Jun 16, 2012

Organization - Starting to declutter

This month my husband and I are moving over 800 miles for his new job. Since I am currently not working and over half of the stuff we have collected is mine, I am responsible for purging and packing. While we don't qualify for the show Hoarders, I think our office comes close at times. Packing and purging has been therapeutic and stressful all at the same time. In the past 48 hours I have packed over a dozen boxes. But the whole process began long before this week. Decluttering has been a life long process. I am continuing to learn and my philosophy continues to change.

In my quest for order and learning I follow a lot of blogs and websites. (Yes, I am aware I am a tech junkie.) One of the blogs I follow is called I'm an Organizing Junkie. I get an email from her every once in a while and it inspires me to do better. A while back I got an email that changed the way I think about decluttering.  It's easy. All you have to do is break it down. Laura has 5 easy steps to get started. You can find a copy of her article here.

The steps:
1. Set a daily goal. I try and declutter for at least 15 minutes.
2. Donate: I have a box for things headed to charity or Freecycle.
3. Start small and moved on to harder things
4. Ask questions
    A. When did I use it last?
    B. How does it make me feel?
    C. Am I willing to give up something else to make room?
    D. Is it cost effective to keep it?
5. Let it go!

If you want more than the cliff notes be sure to read the whole article and check out her website for more great tips.

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