is to you--the covered garbage cans, the Dumpster at your apartment, the trash chute down the hall).
When you take out the garbage, you have opened up your life to potential change. It's very difficult to get rid of more garbage if all your trash cans are full.
Go do it.
Yes, you do.
If you are an American living in an apartment, home, condo, RV, or houseboat, you own too much.
"Too much" is the nature of life in America. For many reasons (which I discuss in my book, Better Than Feng Shui, to be released this year!), we buy, keep, collect, give (yes, give) and own too much stuff.
I am into theory. But I am more into the practical side of living, which is why I aim to give you as much practical help as I can.
Your first assignment is very simple: go to your closet and select one pair of shoes that hurt your feet. You don't ever wear them because they hurt your feet. You won't miss them when they're out of your life. Take that pair of shoes and put them in a bag to drop off at a homeless shelter, a charity thrift store, or an abused women's ministry office.
Share your excess, for the glory of God.
If this assignment is too complicated for the cluttered state of your entire life, here's a different assignment that anyone can do, and it takes only a few minutes. TAKE OUT THE TRASH. Yes, very simple. I want you to empty every trash can in your home and take it out (where ever "out" is to you--the covered garbage cans, the Dumpster at your apartment, the trash chute down the hall).
When you take out the garbage, you have opened up your life to potential change. It's very difficult to get rid of more garbage if all your trash cans are full.
Go do it.
Hello and welcome to Better Than Feng Shui, where you'll learn how to free yourself from clutter the Christian way!
My goal in life is to help people free themselves from unnecessary burdens, for the glory of God.
I believe that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is a necessary first step in releasing burdens of all kinds. We are set free from sin and death by His death on the cross and by His resurrection! He lives!!
And you may live, too, freed from burdens of all kinds!
I'm here to help you with the burdens of the physical kind: stuff!
Bienvenue!
My goal in life is to help people free themselves from unnecessary burdens, for the glory of God.
I believe that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is a necessary first step in releasing burdens of all kinds. We are set free from sin and death by His death on the cross and by His resurrection! He lives!!
And you may live, too, freed from burdens of all kinds!
I'm here to help you with the burdens of the physical kind: stuff!
Bienvenue!
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