Take a Permanent Vacation from Your Clutter
Brought to you by Joan Kosmachuk, Professional Organizer
and Personal Life Coach
“What may be done at anytime will be done at no time – Scottish proverb
Summer vacation is a wonderful opportunity to get a little distance and perspective on our cluttered lives. Campers and cottagers see first hand how simple life can be when there are fewer “things” that need caretaking. Hotel guests revel in the relaxation that comes from entering a clean and organized space at the end of a long journey. Staying with family or friends gives the opportunity to compare our own lifestyle with others and either vow to do better or congratulate ourselves that our clutter is not that bad yet. It’s a great time for making promises to ourselves about how things are going to change when we get home. How life is going to be simpler and less cluttered this fall. But then, we get home with the luggage and the laundry, the brochures and souvenirs. The hallway fills up fast and spills into the other rooms of the house. The phone starts ringing. The chauffer services for the kids begin again. You come home tired after a busy workday and all your best intentions to de-clutter and simplify your life become no more than beachside dreams.
Why not set aside one week’s vacation this year and get your home de-cluttered so that you can have a permanent vacation from your clutter year-round.
Not sure where to begin? Start in one room and move through your home one room at a time following this simple guide:
DAY ONE
- Set up 8 large empty boxes/plastic bins in the room where you are working. They should be labeled: ‘Laundry’, ‘Trash’, ‘Recycle’, ‘Donate’, ‘Returns’ (i.e. library books, DVD rentals, borrowed items, store returns etc.), ‘Important Papers’ ‘Belongs Elsewhere: in House’, ‘Keep’. If it is applicable to your situation you may add a 9 th “Sell” bin for gently used items you hope to sell at a garage sell or on EBay/consignment store etc. and/or a 10 th box for items you plan to have repaired.
- Clear the floor of everything but the furniture. Do not handle any item more than once. Place each item in the most appropriate box/bin. When a box is full, set it aside, replace it, and keep going. We will deal with the contents of each box later.
- Each time you complete a room, stop and reward yourself for your progress with a brief 10-15 minute break.
- When all your floors are cleared, stop for the day.
DAY TWO
Using the same 8 bin system work through these steps one room at a time:
- Clear everything off your horizontal surfaces (dressers, desks, tables, beds, sofas, chairs etc.) assigning each item to the bin of choice. Items you choose to keep may stay in place if that is their permanent home.
- Each time you complete a room, stop and reward yourself for your progress with a brief 10-15 minute break.
- When all your horizontal surfaces are cleared, stop for the day.
DAY THREE
Using the same 8 bin system work through these steps one room at a time
- Go through each closet in the house and remove all items but the “keep” items assigning each item to the appropriate bin.
- Each time you complete a closet, stop and reward yourself for your progress with a brief 10-15 min break.
- When all your closets have been cleaned out, stop for the day.
DAY FOUR
Using the same 8-bin system work through these steps one room at a time.
- Go through each drawer in your house and remove all items, assigning each to the appropriate bin. You may leave the “keep” items in the drawer they belong.
Each time you complete all the drawers in a room, reward yourself with a 5-10 minute break.
- When all your drawers have been sorted out, stop for the day,
DAY FIVE
Using the same 8-bin system, work through these steps one room at a time.
- Go through each cupboard in your house and remove all items assigning them to the appropriate bin. Items that you are keeping in those cupboards should remain there.
- Each time you complete the cupboards in a room, reward yourself with a 5-10 minute break.
- When all your cupboards have been de-cluttered, stop for the day.
Note: If you are unable to complete these steps in one day, continue the above process for as many additional days as it takes. You may find it less overwhelming to do the complete 5-day process in a single room.
DAY SIX
By this point your entire home should be sorted and each room de-cluttered. Everything remaining outside of the bins should be intentionally kept in the place where it has been left. Now we begin dealing with each of the 10-bin/box categories:
- Laundry – collect all the laundry bins you have filled, move to your laundry room and sort your laundry. Do not do your laundry now, just have it sorted and ready to go.
- Trash – bag all the trash from your bins and place it outside your home in your trash containers for garbage day. If the number of bags exceeds your allotted limit, take a trip to the dump.
- Recycle – sort your recycled items according to the rules of your city/town and place outside for the next scheduled pick-up.
- Donations: Decide where you will donate these items, load them in the car and drop them off immediately or arrange for a charity pick up this week.
- Returns – divide up the contents of your return bins into bags for each of the sub-categories that describe where items are to be returned. Suggestions are: library, store, friend or family member, church, school, etc. Mark each bag clearly with its destination and a return date. Choose a date/time on your calendar for returning the contents of each bag to their rightful place. Place return bags in a box by the front door or in the trunk of your car for easy access on the day of delivery.
- Be sure to take regular breaks after each step and when you have dealt with the first 5 bin categories stop for the day.
DAY SEVEN
- Belongs Elsewhere in the House – return each item from these bins to the place where it is normally stored or used in your home.
- Important Papers: Make 4 piles for your papers. READ, ACT, FILE, SHRED. Place each paper in the appropriate pile on top of your desk. We will deal with these piles later.
- Keep: This bin should contain items you want to keep but that were previously scattered on the floor or horizontal surfaces. Decide where their permanent home should be and store them there.
- Sell/Repair: These items need to be taken out of your home but you may not be able to deal with them immediately. Make specific times/dates on your calendar for holding that garage sale or taking that item in for repair etc. Date each of these boxes and if you have not sold or repaired these items within 6 months, accept the fact that this was wishful thinking and toss or donate the contents.
- With all your bins emptied, be sure to put any empty bins away. Start your laundry and while you are between loads you can return to your desk and deal with your paperwork piles.
Your vacation is over but the benefits of a de-cluttered home will be yours for the whole year to come!
If you need a guide, don’t know what to keep/toss, or want company on your vacation from clutter, consider enlisting the help of a professional organizer. To hire the services of Joan Kosmachuk, please email your request to info@simpleeffects.com or call 617-784-0707.
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