Taking Control of Your Space, One Day at a Time

Written by Martha on May 22nd, 2012

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

This past weekend, I was excited to view my client’s progress in clearing out and organizing a large space in her home! In January, she shared her vision on what the space would look like. We formulated a plan for what would stay and a chose a holding area for items to sell at a spring yard sale.

Other than one 3 hour work session together sorting/purging and getting her started on designated storage areas, my client and her family worked steadily on their own, de-cluttering and organizing over several month’s time.

Her space still isn’t totally as she wants it. A few items that didn’t sell will be donated. Then she will do a deep cleaning before setting up her activity zones. We spent some time brainstorming about next steps. Mostly I gave her the praise and credit she was due for all her hard work!

She said that friends were asking her how I helped her. Her answer was, “Martha gave me permission to work on de-cluttering a little bit at a time – say, one hour on one shelf only.” Before our meeting, she was waiting to do a 10 hour massive overhaul that was so overwhelming she never got started.

Today I am sharing her story with you to encourage you. You, too, can bring order to your surroundings if you start small.

My request to you – start taking control of your space today. These steps will help you begin your journey:

Choose one shelf or drawer to start with.
Name this space with its ideal use. Ex. Everyday Office Supplies, Hats & Scarves, Lesser Used Kitchen Utensils.
Sort by putting like things together, give away/sell things you don’t love or use regularly.
Put back only things that fit the name of your space. Use containers to corral like items. Move other keepers to another room/area that makes more sense.
Deliver the giveaways and toss stuff that no one would want within 3 days.

I hear people say, “I want to get organized.” I think changing that statement to, “I want to begin making changes toward becoming more organized,” is a better goal.

As you are going about life, spend 15 minutes a day putting away those things that have definite homes. Take about one hour each week to deal with another small area. Soon you will have definite homes for much more stuff.

In a year’s time, you will have spent 48 hours or more getting control of your space. How cool is that? You can do it, one small step at a time!!