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	Declutter Your Home in 11 Easy Steps

	by Maria Gracia

Feeling overwhelmed at the thought of organizing your home? Start on a SMALLER scale instead and it will be a whole lot easier. For example, instead of starting with the entire house, commit to starting with one room. Follow these 11 steps, and you're well on your way to an organized home:

PICK A ROOM -- ANY ROOM

Decide on what ROOM to start on -- just pick one, no matter how badly you want to tackle every area in the house at once. Try starting with the area that FRUSTRATES you most. Write it at the top of an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. This will be your "Action Sheet".

Example: Bedroom A

CHOOSE AN ENTICING REWARD

Designate an appropriate reward to give yourself, once you have completed the "dumping" portion of the job. The reward concept serves as your MOTIVATION, so be sure to choose something that you'd really enjoy! Write this reward on your Action Sheet.

Example: Treat yourself to a massage or go out for a nice dinner -- whatever it is that you love to do.

SET A DEADLINE

Set a specific "dumping completion deadline" for this one room -- this is the date that you COMMIT to having cleaned out the junk you don't need. Write it on your Action Sheet.

Example: Dumping Deadline -- April 30

SCHEDULE TIME TO DUMP

Look at your calendar and schedule 3 specific dumping DATES (one hour for each). Hopefully this will be enough to complete the dumping portion of the job. Write it on your Action Sheet. Then, post the Action Sheet in a prominent place where you are certain to see it every day, like your bathroom mirror. It will serve as a REMINDER of your goal, deadline, and pending reward.

Example: Dumping Dates -- 4/18 from 6-7 pm, 4/21 from 8-9 am, 4/24 from 2-3 pm

KEEP YOUR APPOINTMENT

When the first dumping day arrives, keep that appointment, just as you would any other important appointment -- no SKIPPING! Bring a bunch of large garbage bags. Play your favorite music in the background. Make it fun so you are more likely to stick with it.

TIME IT

Set a timer for one hour -- one that sounds off when the hour is up. When you know you only have to work for a LIMITED amount of time, the job seems less overwhelming than if you tell yourself, "I'm going to go all day."

SORT THROUGH IT

Pick up one item at a time, and start dumping. Ask yourself what PURPOSE that item serves in your life, and if you can't come up with a good one, let it go. Some things need to go straight in the trash. If you come across items you want to give to CHARITY, designate a special bag for those items. Whatever you are going to keep, just put to one side of the room.

DO IT UNTIL THE TIME IS UP

Continue doing this until the timer goes off. If you prefer to CONTINUE, keep going. Otherwise, stop and follow the same procedures for your next two scheduled dates. Don't let the garbage bags sit there. Make sure they are thrown out now (or donated).

CELEBRATE

Once you've managed to dump everything you don't want or need in that one room, it's time to celebrate. Take advantage of that reward you designated -- you EARNED it!

KEEPING IT ORGANIZED

Now that everything in that room that you wanted dumped is gone, you're ready to begin putting everything you are KEEPING back in an organized manner. Follow some basic organizing rules:

store things NEAREST the point where you will use them
store like or related items TOGETHER
CONTAINERIZE whenever possible
store items according to FREQUENCY of use

Be very careful not to put anything else in this room that you don't want.

REPEAT

Repeat this process for each of the other rooms in your house. It may take some time, but you will be able to DECLUTTER your entire home -- one step at a time.

Maria Gracia is the author of "Finally Organized, Finally Free" and a variety of other organizing guides -- all available directly at www.OnlineOrganizing.com. She specializes in helping people get better organized to live the kind of stress-free life they've always dreamed of. You may visit her website at www.getorganizednow.com.

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