Days Nine & Ten - It's about time!

Over the last couple of days on our beginner baby step challenge we've learned how to 'declutter a few minutes at a time' and that we 'declutter anything in 15 minutes.'

Fly Lady's approach to decluttering is that we can tackle it a little bit, consistently over the course of time in small increments. On day nine, we added a 5 minute room rescue to our morning routine. We are to spend just five minutes clearing a path in our worst room. The room you'd never want anyone to see. For me, that's my basement. Albeit a finished basement, it's the landing spot for all things in purgatory, or with no home at all. On an average day I'd have gifts for family members not yet sent, arts and craft supplies I didn't have time to put away, papers I need to "file" or just things that I know I want to keep but I'm just not sure where to put them. And since clutter attracts clutter, it becomes an inferno and somehow multiplies day by day. Occasionally it will get to me enough where I'll spend a good portion of a day trying to make it pretty once again. But in reality, I rarely have that time without a one year old on my hip or getting summoned for a snack. Yesterday, I took Fly Lady's advice and spent just five minutes clearing the path. I used my handy dandy kitchen timer, hit start and began my 5 minute room rescue. I made some serious headway in my basement and almost didn't want to stop after the timer went off (actually I didn't stop right away). Within a few weeks my basement will no longer be my 'dirty little secret', but a place I will be proud to show off.

Today, we took it a step further and learned about the power of 15. Taking just 15 minutes each day, you can declutter anything. On my list: My pantry. My kids' toyroom. My coat closet. My basement (see paragraph above). She walks us through tips on how to properly declutter. She goes into greater detail but here they are in a nutshell:

1. Decide when and how often to declutter. Do a small amount over time so you don't burn out.
2. Have boxes and garbage bags handy, labeled with "Give Away", "Throw Away", and "Put Away".
3. Set your timer for your predetermined amount of time.
   
4. Start at the entrance to the room (or go from top to bottom if decluttering a small space).
5. Ask yourself if it's useful or beautiful. If not, toss it or donate it.
6. Toss the garbage immediately. Put the donations in your car immediately. When the Put Away box gets filled, put the items back in their home.

If you clicked on the link above, you'll see I left out a cheesy song about "let me go, please release me" (as if sung from the clutter's point of view) but if you feel so inclined...

So in 15 minutes today, I tackled my back entry. I've really been wanting to declutter my pantry, but felt like once I got started I wouldn't want to stop (and well, a girl can only accomplish so much during the little one's nap). Doesn't that defy Fly Lady's rule, though? That anything can be decluttered in 15 minutes? I'll have to bite my tongue and tackle the pantry another day and see if it really can be done.

Today, I didn't follow the rules exactly. I didn't have the three boxes/bags, but rather just one for donations and did the other two mentally. I figured I'd use most of my 15 minutes finding the boxes and knowing my type A personality, I'd end up wasting time making some pretty signs for them on my computer. Since my purse was in the back entry and it really needed to be decluttered, I spent over half the time going through my purse pulling out old receipts and filing them and making a pile of lipstick, jewelry and other personal items that needed to make their way back up to my bedroom. In 15 minutes I had a clean back entry AND a clean purse. Nice. I'll take it.

As for the other things I'm supposed to be keeping up with on this journey, I'm doing most of them, although to be honest, can't seem to tackle all of them exactly the way I want to everyday. I've been getting dressed, but not to the shoes. Here's the thing...I need a cute, comfy pair of lace up shoes. Wait. Was I just making an excuse to go shopping? I did, however, find a pair of lace up shoes in my attic that look like the old bowling shoes we used to wear in 1996. I wore them one day. Yeah. With a clean house and sane mind, comes looking like a dork. I'll need to work on that one. If anyone finds any cute lace up shoes for everyday wear - please post about it!!

I am proud to say my sink shines most of the day now. Yay! (Yes, that was the ex-cheerleader coming out in me.)

By the way...is anyone out there? Please post a comment here on the blog so I can have some company on this journey. I'm starting to miss you all.