7 Day Plan for Severe Clutter

7 Day Plan for Severe Clutter in your physical space.

This plan is not for everyone. But it may be just what you need to get started if you're overwhelmed with severe clutter and chaos in your home.

As you've probably found, there are many ways to address this kind of problem; however there is no perfect approach. Don't get bogged down by over-thinking the options. Just begin.

Try not to look at everything all at once and vaguely say you need to get things in order. Being specific and sequential is a very effective way to proceed. You can do this.

Read this through at least once. Print and post so you can see it daily for at least a week.


Stay focused on just one thing at a time.

Don't reward yourself with shopping. It’s best if you take at least one week off from all shopping unless you absolutely need an item right away.

Be sure to allow yourself to feel good about what you’ve accomplished at each transition. Don’t think too much about what isn’t being accomplished, it’ll just sabotage your energy and motivation.

You can do this!!!

Supplies:
timer (important!), trash bags, bags, boxes, bins (clear and stackable plastic bins would be the best).

1st day or 3 hour session
Just start in one room (kitchen, bath, living room, bedroom is a good sequence). Set the timer for 20 minutes. Pick up ONLY the trash and recycling. Do the same thing in the next room and so on. Don’t get sidetracked with putting things away or tidying up or any other aspect of getting things in order. When timer goes off take a 5 minute break and repeatedly set the timer for 20 sessions with breaks in between until this one task is done.

Finally put the trash/recycling outside. Take a breath and allow yourself to feel good about what you’ve just done! Don’t let yourself be critical that you haven’t accomplished more. You will.


2nd day or session
Kitchen: Put away groceries. Put away clean dishes. Fill dishwasher or do dishes by hand. When dry, put them away. Wipe counters, sweep/vacuum floor.

3rd day or session
Bathroom: Put away personal and cleaning products. Put dirty towels/clothes in laundry hamper or in a bag/box/bin. Take things that belong in other places to their respective rooms. Wipe counters, sweep/vacuum floor. Clean the mirror, toilet and bathtub.

4th day or session
Bedroom: Gather shoes/purses/accessories from everywhere in your home; put on closet floor or in box/bin/bag. Gather clothes from everywhere. Put away all clean clothes in closet, drawers or box/bin. Gather all dirty clothes into hamper or bag/box/bin. Sweep/vacuum floor.

5th day or session
Laundry: Take one day or session to catch up with laundry. Gather laundry from everywhere in your home. Sort into piles e.g., whites/lights, colors/darks, towels/bedding. When dry, hang or fold immediately. Take a break, this can be a big job.

6th day or session
Gather all mail and paper documents and put in bag/box/bin. Don’t make any decisions; just put them all together. When they’re all collected from each room, stop. That’s probably enough for one day. Take a breath and allow yourself to feel good about what you’ve just done! Don’t let yourself be critical that you haven’t accomplished more. (I'll address sorting papers another time.)

7th day or session
Pick up just one kind of thing like books/magazines and put them in a box or bin. Go through entire home to collect all books/magazines that are running loose. Choose one or two 'homes' for this kind of thing. 

Repeat with other specific categories such as CDs/DVDs, small electronics, jewelry, gifts, hobbies, pet items, items to return to stores or other people, items to take to garage or storage.


Congratulate yourself each step of the way! Feel good about what you've accomplished!

7 Steps to Better Paper Management

7 Steps to Better Paper Management

Catch All Notebook
Keep a spiral bound notebook on hand at all times to jot down notes to yourself or to-do list items, record information from voicemail, phone calls or computer... anything that you want to remember or refer to again. Date every entry. Keep your calendar nearby as well.

Managing Mail and Paper
Pre-sort mail in two piles: envelopes and ‘other’ paper. Toss 3rd class ‘junk’ that isn’t important to you first. Open the mail, then discard the envelopes while stapling or clipping pages together.

Read With a Pencil
The first time you read anything that you’ll want to refer to again (e.g., mail or magazine), circle the key information: contact’s name, phone number, address, account number, amount due, deadlines. The next time you look at it only the important information will jump out at you and you won’t have to read the whole page to find it again. Using a pencil will allow you to erase if necessary. Transfer important dates to your calendar right away.

Top Right Corner
As you read through documents or papers, write in the upper righthand corner either the action you need to take (call, write, consider, pay etc) or what basic category it should be filed under.

Major Categories
To keep your important papers together, start with the simplest of categories like Financial, Legal, Medical, Personal. If you don’t have a filing cabinet use bins or trays to keep the categories separate. You can have sub-categories such as Financial - Checking Account or Financial - Investments to be more specific. Try not to make it too complicated especially if you don’t have a lot of paper to manage.

To-Do List
Keep it simple! Make a list with 3 columns: Call Go Do. Focus on one type of activity at a time to stay in the same mode of action: make a series of calls, schedule errands in your calendar, do tasks that are similar which won’t force you to completely switch gears to something unrelated.

Desktop Files
See (‘C’) these miscellaneous items (minutia) on your desktop or where you open your mail:
Contacts: (Address/Phone/Directions) including business cards if you don’t have a Rolodex
Calendar/Events: invitations/RSVP’s, work/school/sports calendars
Computer: instructions, tips, list of favorite websites, info to record on your computer
Consider This: things you need to think about before you make a decision
Correspondence: letters/notes that require a response or that you want to refer to again
Coupons/Offers: circle expiration dates. Transfer to your car or wallet to use when you go out.

You can also have other important papers on your desktop: Bills To Pay, Receipts for Taxes etc.
The best way to keep this system working is to take a look in each file folder at least once a week to see what you have to deal with. These kinds of things don’t need to be put away in a file drawer (where you may forget you have them) but you do need to check them periodically.

But remember that the absolute best way to keep track of a specific task is to schedule time to do them. When it's on your calendar, it'll get your attention!