Hasta La Ideas

The question I am asked the most is: “Where should I start uncluttering?” I typically respond to this question with the standard “start small” response — a drawer, a purse, a pocket of a coat. Although this is the answer I most often give because starting small is really easy, it’s not actually what I believe is the most rewarding place to start.

When faced with a cluttered home or office, I find that people get the greatest satisfaction from uncluttering the area that annoys them more than any other area. It’s the area of your home or office that makes you curse each time you look at it. Even just thinking about it makes your stomach tighten and jaw clench. If you used a word as strong as hate, you would say you hated it.

Back in my cluttered days, there was a stack of boxes by the front door that drove me bonkers. Worst of all, it was the first thing I saw when I came home after a long day at work. I’d be ready to relax, and then AHHHH! I’d see it and instantly tense up again. “I have to take care of that,” would be the next thought that popped into my mind. And then, I’d walk into the living room and forget about the boxes until the next time I left or came home. I grumbled about those awful boxes of clutter for years.

When I finally sorted through the contents of those boxes and cleared them away from the front door, it was as if I had won the lottery. I took myself out to dinner. I called and told a few friends. I may have pulled a neighbor in from the hallway just to take a look at what I had done. I was elated, and the remainder of my uncluttering work was a breeze after that.

Starting small is easy, and it’s actually how I started my first big uncluttering project. I went through one box at the bottom of a closet. I didn’t get a giant burst of motivation and satisfaction, though, until I tackled those boxes by the front door. It was only after the biggest frustration was gone that I really wanted to get rid of all the clutter and embark on my new, uncluttered life.

If you’re looking for a boost of uncluttering motivation, slay the clutter dragon that is your biggest frustration in your home or office. Stop putting it off, and take care of it. You’ll be glad you did.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

The Latin phrase tabula rasa translates into English as “blank slate.” Philosopher John Locke described tabula rasa as a person who is similar to a piece of paper void of any characters. Poet William Blake wrote about it as innocence and said its opposite is experience. For our purposes, we’re going to use the phrase to represent a room empty of everything except for its permanent fixtures.

When uncluttering and organizing a room using the tabula rasa method, you start by moving everything — absolutely everything — that isn’t affixed to the walls, floor, or ceiling out of the room. As you’re pulling out the items, group them together by type on your dining room table or on a tarp covering the ground in your garage or back yard (assuming it’s a day when it’s not expected to rain). Shoes should be piled with other shoes or can openers with other can openers.

Once everything is out of the room, assess the space: Are any of the fixtures damaged? Does any paint need to be applied? Is every surface as clean as possible? Do any light bulbs need to be replaced? Do you need new storage shelves? When the room is empty, now is the time to address these structural issues.

After making repairs and cleaning, walk through the space and evaluate how you use it: What do you do in this space? How could you arrange the room to best meet your needs? Using sticky notes, label zones based on what you do in that area. If working in your bathroom, the sink area might be labeled “Toothbrushing, makeup application/shaving, hand washing.”

Next, head to your stuff that is in piles. Take with you a trash bag, your recycling bin, and two large boxes with one labeled “Donate/Sell” and the other “Special Attention.” Diligently go through each pile of your stuff and sort its contents into: Keep (simply leave it in the pile), Trash (put it straight into the trash bag), Recycle (put it into the recycling bin), Donate/Sell (put items you will donate to charity or sell into this box), and Special Attention (only put items in this box that need you to do something specific with them that doesn’t fall into the other categories).

After everything has been sorted, return the Keep items to their new storage area closest to their use zone in the room.

When all of the Keep items are in their new homes, you still aren’t finished uncluttering and organizing the room. You still need to address the Trash, Recycle, Donate/Sell, and Special Attention containers you created earlier. Obviously, put Trash with your other trash, and return your Recycle bin to its place. Then, sort through your Donate/Sell box and handle these items as necessary. Schedule times to drop off the charity donations at the collection site and immediately list sell items on eBay, Craigslist, or whatever system you want to use to sell your things. Finally, sort through your Special Attention items and do whatever you need to do to take care of these items. If you need to repair or return objects, do it right now or get it scheduled on your calendar. Don’t let these items continue to clutter up your life, just in another area of your home.

Over the years, I’ve learned that it’s easiest to do tabula rasa uncluttering and organizing projects when you have the entire day or weekend to focus on the project. If you schedule only a few hours, you leave out the final step of addressing the Donate/Sell and Special Attention boxes and these items will continue to weigh on you. When you give yourself a day or two, you can complete the project from start to finish.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

The presents have been unwrapped, turkey leftovers fill the refrigerator, and we’re back at our desks finishing year-end responsibilities. Whether at work or at home, there are tasks that we complete before December 31 that help to keep us organized in the new year.

Even though it’s difficult to get back to work after a few days vacation, the last week of the year can often be extremely productive because so few people are in the office. There usually are fewer disruptions and it’s easier to work for longer blocks of time. If you’re taking time off from work, now is also a good time to focus on year-end responsibilities at home.

The following are tasks we complete at the end of the year, but you might tackle different tasks to wrap up 2010 and prepare for 2011. Share your end-of-the-year processes in the comments, as they might be something we all should be doing, too:

At Work:

• Year-end fiscal reports. Pay all bills, submit all receipts, reconcile all accounts, and complete all fiscal reports the accounting department requires.
• Year-end professional goal reports. Review annual goals and accomplishments, and write performance reports the human resources department requires.
• Review benefit package and changes. Many changes in insurance plans and other benefits occur at the change of the calendar year. Make note of these changes so you aren’t surprised by the differences.

At Home:

• Reconcile financial accounts. Now is the time to get all of your financial paperwork for the year completed so you’re ready to file your taxes when your forms arrive.
• Year-end personal goal and resolution review. Review all you accomplished over the course of the year and create goals and resolutions for 2011.
• Back-up all digital data. Even if you do this daily, it’s good to take a final snapshot of the digital year.
• Review beneficiary information on all investments and policies. If your family has grown or changed in the last year, now is the time to make sure your beneficiary information is current. Additionally, it’s a good time to do a general review of these investments and policies.
• Review systems and routines. Are the systems and routines you follow meeting your family’s and home’s needs? If not, now is a good time to create new practices to implement in the new year.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing the winter solstice today and, as a result, the least amount of daylight this year. I always think of the winter solstice as being the first day of Nesting Season.

Nesting Season is a season I made up based on trends in my behavior. This is the time of year when I usually start accumulating more clutter than at other times of the year. Items come into my home, and, except for rubbish, not much tends to leave. Based on the weather, Nesting Season typically lasts until the first warmer stretch of days in March or April.

I think some nesting is a good thing. I love occasionally curling up under a blanket in front of our fireplace and reading a book instead of tackling chores. I’m also much better at eating at home during Nesting Season than I am at other times during the year.

However, I have to be diligent and make a conscious effort to keep my home and life from being overrun by clutter during Nesting Season. If you’re like me and kicking off Nesting Season today, try these strategies to keep clutter from causing chaos in your home:

• One-in-one-out. The holiday season is a time of the year when lots of new items might be coming into your home. Try your best to toss, recycle, or donate corresponding older items as you’re putting away the new items.
• Keep up your energy. Get the proper amount of sleep, eat healthy and nutritious meals, and push yourself to get at least 30 minutes of brisk walking in a day. You’re less likely to experience Nesting Season lethargy when your energy levels are high.
• Invite a friend over for coffee. You’ll be motivated to unclutter your space before your friend arrives. And, your friend can help you to make decisions about some of your things. You’ll also get to see your friend during a time when you might usually be less social.
• Play Eye Spy. As you’re sitting on your couch, make a list of all the clutter you see in your space. Set a timer for 20 minutes, and, when the alarm sounds, crawl out from under your blanket and take care of all the clutter you identified. Each night, relax in a different room and repeat the process.

Do you experience Nesting Season? What strategies do you embrace to keep clutter from taking over during this time of year? Share your advice in the comments.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

Are you trying to decide if you should keep or get rid of something? These are six reasons to trash, recycle, sell, or donate an object:

1. You don’t use it, love it, need it, or want it.
2. It’s broken, busted, damaged, or destroyed and you haven’t fixed it in six months or more.
3. You have multiples of the same object, and the other one is vastly superior in quality.
4. It’s expired.
5. You don’t have anywhere to store it.
6. It doesn’t fit in the life you desire.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.