by Peter Walsh
Storage areas
Discard items no longer needed or used, store like items together, and clearly label storage containers and boxes. Remember that basements are often cold and damp while attics are prone to extreme temperatures. Check to make sure your stored items are surviving the elements. If you have a rented storage space, keep in mind that storage outside your home should only be used in extreme circumstances, and then only for a short period of time. Off-site storage is expensive and, like the old saying, out of sight is out of mind. Now’s the time to reconsider your off-site storage space. How long have you had it? What if you take the plunge and sell or discard everything in there? Would your life change in any way (other than that you’d have one less bill to pay)?
May—Discover the Great Outdoors
A clutter-free and organized home frees you from stress and enables you to spend more time doing the things you want to do. Spending time outside your house is harder than just hanging around at home. It requires initiative, planning, and energy. But the rewards are great—it’s not like you’re going to build a lifetime of memories by sitting in front of the TV. Take some time this month to focus on spending time outside of your house.
Prepare for the great outdoors
Check and fix outdoor play equipment: swings, slides, bikes, etc. Fire up the grill to make sure it’s in working order. Hose off outdoor furniture and (if you’re lucky enough to have one) make sure your pool equipment is in working order for those long, hot days ahead. Be realistic about which outdoor stuff you do and don’t use. That picnic backpack someone gave you as a wedding gift? It may be stylish, but if you haven’t used it yet, it’s time for it to go. What about the bikes, Rollerblades, or the basketball hoop you never put up? These are big items that take up lots of space. If they’re only fantasies, now’s the time to enact the fantasy or ditch the item.
Plan a summer vacation
Now’s the time to use all that money you made at yard sales or saved by not buying things you didn’t need. Gather the whole family together to talk about summer possibilities and plans. Involve everyone in the planning and decision making. Divide tasks so that everyone has a role to play in organizing the family vacation.
Organize kids’ summer activities
Work with your kids to schedule their summer vacation activities. A simple weekly chart of what’s happening can create a great deal of enthusiasm and help you plan ahead. Involve other families in the neighborhood to share the load. If you plan day trips to the pool, beach, or museums in advance, schedule play dates and picnics, and create anticipation for any family trips or camp, then your kids will have a clear sense of how the summer will pass. This sense of order is both reassuring and exciting—and very helpful when it comes time for that “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” back-to-school essay.
June—Teach Your Children Well
“But Mom, I’m bored!” Nobody wants to hear that all summer. Now’s the time to get your children involved in the maintenance of good systems in your home. Reward their positive behavior and let them see that decluttering and organization have definite benefits.
Tackle your kids’ spaces
Work with your children to identify what is working and what’s not in their bedrooms. Make a project of their personal space. Identify as many zones as make sense for your child—reading, clothes, homework, crafts, computer games, laundry. Have fun making artistic labels for the areas. Work with your child to make sure that items are in their correct area.
Make kid-friendly closets
Our closets need change as we age, so make sure your child’s closet suits him or her. Are her favorite things easily accessible? Make room by putting off-season items high up on shelves, get everything but shoes off the floor, and buy or build appropriate storage containers for the things she needs every day. Help your child decide which clothes and shoes it’s time to discard. Before you know it, you’ll have a clean closet.
Tackle the toys
Gather old toys, games, and books that are no longer used or age-appropriate. Even consider establishing a giveaway bin or a broken-toy bin so your child can make these decisions part of regular cleanup. When you go to make the charity drop-off, bring your children along. That way they can make the donation themselves and learn the value of giving to others less fortunate than themselves.
Limits and routines
Your child’s toy, book, and clothing limits should be clearly set by the size of the toy containers, bookshelves, and dresser or closet. Reinforce these agreed-upon limits. Make it part of your household routine to identify items that need to be donated to charity or sold at a yard sale. Without the pressure of school, create or revise a schedule of chores. Make sure you and your child agree that it will still work when school starts again and homework becomes a factor.
Rewards
No child is going to enjoy sitting around organizing his room all summer. Make the projects as fun as you can. Find a balance between organization and play. Spread projects out throughout the summer. It never hurts to schedule less-than-thrilling tasks next to favorite activities. For example, you might go to the pool every Saturday after addressing one of the zones in your child’s room. And remember to keep everything on a calendar which you and your child discuss and anticipate.
July—Have a Yard Sale
The middle of summer is a great time to purge, and the long days are perfect for a yard sale. Don’t have a yard? You’re not off the hook. Those warm nights can be great for tackling your clutter digitally.
Go online and make a dollar
Consider using an online auction site to get the best price for items you are looking to sell. Not everything sells well online, but sporting goods, electronics, brand-name clothes, jewelry, collectibles, and automotive parts are some of the items that generally return great prices. If you’re a registered eBay user, you can look up completed sales for items similar to yours to see if they actually sold and at what price. No point in posting your item and paying the listing fees if there’s no demand for your “treasure.” If you’re not tech-savvy or don’t have the time to deal with posting the item, corresponding with the buyer, packing it up, and sending it, remember that you can use an eBay trading assistant if there’s one in your area. You’ll pay a commission, but it’s all free money as far as I’m concerned.
The neighborhood yard sale
Lots of items don’t lend themselves to online sales. Heavy furniture that requires crating or large, awkward, inexpensive items like bulletin boards can be more trouble than they’re worth if you’re not experienced with shipping. For all those items you don’t want to sell online, organize the First Annual Neighborhood Yard Sale (for details on how to organize a yard sale). If you and your neighbors organize together, you’ll draw a bigger crowd and make better profits. Not only is this a great way to declutter, but you get to meet your neighbors and have a fun social day at the same time. Your kids can sell their used toys or set up a lemonade stand. But don’t fall victim to your own scheme: No buying your neighbor’s junk! And remember—whatever doesn’t sell goes straight to charity or the trash! Make sure you’ve factored that into the schedule.
August—Prepare for Back-to-School
Once school starts up again, chaos descends. The pace in any household dramatically increases and it can be hard to keep up. Some good planning and a little organization can smooth the reentry into the school year and make your life that much easier!
Clothes and gear
Check your child’s school clothing to make sure they have not outgrown it. Make sure your child has a sensible backpack and wet weather gear. For younger kids, purchase and hang a five-pocket clothing bag so that a week of clothes can be laid out in advance.
Home office and school supplies
Make sure your home office is fully stocked and check your children’s school supplies. Decide where you can consolidate their craft or homework supplies and your office stuff so you can avoid duplication and unnecessary pu
rchases. Organize the items so they are easy to locate and easy to replenish.
Digital cleanup
If your house is looking pretty clutter-free, set aside a few hours on a slow night to declutter and organize your computer files and digital assets. Delete old files; archive important files that are no longer active; delete poor-quality photos; post favorite photos to online sharing sites, or save them to CDs and send them out to family and friends. Download and install a desktop search tool like MSN Search’s Windows Desktop Search to help you easily find items anywhere on your computer, including e-mails and attachments, in the same way a search engine searches the Web for you.
Shopping for school
Ask your children to draw up a list of what they think they need for the new school year, then check it together against what they already have. Use the resulting list as a basis for planning a shopping day. Consider giving them a budget and letting them make some purchases.
September—Make the Season Switch
As winter approaches, it’s time to open up space in your closets for those bulky sweaters and to make sure that your summer items are properly stored out of the way.
Make space in your closets
Use a closet in the guest bedroom or another suitable space in the basement or attic to store your off-season clothes. Make sure the storage location is cool and dry and that all stored clothes are clean. Mothballs or cedar blocks will help keep moths and other pests at bay.
Discard what you no longer wear
Every time you switch clothes for the season, you should give your closet a quick once-over. If you didn’t wear it this summer, are you really going to store it all winter only not to wear it next summer? Get rid of it. Also discard summer clothes that are torn, soiled, or just out of fashion.
October—Brace Yourself for Winter
Those falling leaves are a sign that winter is around the corner, but don’t go into hibernation mode yet. Better to clean out your garage and winterize your home before the first frost.
Garage cleanup
Your car is one of your most expensive and useful possessions. The goal here is to park it in the garage so the winter elements don’t diminish your investment. Take everything out of the garage, sweep out dust and debris, and hose down the floor. Discard unused items, arrange like items together. If you haven’t already, now’s the time to install sturdy shelving to clear items off the floor.
Designate zones
Specify where items belong. Install shelving, a Peg-Board, and racks for sporting goods, tools, and storage bins. Label everything clearly. You can even mark areas on the floor for the kids’ bikes. If the garage is a tight fit for your car, install mirrors to make parking easier. Check each zone to make sure it is meeting your storage needs.
Winterize the house
Clear gutters of leaves and debris. Have your chimney, fireplace, and furnace inspected. Make sure all your gardening tools and equipment are properly cleaned and stored out of the weather. Clean and install storm windows. Check doors and windows for drafts and reseal accordingly.
November—Gear Up for the Holidays
The holidays are supposed to be fun, right? So why spend hours looking for parking in the mall parking lot only to rush around grabbing last-minute gifts that you only half believe your family and friends will like? The secret to really feeling the holiday spirit is great organization. A little advance planning will keep you focused on family and celebration—not stress and discord!
Entertaining
Prepare for any meals and events you may be hosting using the planner on the following page.
Holiday card and gift lists
Consider using a PDA or a computer to electronically store names and addresses. This will enable you to quickly and easily print name and address labels for your holiday cards. It’s also an efficient way to immediately save the addresses on the envelopes of cards you receive.
Take notes
Pay attention—you’ll be surprised at how often family and friends mention items they’re hoping or planning to buy or that you see an item you know one of them would love. Keep a list with the gift idea, the person it’s for, and the date you had the idea on a page at the back of your daily planner. When it comes time to shop, the list will jog your memory. If it’s been several months, you might want to check with someone in the know to make sure your recipient hasn’t already bought or received the item.
Consider giving an “experience” rather than a “thing”
A concert, theater ticket, restaurant gift certificate, or even a donation to a particular charity can leave a more lasting impression than another bottle of perfume or unnecessary article of clothing.
Keep the gift-giving under control
It’s nice to be generous, but don’t go overboard. There are lots of ways to exercise restraint when it comes to giving gifts, particularly if you have a large family or gift-heavy social circle. Gifts comprise a large chunk of clutter because they tend to be items with value that aren’t exactly what you want or need. Suggest that the family or group set a price limit on gifts, use a family lottery to choose one person only to buy for, or purchase gifts only for the kids.
Go digital and save some legwork
Shop online—it’s easy, fast, and shipping is often free around the holidays. If you’re traveling, have gifts shipped directly to your destination. But make sure the recipient will be home to accept them, and make sure they don’t get opened before you arrive! You can also buy groceries and other holiday purchases (even trees!) online. Save yourself a shopping trip, and spare yourself those impulse purchases that tend to go hand in hand with holiday shopping.
December—Relax and Enjoy
As the rush and celebration of this month descend, let your vision for the life you want to live dance in your head (alongside the vision of sugarplums). The year is drawing to a close. Stop, take a moment to yourself, and reflect upon the past year.
Celebrate your successes
Enjoy the season, enjoy your family, and enjoy yourself! We seldom make time to reflect on our dreams or our achievements. Set aside time to think how you’ve tried to live a simpler, richer life with less junk. Be happy about your successes, be clear about where you feel you failed, and be realistic about what you can achieve in the new year.
Commit to making the changes you want
The number one New Year’s resolution in America is to lose weight. For the coming year, why not consider shedding the extra weight of clutter that fills your home and bogs down your life. Commit to removing two garbage bags of items a day from your home—one of trash and one of items you’re donating to charity—until the clutter is under control.
There’s no way around it: Clutter doesn’t clear itself. Staying ahead of it takes time and effort. I’m not a magician, but I can promise you that if you create new traditions, the clutter will never get out of control, and the words “It’s all too much!” will never cross your lips again.
Afterword
Take What You’ve Learned into the World
AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK I am asked why I do what I do. People say, “Aren’t all of those people slobs?” or “Won’t they just fill their homes with clutter again ten minutes after you leave?” or, most frequently, “Why don’t they just clean up their own mess?” It’s enough of a pain to organize one’s own life, why would I want to wade through other people’s stuff?
This is a great question we should all ask ourselves at various points in our lives: Why do I do what I do?
A couple years ago I received an e-mail from a man in Arizona who had watched me work on Clean Sweep and wondered if I could possibly help him. Max had been married for twenty-five years and had two children who were in their early twenties. Four years earlier, his wife had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and after extensive surgery and radical chemotherapy had returned home. Unfortunately, the person who returned to the family home was radically different from the woman Max had married and the mother
his children had known all their lives. She had become very unpredictable, antisocial, and developed an intense need to hold on to everything—clothing, mail, magazines, newspapers, even empty food containers, jars, and tins. Any attempt to remove the clutter made her very agitated, sometimes hysterical. It was not worth upsetting her so much and so the clutter grew and grew.
Throughout this time, Max’s daughter became increasingly despondent and was diagnosed with severe depression. As time passed, Max’s wife’s condition slowly deteriorated and she returned to the hospital frequently. When Max e-mailed me, it had been three months since his wife had passed away. Two weeks after the funeral, Max’s daughter took her own life.
Here was a man who was not quite fifty and had suffered horrendous loss. His son was away at college and he was alone in a house containing the clutter his ill wife had clung to so dearly. He hadn’t entered his daughter’s bedroom since her death. His deep grief was mingled with such an embarrassment at the state of the house that he couldn’t bring himself to ask anyone he knew for help.
Max asked if I could come to Arizona and help him deal with belongings that filled the family home. I did so using many of the decluttering and organization techniques that are in this book. Of course, Max’s situation was unique, but the power that the things in that home had over him, the crushing impact of memories, and the sense that he could not tackle this job alone are common to every home I enter.
Max and I worked together for three days to clear the clutter from his home. We dealt with his wife’s and daughter’s belongings in a way that honored and treasured their memories, but acknowledged that they were gone forever. At the end of our time together, the transformation in Max was astounding. It was as if a massive burden had been lifted from him. Was he still grief-stricken? Certainly. But was he better prepared to deal with the issues facing him and to move ahead in a healthy and balanced way? I honestly think so. The last thing that Max said to me as I left for Los Angeles was, “Thank you—this experience has freed me from so much and really changed my life.”