Home Organization - Edited by Laura Wheeler
Decluttering and Doing
Swift Attacks
The second step in this
program, which can be practiced along side the first, is to
get rid of things in your life and home that get in the way
of being efficient in building habits and setting routines.
The companion to this is quick attacks on trouble spots when
you have a bit of time to do it.
While you are working hard
on setting a habit, it is the only long term goal you should
be working on. The things listed on this page are things you
do, and tactics you use, to get little bits of work done
when you have the time to do so, and the burning desire to
do something to make a difference. This kind of task can
make a huge difference in whether or not you see progress
(though progress often happens when we cannot see results
right away).
The key is to learn how to
make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time.
To focus in on the tasks that will really show and really
help us see that we have done something. Tasks in this
category are aimed at this concept. Over time, as you make
improvements, the kinds of things you do will get more and
more detailed. That is the natural progression of success.
But to begin, the tasks may be very small, or extemely
messy, either one! You need not finish each time, it is
progress even if it is only partly done. The important thing
is that you worked and accomplished something, it need not
be done to any one else's standards. Progress, no matter how
small, will eventually get you there.
We suggest that you do this
program in whatever method works for you. Here are some
tactics to use:
1. The 5 minute
swift attack. Work for 5 minutes on the worst spot. No
pressure to finish it all. Children will need to be
encouraged to stay busy for the whole 5 minutes if they
work with you.
2. 15 minute blocks. Set
the timer for 15 minutes. You can do two sessions back to
back, or one session a day, or work for 15 minutes then
play for 15 minutes, however you want. Kids can work well
with this also.
3. Marathon Cleaning or
Decluttering. Some people dread starting, but once
started they get enthusiastic and feel the need to
continue. The key is just to get started. Then go until
the next logical break, or until you finish an objective.
Be sure to give kids a break or frequent rewards if you
do this, and do not be obsessive about finishing the job
in a certain amount of time. If it takes several blocks
of time over several days, then feel good about it
anyway, at least it is getting done.
4. Raise the standard
long term. Don't expect Martha Stewart to move in on the
first round. Get the worst on the first pass (or several
passes - this phase can last months). Then add in the
next level of clean and maintain that for a
while.
5. Make it a game.
Especially if kids are helping. Making it a game or
contest can help motivate them and you for a short period
of work.
6. Occasional efforts can
lead to daily habits. Again, no pressure for this to
happen immediately. Let it occur as you feel more like
making it happen. Give an effort when you feel like it,
and it will gradually grow in you and in your family.
Just don't push the expectation of it happening fast, or
you will get discouraged.
7. For business, break
tasks into manageable blocks. Focus on completing the
small tasks, not the huge job, and the huge job takes
care of itself.
8. Don't keep a list
unless a list is going to help you. If you lose lists, or
get discouraged by them, find another way to keep track
of things.
Ok, that is HOW you
do it, here is WHAT you do:
1. Declutter your home. I
cannot tell you how important this is. Get rid of junk
first. If it is broken, torn, stained, not re-usable, or
if you have had it for years and have not used it and
likely won't, then get rid of it. If the replacement cost
is less than $20, you can get rid of it and not have to
worry if you ever need it again because it is easily
replaceable. Give it away, sell it, or throw it out. No
guilt. It is just less stuff you have to clean around.
Get LOTS of Garbage Bags. Use them!
2. Declutter your Life.
Get rid of activities that take a lot of time but give
you little return. If you feel like you are controlled by
your activities, then you have too many. What to cut is a
very personal thing. Sometimes you have to tell other
people NO, and sometimes you have to disappoint them. You
may have to make an unselfish decision to give up
something you like (such as a hot bath, extra sleep, or
computer time), but decluttering your life can be very
liberating also!
3. Sort at the door. If
you get distracted in the middle of doing things, then
sort at the door. When you are putting things away, get a
box to put all the things in that do not go in the room
you are working on. Put them away when you are finished
in the room.
4. Clean fast. Clean up
the messiest most visible spots first. Throw out any
garbage, and scrub the ugliest things first. Then if you
have time, go back and be picky.
5. Rearrange your
furniture. Nothing like this for getting at years old
dirt. Also, if you rearrange it, you may find a way to
make things easier to clean.
6. Get at the spots that
collect clutter. Tops of tables, desks, etc.
Straightening one area that people are likely to look at
will quickly make your home look better.
7. FlyLady says Shine
your Sink. We say, pick a symbolic item that will help to
motivate you if you learn to keep it clean. In our
livingroom, that is the piano. People seem to put stuff
on it if it is not watched. When it is clean, the whole
room looks cleaner.
8. Take out the trash.
Any trash. Be it garbage in the can, or garbage in your
way, or garbage on your TV. Get it out of your home
whenever you have the time to do a quick clean. Getting
garbage out instantly brightens the home.
9. Some things should
wait. If the task is one that you will do, and it will
get undone almost as fast as you do it, then don't do it
until you have a solution for keeping it from getting
undone so fast. If your desk is perpetually messy, find a
way to keep it neat. Otherwise, no matter how long you
spend, or how often you do it, it will be like sweeping
ants... Unproductive. If the task requires a routine to
keep it clean, wait until you are ready to do the routine
to try to make a major change.
10. A business operates
on the same principles as a home. Declutter, quick
cleanups, and developing good habits are the starting
points. Cut out tasks as much as possible that accomplish
little but take a lot of time.
Things to
Remember
Be pleased with any
accomplishment. The goal of this step is not to get your
home completely in order. It is just to quickly make a
difference, or to tackle one area, and to do something
that will help you in the long term to see that your
efforts matter. This is not the time for perfectionism.
It is time to give yourself full credit for EVERYTHING
you do, and to get rid of things that distract from
accomplishing your goals.
Some days I go over my
day at the end of the day and think, "What have I
accomplished?" And I can think of nothing. I learned on
those days to remember that I have maintained. Many days
are like this. All I do is keep the messes that a huge
family constantly generates from getting worse.
Maintaining is nothing to be derogatory about!
Maintaining is good. Especially since most days that I
just maintain are days when something unusual comes
up.
In the beginning, we
would get in a 15-30 minute cleaning or decluttering
session about once a week. We do a marathon job (and it
has gone from just cleaning to home improvement
sometimes), about twice a week now. We have daily
routines in place to maintain and keep things from
getting too messy, but it is a constant battle here.
FlyLady says eventually your house almost cleans itself.
Ours never will, because there are too many bodies here
creating messes - it is the nature of big families that
there is a lot of work, all the time, to keep it less
tidy than a smaller family does on half the work. Ok, I
can deal with that. But at first getting in only one 15
minute session a week seemed like we would never make
progress that way! But we did! And we still do. Somehow
those short sessions added up to more than the sum of the
effort originally expended.
So do what you can, when
you can. And give credit for what you DO, instead of
beating yourself up about what you did NOT do. Progress,
no matter how small, eventually gets you
there.
