One Thing at a Time Declutter Your Life

By Erin Dozois

Last year, approximately 33,230,420 people took to the ‘net to find answers on how to clean up the clutter in their lives.“Getting organized” ranked second in Google searches, but how many found what they were looking for and ac tually followed it? Statistics show that 80 percent of people’s good intentions for the New Year t ypically fail by the end of Februar y.

Why is that?

Psychology professor Peter Herman has identified what he coins as the “false hope syndrome, ” which means people’s resolutions are “significantly unrealistic and out of alignment with their internal view of themselves.” In other words, in order to succeed in mak ing life changes, one has to consistently prac tice positive self-affirmation If you don’t really believe what you’re telling yourself, you’ll miss your goal and fur ther damage your self-esteem

Ouch.

So this year, we will focus on not only getting rid of the ex tra junk in our lives, but by doing so in super-simple, fail-proof ways that will leave us feeling triumphant all year long

Fill ONE trash bag. Make a game of it! S ee how quickly you can fill it up

Designate ONE spot for incoming papers. For many of us, papers make up a majorit y of our mess. By picking one place to put them, you’ll be instantly preventing a common pitfall

Create ONE clutter-free zone. This one area can be a counter, kitchen table, etc where nothing can be placed that isn’t being used. Then, each day, expand it out a little more until that noclutter zone covers the entire house

Tackle ONE drawer, c abinet, shelf, etc. at a time. Sor t each by 1) stuff that belongs there, 2) stuff that belongs elsewhere, and 3) stuff to get rid of.

Make ONE clutter-dumping trip each week. Take your donations, rec yclables and trash to their respec tive places to quickly lose that clutter weight

Give away ONE item each day.

Colleen Madsen, author of the blog 365 Less Things, has experienced quite a transformation simply by reducing her stuff one day at a time

Creative Closets

Want to do something really cool with your closets once you’ve cleaned them? Tr y turning them into living spaces! These ideas can get you star ted