Week One

Our First Goal: Create Open Space for all our belongings, pets and people to breathe comfortably in our home. This is purge based, and not process based. With each task, think of reducing items by 50%. By doing this, you actually GAIN 25%. Let me explain: If your sock drawer is jammed 100% full, you will only use the top 25% of 100% of your socks. If you get rid of half, you will use ALL of the 50% remaining, and effect, gain the use of 25% more socks.

Week 1 Task 1
Quiet Time: Grab several papers or a notebook and a pen or two. When you have quiet time today, go through your entire house listing each task that needs to be done (don’t do any of them). My master bedroom list looks like: Paint Ceiling, paint walls, obtain curtain rods, choose curtain color, exchange curtains, hang curtains, sort through/label kids keepsake chest, choose and buy bed, wash-measure then sew sheets for duvet cover, hang paintings post paint, purge side table, re-frame print from Korea, dryel load, iron 7 shirts, purge 20%.

After you have developed your list for each room in your house, you can complete any of those tasks when you have free time. This is your master plan. The only rule is you must choose a task you have time to complete in its entirety. For instance, when I purge the side table, I must have a plan for all the stuff I’m getting rid of. I can’t just leave it in a pile on the floor.

Week 1 Task 2
Organizing:
You will need a transportable system to take through each of your tasks. You can use cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, big boxes, etc and have 2 large trash bags. Label the boxes, “Give away”, “fix/repair”, “belongs elsewhere” , “storage” and “sell”. Label the bags, “Trash” and “recycle”. I know it seems like a lot, and you can change these up. I have, “consignment shop” and “sell online. When doing the kids rooms I have paper trash bags that I actually label with the person’s name the clothes are going to. CUSTOMIZE to make it work. Perhaps you don’t want to sell a thing, then just give it all away!!!

Week 1 Task 3
Action: This week, we conquer the bathrooms! I know, doesn’t sound “grand”, but since the bathroom is a confined space, it is usually easy to tackle and COMPLETE. We don’t want to start projects we can’t finish. (Remember: you can always tackle something off that master list from above if you want more work).
1. Throw everything in the bathroom in the laundry.
2. Take everything out from under the sink-restock with cleaning supplies and paper towel.
3. Clean and sort drawers
4. Clean and sort medicine cabinet.
5. Assess and toss toys, lotions, partial shampoos, etc.
6. Put laundry in dryer
7. Continue checking expiration dates for all your items. Toss and recycle as necessary.
8. Once you put everything away do a quick clean of the bathroom. Do you notice anything that needs to go on your master task list? Fix towel rack? Buy new curtain liner? Hang picture? Add those things to your task list.
9. Grab everything from the dryer and now….I present to you….your Clean BREATHING Bathroom!

Linen closet: Take out all the towels, rags etc and lay them all out. Do you need all of these? Are they so crammed in your closet that when you pull one out it smells and you have to rewash it? Everything needs to breathe. Limit towels to 2 house towels per person and 1 beach towel per person. 15 rags (enough to wash and dry 2 cars at one time). Assess your need for hand towels and wash cloths. We have no hand towels in our house, but we have about 40 wash cloths. Since we don’t use paper towel, we go through those wash cloths weekly.

TIP: If you find you have a lot of “travel sized” stuff. Get a zip-lock bag and label, “travel”- they need to be all in the same place.






Tip 2: Do you re-buy medicines because you can’t find things? Get either zip-locks or plastic tubs and label as you see fit: First aide, cough and cold, kids medicine, hair products, tooth care, lotions, etc. Ultimately, do what works for you. I find I get so many free toothbrush and toothpastes but can’t find them when I need them! Now I have a place for them, and can always find them. I also have one called “measuring”- in there goes anything that measures- cups, thermometers, droppers etc.

Bonus Work: Put a note on your fridge, “Finish the project you completed”. No snacking to distract you! Now go finish!

Prep for next week: Think of 10-15 friends you could invite over for a clothing exchange.

Optional Seasonal: How many boxes of holiday trinkets do you need? This week- bring all your stuff in the living room and assess. Do I need all these ornaments? If not, put some in your wrapping box-when you wrap gifts for next year, add an ornament with a note, “from my tree to yours, love Andie”. Are there things that are broken? Either toss or put in your “to fix” box. Put the box of purged items in your trunk, and make an appointment in your calendar called “goodwill drop” sometime in the next 2 weeks.

If you want to get a head start and develop a system, I highly recommend Brook Noel’s “The Change Your Life Challenge: A 70 day life makeover program for women”.

Disclaimer: This advice is for the occasional collector- if you have a serious hoarding problem seek professional advice immediately.