If you struggle with clutter and keeping up around the house WITH ALL THE THINGS, I hope you’ll hang with me for a bit.
For me, housekeeping and clutter control have always been challenging. I’m one of those creative folks whose desks are typically messy and who have trouble focusing on certain tasks. I’ve been called a daydreamer, a clutterbug and an absent-minded professor. My favorite is my hubby’s pet name for me: “Random Woman.” Yeah, it’s kind of like my super power.
I’ve written about various organizational projects like my pantry and a kitchen drawer. The places I’ve decluttered ARE better. Now I want to see results in more areas of my home.
Change your mind
Lately I’ve been paying more attention to my thoughts with the intention of making them more positive and productive. One of the areas I’ve always had garbage-truck-loads of negativity is in the area of maintaining my home.
When a job is creative, like cooking or doing a DIY project, I get energized, excited and enthusiastic. When a job is routine and repetitive and BORING, I get distracted, discombobulated and discouraged.
I look around at drifts of dust and mounds of clutter and think, “Wow! I’m a terrible housekeeper” and “I will never get this under control.” When I try to implement new systems, I get sidetracked, and the whole cycle of discouragement starts again.
In one of my many moments of homemaker frustration, I came across “A Slob Comes Clean” Dana K. White online. She’s funny, authentic and encouraging and has a huge audience. I realized that a lot of people have the same struggles. Many of them are caring, creative types who can manage complex projects, but they struggle with the everyday tasks to manage well-kept homes.
If you agonize over outer disorder, try Dana’s podcast. I’ve heard all the episodes. She’s so encouraging and real, y’all. I’ve also learned gobs of helpful approaches in her books.
“Managing Your Home Without Losing Your Mind” has a wonderful common sense approach. Two things I’ve implemented from the book are to do my dishes daily and tackling the laundry one day each week.
“Decluttering at the Speed of Life” helps me with Dana’s first decluttering question: “If I needed this item, where would I look for it first?” She follows it up with this game changer: “Take it there now.” That’s the key to not making a bigger mess when you’re decluttering. Whether you have five minutes or five hours, you can make progress.
Dana says in her podcast and books that she believes she will always struggle with housekeeping. But when stuff gets out of control, she can more quickly restore some level of order because she’s been decluttering.
Thoughts of home
Because I REALLY want to get to the creative DIY projects in my home, I need to bring more order to my spaces. This time, I’m choosing a different mindset. Instead of the “you’re such a messy person” refrain in my brain, I’m going to tell myself something different.
My new mantra is “each day, my house is getting better.” Better could mean I took 60 seconds and scraped the dried pancake batter off the stove knob or it could mean I cleaned for two hours.
To help me break my attachment to stuff that could be useful some day, I’m going to think, “what in my home would bless someone shopping at Goodwill?”
To get into these new mindsets and make good progress so I can move on to more exciting endeavors, I’m planning to do a 30-Day Clutter Challenge for the month of September.
Each week, I plan to spend 90 minutes focusing on decluttering a different area of my home. I want to aim for 15 minutes six days a week, but I won’t let myself off the hook if I miss a day. On the seventh day, I can indulge my creative brain and think about what I want to do in that space to make it more lovely.
Breakdown of Clutter Challenge
- Week 1: the master bedroom
- Week 2: bathrooms
- Week 3: the kitchen
- Week 4: living areas
I’m not exactly sure how the breakdown of time will be in each space. My closet is such a huge mess that I could spend the whole week just dealing with it. I’ll probably spend three or four days in there and then move on to the dresser.
Doing this challenge also will mean I’m posting short items on social media more often throughout the month. If you want to join me, I’m starting a new Facebook Group: 30 Day Clutter Challenge with Sandra at Plum Prairie Ranch.
Look for me on Instagram and on the blog, too. If you’re not on Facebook, send me an email sandra@PlumPrairieRanch.com with 30 Day Decluttering Challenge in the subject line.
If I could see visible progress throughout my home by the end of the month, I would be “walking on sunshine, yeah! And don’t it feel good!”
Just think about going into the busy holiday season with a more orderly home… Let that marinate a minute.
Who’s up for this challenge? Don’t worry if you can’t do 15 minutes a day. Don’t let perfectionism stop you from making progress. Just keep tackling those rooms, closets, dressers and cabinets as many days as you can. And think “I’m making my home better today.”
Again, if you want to join me on this journey, come along in the Facebook group or send me an email.
