How to Declutter- By FlyLday

 Lesson: How to Declutter

Taking 15 minutes each day to declutter an area, using the 27-Fling Boogie, and clearing your hotspots are among some of the most powerful tools you can use to create a more peaceful home. Remember: You cannot organize clutter — you can only organize the things you love!
Below are FlyLady’s tips on how to declutter. Put your home on a diet — one that will cut clutter out of its life!

When to Declutter

Decide how often you are going to declutter a zone. Do a little every day — use a timer. But be warned: this can become compulsive! Once you get started, you will want to clean everything all at once. Don’t burn yourself out! Only do small amount at a time. The house did not get dirty overnight, and it will not get clean overnight. When you set the timer, you can only do two sessions at a time. This goal may seem unattainable right now, but you can do it in little pieces. In a couple of months, the whole house will be decluttered.

Decluttering Equipment

You will need garbage bags, boxes, magic markers, and a dust rag. Label the boxes “Give Away,” “Throw Away,” and “Put Away.” Line the “Throw Away” box with a plastic garbage bag.
Set your timer for one hour (or 30, 15, or 10 minutes — it does’t matter how long). Just do the job as fast as you can, and do not pull out more stuff than you can put away in that length of time. This means just one drawer, one closet (or even one shelf in one closet), one magazine rack, or digging under just the furniture in the zone. Don’t do all of them at once!

Start at the entrance to the room

Then, work your way around the room clockwise. Do not skip a spot. Whatever happens to be next, just do it!

Declutter away!

With boxes at your feet and a dust rag in your hand, start off by cleaning out and getting rid of the things that don’t belong in the room you’re in. Put garbage in the “Throw Away” box, donations in the “Give Away” box, and stuff that belongs elsewhere in the house in the “Put Away” box. Don’t worry that you don’t have a place for everything right now. By the time you finish, you will!

What to declutter

Ask yourself the following questions as you get get of your clutter:

• Do I love this item?
• Have I used it in the past year?
• Is it really garbage?
• Do I have another one that is better?
• Should I really keep two?
• Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
• Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item?

Cleanse this room of everything that does not make you smile! If you don’t love something, get rid of it! Release it so it can be loved by someone else.

Get rid of the garbage

When the “Throw Away” box gets full, pull the garbage bag out, close it, and put it in the garbage can, the back of your truck, or wherever you keep your garbage. Put a new bag in the “Throw Away” box and keep FLYing until the timer goes off.

Donations

When the “Give Away” box gets full, seal it up, and put it in your car. The next time you are out, you can donate the box to your local thrift shop. Don’t save your clutter for a yard or garage sale; you will be blessed by giving it away. The value can be deducted on your income tax. Remember, you are trying to get rid of clutter, not relocate it somewhere else in your home. Now, grab another box, label it “Give Away,” and get back to work.

“Put Away” Stuff

When the “Put Away” box gets full, take the box in your arms and run around the house (good thing you have your shoes on, right?) and put the items in the room where they belong. If they have a place, put them there. If they don’t, put them in the room where they logically belong. By the time you have finished, you will have a place for everything, and everything will be in its place.

Timer Goes Off

When the timer goes off, you have to put away all the boxes, but first you have to empty them all. Go as fast as you can!

Make decluttering fun ~

This one is from a site that i visit often as it inspires me to declutter my house and makes me feel great!

Super Fling Boogie

It is time for our Super Fling Boogie! This works by all of us, as a collective group around the world, revving up our engines and committing to spend 15 minutes a day getting rid of the clutter in our homes! Are you ready to Fling? For the next few weeks we are on a journey to declutter! We are going to focus on the clutter in our house! We will also throw in a few surprise missions along the way so be on the look out!
To make this fun we have a pound meter set up below. We ask
that everyone either weigh or guesstimate the weight of what you get
out of your home. It could be trash, recycling or give away. If it
leaves your house, it counts as pounds tossed out of your home.
Enter how many pounds you have Flung so far! Great job!

Feeling elated and in control of the chaos....

Lots of things are on my mind since yesterday i was collecting stuff for my vision board-sexy outfits,bags,a chic haircut,setting a beauty regime,weight loss,....and yes how could i forget the most imp one-getting a maid!!

I just mopped the floor using Mr. Muscle.it says you have to keep the floor wet for about 10min for max effect.My alarm just buzzed,my 10 min are over so ill be continuing after sometime....Today Iam also on 'Detox' so have to take things easy as its my day-1.I plan to detox atleast for 3 days more cos I want to cleanse my body of the toxins.

Setting my priorities right

It was a lovely day as today I set my priorities right,made a list of all the things that i have set my mind on and i will be making a vision board of it soon.After I sent my lil angel to creche,i surfed the net for sometime but all in vain as i couldnt find a nice firm near my area.In the afternoon I decided to just relax and feel calm even though i have a lot of stress goin on.I have no idea if a nice job would land my way or not.But i do no regret quitting that j ob due to n no. of reasons,most importantly its way too far and i want to come home,pick my lil girl at a time when i can take her to a park ,can play with her outdoor.I know its hard to give her the best childhood that my parents gave me but im striving hard for it.One day,i know i would be successful to create the balance that is needed without getting stressed.Sometimes i feel may be i should teach in an instt. and come home in the afternoon and give all my time to my baby,so she feels secure.Ive been lucky to have a good childhood cos my mom used to come home in the afternoon as she teaches in a school.I used to wait for her to come and on those days when she'd be at home,our house really did feel like home.I cant forget how i craved for those days and feel sad for not being able to do the same for my lil one.

Anyway,apart from the pity party i did some soul searching on what i want from my life.Iam now clear about what i want from this year 2012 and what changes i'd like to see in me,my relationships with everything and everyone and the goals i have set.The list includes some petty things too and ive also promised myself that i will develop this habbit of making a monthly vision board so that i stay more focussed.The list is mostly about health,beauty,social life,job,self-improvement,relaxation.

To begin:

• Make a list of your own priorities.  These are the things that are important to you, deserve your attention and make life meaningful and fulfilling.  They can include your spiritual needs, your need for intellectual growth or your health and wellness needs.  Once you’ve made your list, identify your top three priorities.
• Make a similar list, but this time, focus on those needs and demands of others that you find take up your time and energy and take you away from focusing on your own priorities.  You may want to jot down items as you go through a typical day.  Notice demands, such as washing dishes, mundane tasks at work, volunteer work, responding to email and preparing meals.
• Once you’ve made your list, identify three or more tasks that you can simply not do (sometimes we get stuck doing things because we feel we “should” but no real harm will come from skipping them).  If you’re a neat nick, you may be able to skip some of your regular cleaning, if you respond immediately to every email, call and social contact, you may be able to simply give up some less important interactions.  What you simply skip is dependent on your own personality and your assessment of what, in your life, you can loosen up on.
• Now identify three or more tasks that you can give to someone else, train someone else to do or negotiate to offload
• Giving unwanted tasks to someone else can be difficult, but it is possible.  Initially you may get some flack.  You may need to counter worries about disappointing or frustrating other people with thoughts such as “I can respond to other people better if I take care of myself” or “my needs are just as important as other people’s needs.”
• Once you have given up some of those demands from others, be sure to replace them with your own priorities from the first list that you made.

Making a new habit takes time.  Pay close attention for several weeks, to ensure that new demands from others don’t creep up on you.  Once you’ve made a habit of including yourself on your priority list, you’ll be better able to say ‘no’ to other people’s demands that interfere with your ability to take care of yourself.

Break it down

Over the last few months, I have struggled with time and life management. How to balance life and find time for the things I want to do. One of the most effective tools I found was this – break a task into small meaningful chunks. That way, you will make progress towards your goals vs. just being overwhelmed by what lies before you. So if you are cleaning the attic, set a goal – I will find 3 items to throw out or recycle, instead of a goal of ‘ I will have a spanking clean attic and get Real Simple on the line’.

Ahh! What a lovely place my home is....(not being sarcastic)

Yippiieee!!! Sooo Happy Iam...finally the lady with the broom arrives and takes all my sadness away! She came at 12.30 and looked like in a hurry,was telling me that she;s late for other's home.I asked her if she doesnt have fixed timings,she muttered something and i gently reminded her again that in a month or two i will be going to work and so then i will need her to come on a set time.She seemed to be ok though not sure how it will work out.Anyway Iam so happy today,ive made my lil place a cosy yet chic one but the dust,dirt never seemed to be going away plus i dont like to sweep,mop the floors everyday.There is already so much to do like getting up in the chilly weather,boiling bottles,milk,cooking,cleaning the counter,doing the dishes,getting my lil angel ready and dropping her.T hen i come home,arrange all the scattered stuff,clean (its not that i like doing this....you cant imagine how overwhelmed i feel when i see myself standing in the chaos,its like i need something motivating,someone who can push me to clean up and stuff...then i remind myself of my mom;s crazy dialogues in an attempt to move my butt and get started).I dont like to step inside the kitchen much cos havent mopped the floor in weeks and i find it yucky to even acknowledge.(I hope this post does not get a lot of views,its one of those secrets i dont share with my best friend :p ) But seriously,the kitchen is like......I had always thought it will be fine when i will have a maid,till then why waste my energy.The drain sucks big time,one cant wash the dishes in kitchen cos u will have to pay for it by pushing all the stagnant water there so it goes down the drain.sad...but such is life! If anyone who is as messy,clumsy as me pls write to me so i know there are people like me....more imperfect than the general imperfect population and i can feel at ease by being 'me'.(pls dont take it so seriously that u stop reading, im trying to make my lil place a heavenly abode and i know im on the way to success!)

Today I woke up in a good mood as someone had given me kinda compliment in the night on FB.I was sooo bored that i ended up chatting with this guy who joined few days before i left office.I wanna keep in touch with him as he's intelligent,does his own projects is overall nice.I hope we do a project together in future cos the way he sees things and says his point of view without any doubts,says that he knows the site stuff unlike my ex-TL and a few other people ive worked with.Generally everyone would put their point of view even knowing that what they are saying is not 100% true but they would just pretend that they know it all.Well dont wanna think about those kinda people right now as i only wanna think good and feel good.
The morning started late and as there was no water i couldnt cook anything so i gave paneer and papaya to my baby which she likes usually and also idli for the tiffin.she enjoys eating idli...it is such a pleasure to pack lil different things in her lunch every morning and to see her eating properly.That moment when she eats well, i feel like the Best Cook in the world...not actually,but ya it tells me that i can cook!!
Then at 9.30 i dropped her to the creche,picked up the photos that i had given to develop as i had just bought a big 10 x 12" photoframe and a heart shaped small photoframe from westside...its a lovely piece.I also got two heart shaped frames joined together,white in color.Iam so eagerly waiting for 14th feb to get these hearts framed and cover up a whole wall with al those wonderful times' memories.also im waiting for my Hubby to come home afterall its been about a month now.I wish the moment he steps inside he feels wonderful and stays at home longer. :)
Today I spent 1.5hrs looking for a maid in this area but they are not easily available people say.It didnt go in vain as some people told me that they will ask the maid they know and then let me know if its available.Then i came back home,saw this maid sweeping on the first floor.I asked her and she was willing but settled down at quite a big amount,lets see how she does so ill decide wether ill need her everyday and the timings.Feels so relieved today,it solves most of my probs as all the problems start from not having a maid or someone to help/look after my baby...

Amazing weather,amazing people around..