As I discussed last week, having grown up in a somewhat cluttered environment I yearned for an organized, streamlined living environment where absolutely everything had its place. In my early twenties I was far from organized and, not having carved out a career for myself yet, earned relatively little which meant I lived in small rooms that served to make the task of streamlining my possessions that much harder. One of the first resources I came across was The Flylady. She made decluttering possible for me, a task which seemed huge at the time.

 

As part of last weeks exercises you made a list of all the rooms or spaces you wanted to declutter. If you found that you wanted to declutter almost all of your rooms when you made the list, I strongly recommend getting The Flylady’s book ‘Sink Reflections’. It tackles all of the issues most of us have with getting started, keeping on track and maintaining a streamlined living space. If you’re just too keen and want to get started now, here are the five essential decluttering tricks of the trade to lead you to the organized living environment you’ve always dreamed of!

 

Step One

Get rid of all the rubbish and broken bits and pieces. This includes bags with broken handles and shoes which have the buckles broken – if you aren’t going to fix it or have it fixed then bin it! For those items you are genuinely going to fix place them in a box.

 

Step Two

Start in fifteen minute chunks (have your alarm set) and work your way clockwise around the room. Have one bag for giving away / donating, another for throwing away items that you don’t use, and another for items to keep and organize later. Tackle all cupboards and drawers too!

 

Step Three

If you find you have two or more of any one thing keep the best one and put the duplicates to one side. When you have a box of repeat items donate them to a charity shop.

 

Step Four

Implement organizational systems! This is the fun part and includes buying smart storage solutions like a wardrobe shoe rack and setting up filing systems for all of those loose papers.

 

Step Five

Fix all that you have kept that needs to be fixed. If you decide not to have it fixed it needs to go in the bin.

 

If you are still struggling to declutter it may be that you are a hoarder and have an unhealthy attachment to your possessions. If you are find that your living environment is chaotic and are desperate to live in an organized environment then Sink Reflections by Marla Ciley is the book for you. It is packed with helpful tips and tricks to help motivate you to begin decluttering and is designed for the genuine hoarder and clutter bug alike.

 

So declutter your surroundings and free yourself to live a lighter existence without the burden of chaos and clutter. Reap the rewards of improved concentration and focus and enjoy a more creative and productive life.

 

Have you started decluttering yet? How have you found it so far? What has kept you motivated? Could you share any tips of your own? Please comment and join our community to gain encouragement, insight and support.

 

Exercises:

1. If you are a hoarder buy ‘Sink Reflections’ and read.
2. Schedule in one day every two weeks into your diary to declutter. You should aim to tackle one room  or electronic area (E.g. Emails, laptop folder structures etc) per day. Diarize in for however many rooms or areas you want to tackle.
3. Work on the rooms according to your diary’s schedule, as per the five key steps outlined in the article above.

 

Further resources:

‘Sink Reflections’ by Marla Cilley