Clutter is the worst.

You may claim that it truly doesn’t bother you, but I would ask you the same question I ask my Productivity Academy students who tell me that:

Have you ever tried life without clutter?

When I finally get them to commit to de-cluttering just their workspace, a light bulb moment happens, and they fall in love with their organized, de-cluttered space. No one has ever said “I really wish I hadn’t done that, Somer!”

These are some of the benefits they notice immediately:

  • They don’t dread sitting down to work.
  • They are more productive.
  • They are less distracted.
  • They complete more tasks instead of jumping from one task to another.
  • They sleep better. (Interesting, right?)
  • They realize they didn’t need nearly as much stuff as they thought they did.

So I’m challenging you to change up your typical Spring Cleaning regimen. Skip the windows and baseboards, and instead, purge like you never have before!

Think you don’t have time for a project like this? Give me 2-3 hours a day for six days, (You can break them up, doing one hour in the morning and two hours at night even!) and see what happens.

THE METHOD

First things first, clear out a space for you to collect the “Donate Pile” and the “Trash Pile.”  You can park your car in the driveway for a few days to make space in the garage, or if you have have the space, designate a room in the house.

Here is your Six Days to a Clutter Free Home Schedule:

Day 1

Dining Room and Office

Day 2

Kitchen and Extra Closets (linen closet, coat closet, etc.)

Day 3

1-2 Bedrooms

Day 4

1-2 Bedrooms

Day 5

Living Room and/or Family Room and Laundry Room

Day 6

Bonus Room and Bathrooms

THE RULES FOR EVERY ROOM:

Start with drawers/shelves/special storage, then move to closets, and then move to decor. Don’t let your piles get out of hand.  Put items to donate in a box or bag that you can easily carry to your car, and put trash items straight into a trash bag. Commit to finishing!

  • If you haven’t needed it for 3 months, it goes.
  • If it’s seasonal, put it in a tote with the name of the season on it and store it.
  • If you have more than 3 trinkets on a piece of furniture, that is too much.
  • If it’s a keepsake, but it’s dated and the only real job it has is to collect dust, store it in a tote with the rest of your keepsakes. (NOTE: keepsakes are items that have real sentimental value, not caricature drawings you got of yourself in college at an amusement park.)

Here’s the thing about purging and decluttering: it can be addictive. If you can be disciplined enough to go hard and completely finish your Day One rooms, Day Two will be even easier!

Bonus tip: Don’t worry about a yard sale! Just bless someone else, or send it to Goodwill. I have watched so many women, myself included, stall out because they spend way too much time and effort trying to sell their junk to people that are going to nickel and dime them on the mustard yellow stained potholder anyway.

Happy Decluttering! And happy Spring!

P.S. If you’re still worried about your windows and baseboards when you’re all finished, hire them out! (You can trust a stranger to clean for you, but you can’t trust a stranger to de-clutter for you!)