More Meaning, Less Stuff: Confessions of a Clutter Bug

I have been feeling overwhelmed lately with the amount of “stuff” in our home. It is everywhere. In all the drawers, in the cabinets, on the countertops, on the floors.

It makes me feel anxious, but then I don’t really do anything about it. And the clutter just builds. Sigh.

I have two parts of my brain that seem to be at war with each other. The aspiring minimalist makes up half of my brain. This sided HATES excess and clutter and wants to donwsize everything, keeping only what we really need and use. It is inspired by those people who build the tiny houses and live simply.

The other side of my brain is a technology enthusiast, a gadget collector and a pack rat who saves everything. This side of the brain also is indecisive, which means I cannot decide what action to take on an item…so I just keep it, stuffing it away to be dealt with later.

The  aspiring minimalist is more of an ideal, what I know I WANT to be doing. But indecision, distraction by more pressing matters, or just plain old apathy almost always wins out. And the clutter grows. Can anybody else relate to this???

So I have been inspired to take some small, intentional baby steps to help me clean things out one step at a time. I am going to make a task list to keep me on track. Since I do not have a lot of free time, and my main priority is my health at the moment, I am setting the bar pretty low for myself. Intentionally! I need some small victories to get me motivated, people.

The point is to take action period. I am learning from my Weight Watchers journey that small, consistent baby steps are the KEY to accomplishing any goal.

First, I will make a laundry list of ALL things I can think of that need cleaning up or organizing at the moment. Then I am going to set a clean out / organization goal for each week. I will pick one task each week to complete to keep me on track.

Here is my BIG list of tasks, and beside I will write a date for the ones I will complete this week. And of course, I will update the big list as needed.

• Take everything out of the refrigerator, wipe all the shelves and scrub out the drawers
• Clean out purse COMPLETE
• Clean out diaper bag COMPLETE
• Clean out the kitchen freezer THIS WEEK by 1/25/14 COMPLETE
• Clean out the deep freezer in the basement
• Clean out my closet (Now that I am in weight loss mode, I have a mish-mash of sizes! I need to get rid of some, and pack away others.) COMPLETE 1/18/14
• Create a mail sorting station to organize mail. The main objective here is to separate out the things that need action. I.e. bills to pay, papers to file away, etc.
• Sort and back up all digital family pictures and videos
• Create and editorial calendar for the blog
• Create a greeting card file system that has everyone’s birthday cards, anniversary cards, etc. in them…filed away by appropriate date.
• Clean out and organize my office closet
• Clean and organize my office OUTSIDE of the closet
• Create a gallery wall in my office
• Organize my gift wrap stash
• Organize my stationary
• Finish the family picture arrangement in our guest bedroom
• Clean out the set of storage drawers in our kitchen. 1 Drawer complete, 4 to go.
• Purge all expired items from the pantry
• Create a meal planning spreadsheet (I heart spreadsheets!) for the MONTH. I do so much better when I have a menu for the month, rather than week by week.
• Pack away my son’s clothes that he no longer wears, re-organize his closet with what is left
• Clean out and reorganize the storage room/workout room.
• Clean out the garage
• Clean out our family file cabinet. We have saved WAY too much stuff in there.
• Clean out the master bath cabinets and drawers
• Toy bin(s) for the family room for little buddy’s toys COMPLETE 1/18/14

Shew! That is a big list.

This week I am starting with my closet. Mostly because it is the most immediate problem. I cannot find anything in there! Plus, I do not even wear half the stuff in there.

I will report back how I am doing in a later post. Do you struggle with clutter? What are you doing about it? If you are one of the more organized people, how do you stay organized?