Thursday, December 31, 2009

Kids & Clutter

It is not easy to function in a cluttered space. Everything takes twice as long because of having to move things you don't need or find things you do need.

I would hate for this tendency towards clutter to be passed on to my kids. There's no reason they should have to struggle with that all their lives. I hope that I can help them see how much easier things go when the home is tidy.

My kids will be getting involved in my declutter project. I think it will do them some good to be a part of this process. They will be able to help keep things organized once the project is done.

I look forward to having my kids help me.

How about you? Do your kids help you organize your home?


Just FYI: we will be ringing in the new year with my folks at their house. Have a safe New Year's Eve!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Reward For Having Clutter?

Playing online games really messes up a person’s daily to-do list. I’ve kept going back to a particular game on Facebook throughout the day today. I can’t believe how addicting this game is! I’m going to have to make sure I’ve gotten everything done on my list for the day before I start playing that game.

It’s so easy for me to get distracted (or choose to be distracted) by other things instead of what I should be doing. I really need to have a good reward system for myself if this clutter project is going to work for me.

How about you? Are you easily distracted? How do you handle it?

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Procrastination Must Be My Middle Name

Why is it some people seem to have very little trouble keeping a tidy, clutter-free home, yet others’ homes seem to be almost bursting at the seams with stuff? I’m sure the tidy home people wonder why we clutter bugs can’t seem to get it together.

It’s not that we don’t care, we do! It just seems like we’re fighting a losing battle sometimes. See, I’m a procrastinator from way back so it would mean trying to work against years of ingrained habits.

Another thing to consider is that I don’t want my family to feel like they’re being pushed aside in favor of organizing the home. My day needs to be balanced between time spent with family and handling all the household stuff, including getting rid of clutter.

My clutter project is going to last for probably the entire year because I know how excited I get at the beginning of my projects jumping in with both feet, wanting to get things done and then somewhere towards the middle I run out of energy or my interest fades or it seems like too much work. I know that is because I take on too much or somehow make the process too complicated.

Starting in January, I will be following a “do it now” principle that should help to curb my tendency to procrastinate. Hmm…I guess that’s it in a nutshell, isn’t it? If I would just do things right away then my home probably wouldn’t have the clutter trouble it does.

Have you been putting things off lately? Please post a comment about your clutter. Now is the time to conquer your clutter!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas clutter

I can't believe how much clutter is created from a simple gift opening!

Yesterday (December 27), we had our Christmas with my side of the family. We couldn't celebrate on Christmas Day due to a huge blizzard that moved...well, slowly crawled is more like it...through our area. We had a great time, ate lots of food, and chatted up a storm. Everyone helped clean up the wrapping paper, boxes and bows in the living room. My mom & I washed most of the dishes while everyone was still around.

As I washed the remaining dishes earlier today, I thought about how long it took me to get the house to look presentable for Christmas -- in other words trying to hide the clutter. Not to mention trying to get the gifts wrapped, some goodies baked, and the special dishes and serving pieces brought out of storage. I wished that there were some nice fairy (or elf!) that would do it all for me.

Now, I do realize that things don't just jump into place by themselves or otherwise. But it seems that every year I procrastinate to the point that I wonder if I'll get finished in time.

The procrastination continues after Christmas: Why can't I just use or put away the gifts we got from others? It also seems to take a while to get the decorations and tree put away.

January 4, 2010 will kick off a whole year of change for this clutter bug. I will focus on de-cluttering my whole house. I'm sure that there will be other changes that happen along this journey as well.

I'm looking forward to the changes.

Care to join me?

Saturday, December 26, 2009

The Clutterbug's Journey

As much as I try to fight it clutter seems to follow me around. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve said, “I know I have that thing somewhere. I just don’t know where it went.” My house has developed a huge case of pile-itis (huge piles of stuff with nowhere to go). The most common place for this is in the basement. It’s such a headache to go looking for anything there because of the number of boxes to sort through. Most of them aren’t labeled or in any sensible order.

Enough is enough! I am going to start organizing now. I’ve attempted to organize the basement in the past but failed miserably because I tried to do too much at once and felt overwhelmed by the huge mess I’d made sorting through everything. This time will be different because I have a plan of attack that I think I will stick with.

I have decided that I will dedicate a full year to organizing my home. I know that I can be a procrastinator so I will need to create some goals along the way for myself. This project is just too big for one day or even two days so I will break it down into bite-sized pieces.

Now, I realize for some people this kind of project may not take the whole year—or even a whole month—to get this done, but I want to be certain that the clutter won't have a chance to return this time.

So, I have started this blog to document my journey out of clutter with the hope that others will be inspired to join me in this project. I will take pictures so that you may see the progress I’ve made.

I will be starting this journey on January 4, 2010. If you'd like to join me in this project, please let me know in the comment section of this blog.

Thanks,
Allison (aka Super Clutter Bug)