May 17th - Clearing Clutter

"In order that people may be happy in their work,

these three things are needed:

They must be fit for it.

They must not do too much of it.

And they must have a sense of success in it."

-John Ruskin 

Today Sarah shares what she's learned about junk drawers and organizing your home after it's been neglected for years.

(this is not my junk drawer...I only have one junk drawer in the house, and it's not even half full. Literally, like 10 small things in mine)

Now I know I said yesterday to just take a day to get it done,

but she does have a point of taking your time 

so you don't get burned out.

I was talking about if your house is already mostly in order and you know what you want to get rid of already, just take a day and do it...

But Sarah knows what it's like to have 
years worth of clutter and clutter in every room ...

Start Quote

Now I don't know about you, but I had...
junk drawers in every room of my house. 
It got so bad that I never voluntarily opened them 
except to throw in another item with my eyes shut. 

I am addicted to junk drawers...

It's best to approach clearing out 
the clutter of a lifetime 
in manageable increments, 
following John Ruskin's sage advice. 

Don't do too much of it at once; 
that way, you can feel successful about your efforts. 

Each month, tackle just one room or storage space in your home. 
Then break the room down: the first week, clean out the junk drawers, then the closets, then any other specific storage areas such as under the beds, the linen closet, the medicine chest, the sewing basket. 

Above all, don't attempt to do too much at once 
or you'll sabotage yourself. 

The family room game closet hasn't been organized in five years?

Don't worry, it can wait another two months
 or however long it takes you to get to it.

Carefully consider the areas of your home 
that are causing you the most frustration today 
and then prioritize them in order of annoyance. 

End Quote

Sarah also suggests doing it alone, 
because others will try to convince you to 
throw away things you should keep 
and keep things you know should be thrown away. 

"Trust me, you must clear away clutter alone 
or you will lose your mind in the attempt."



If you don't know what something is, it's okay to ask for help then. 


Here are some great things to say to yourself as you're clearing 
if you're having trouble letting things go.


"If they've lived without if for five or ten years, 
they can do without it forever."

"When in doubt, throw it away."

"You don't need it."

"You don't want it."

"You forgot you even had it, so don't keep it."

"No, it will not come in handy someday."






Sarah warns about the junk drawers turning into junk boxes, 
or worse, the junk boxes just turning into junk out of boxes.

My dad always jokes that I'm a hoarder...
please. 

He says that because my teenage room may have looked like this from time to time...
But that was years ago! Doesn't every teenager's room look like this from time to time?

If you are a hoarder, and you have piles and piles of things that you can't get rid of that are taking up your living space...please go get professional help. It might be that you just don't know how to organize, but if it has gotten so bad that you're classified as a hoarder it's probably rooted in something psychological which means you need help. Please seek counseling. 


"Every cleared junk drawer, each closet, 
each successful attempt at organizing 
only reinforces your feelings of taking back control of your life. 

I had never really considered how being 
disorganized beneath the surface 
had weighed upon my mind. 

But once I cleared away the clutter, 
I felt a wonderful sense of renewal, joy, and inner peace. 


Here was the essence of Simple Abundance and it had cost me only 
time (to plan), 
courage (to show up for work), 
and creative energy (to do it)."



Happy clearing! 

Trust me, it'll feel so good.






***
Gratitude Journal
***

1) Musicals. I wish I could live in them sometimes. Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella was fantastic. 

2) Taking an easy day. 

3) Having lots of available friends and family to babysit. 

4) Getting all dressed up.

5) It could have been worse. I have something in my eye that's really hurting me, but at least it's now and not during the musical. Chase played in dog poop today (Indy always poops after I clean it all up), but at least it was easy to get off of his hands...I threw away the toy he had covered in it. The kids were trying to kill each other again today, it could have been worse, they could have succeeded. 

I love "it could have been worse's", it keeps me grateful, and my imagination and sense of humor sharp.