This picture CRACKED me up! Because, really? Really?
Summer is a great time to de-clutter and get ready for the brand new YOU that will show up in September (right? don't we always think the real us will show up when the kids go back to school?)
1. Supplies: Get a garbage bag for trash, a white kitchen bag for donate and a brown shopping bag for books. Simply staging the supplies can be enough to help you START. If you want to de-clutter this weekend, stage the bags in the room. When you stage you will start thinking it through . . . Where will I take the donate? What day does the trash get collected? I'm visiting Aunt Molly in a couple weeks, I can set up a different donate bag for her. My spouse can take the kids to that puppet show on Saturday so the house is quiet.
2. Timing: Whatever time you think you can tolerate doing the task, especially if you have avoided the area for awhile, divide by two and set your timer for that time less 10 minutes. You want to feel victorious and energized after the session, not sad and defeated. You have got to build up your endurance for long de-cluttering sessions.
3. Perfect Solutions: Please, please, PUH-LEASE let these go. You will not know what to do with everything. Create a category for "I don't know what to do with this." And allow that to simply exist and grow and pile up. The answers often bubble up from the movement of your body and the objects, NOT from thinking.
3.5 When the timer goes off (review: amount of time you think you can endure divided by two and then subtract 10 minutes: Example: I will organize for 2 hours! Ok, I will set my timer for 50 minutes.) Set your timer for those last 10 minutes and put things to "rights", trash in the trash can, donate bags in the car, bags to Aunt Molly with the suitcases, books to donate in the car too). If you skip this part and leave bags and debris around you will think/believe you did a bad job, aren't good at de-cluttering and feel defeated. If you COMPLETE the putting things to "rights" you will walk down the hall, peek in the room and think, "I am efficient, capable and creative. I'm so glad I found the bag of size 6 pants for Joey, he'll need them soon. I'm gonna organize a little more tomorrow, I'm good at it!"