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| I was searching fo a picture, and came across this post. She sounds like me! |
If you do not own Organized Simplicity, I highly recommend it. You can purchase it here. You can still do this challenge without it, but there are some great words in the book. It truly is inspiring!
To quickly summarize the first 8 chapters of the book (because I am already behind :) ) here you go:
Stuff weighs you down. It is a time waster. A money waster. An object of many sleepless nights, for some.
Once you eliminate all the extra "stuff" you have in your home, you will be able to make better use of your time and resources.
The first step to determining what to eliminate is to figure out a family purpose statement. I have read this book about 3 times (not the challenge part, just the first portion) and still have not come up with a purpose statement.
I have some ideas of what I would like, but putting it into words is hard. We'll save that for next month.
I do know what my ideals are. I want a simple home. I would like to be able to invite people over, without stressing out about finding a home for all this stuff I have around the house. I would like to be able to go to the park with my kids, and actually enjoy it, because I am not worried about the home I should be cleaning.
I would love to not worry about finding homes for so many miscellaneous items that we really do not need. I would love to pass up great sales, because I know that that particular item has no place in my home.
You can follow my Organized Home Pinterest board for some inspiration.
Day 1 of the Challenge:
Per the book, you have 5 receptacles. Give, Sell, Maybe, Garbage, Recycle. I am using 3. Give, Garbage, and Recycle.
Tsh advises you to create a garage sale box, and start preparing for a garage sale. That does not work around here. The kids (ok, and I) tend to look through "garage sale" boxes again, just in case there is something we want to keep. And there always is. So, we're boxing things up, taping the boxes, and donating them. Feel free to do whichever would work best for you.
Go through your whole house, getting rid of every item you know has no business there. If you pick something up and think about it for more than 5 seconds, toss it in your "maybe" box and move on to the next item.
Today, you are dealing with the items that basically take no thought. They are visible as soon as you enter a room. Garbage, junk mail, coins scattered throughout, figurines you have on your mantle that are just not that beautiful to you anymore. Do you have a half finished project that has been sitting around for a year? Unless you are positive you are going to finish it, just toss it out today.
I have lots of baby items sitting around my house that my 5 month old has outgrown. Those, I will be selling. If you can, carry your phone around, take pictures of the bigger items you want to sell, and post them on Craigslist or another type of classified in your area. Try doing that by the end of the day.
Just a side note, keep your family members in mind. Don't throw their stuff away, unless you have seriously reached your limit! If they are old enough, give them the tasks, and have them help you go around the house. My 4 year old is helping me. He isn't emotionally tied to much right now. I should learn a thing or two from him!
At the end of the day, take your trash and recycle boxes to the bins outside, and tape up your other boxes. Done!
Ready? Go!
Since it's Friday, you can extend this task a few more days. Monday we'll start on the Living Room.
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