Clutter & De-cluttering - Part Two

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall that is coming upon us, with its Pumpkin pies, Corn mazes, Apple Cider and warm cinnamon-sugar coated donuts? While all that is going on lets get started on part two of de-cluttering...

Part Two of the De-cluttering process:

First off you can't go into de-cluttering willy - nilly and start throwing things away here and there. I've learned from experience that that doesn't work; 9 out of 10 times you end up with a bigger mess than when you started and you get frustrated and quit the whole process... De-cluttering is like the old joke question 'how do you eat an elephant?' answer: 'one bite at a time' and for some it takes awhile... My one big tip though is not to wait until you think it's a perfect time to do it, I have done that countless times myself and guess what, I never got started. The best time is just like the commercial says - "Just Do It"

OK, so you have decided to de-clutter an area, first thing to do is to get together boxes, garbage bags, cleaning supplies (yes, you will be cleaning also) and if your going to paint get them supplies too.

Second thing is to look at that room or area and image to yourself how you would want the room to look if you were trying to sell it. That includes each piece of furniture in it. You would not try and sell a room with stains on the carpet and boogers on the walls. You also would not try to sell a nightstand that was stuffed with papers, magazines, used Kleenex, chocolate wrappers and Pepsi spills on it. Hold on to that selling image during the de-cluttering process, it’s very important to do so… if you can’t hold an image then look at some magazines like Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Gardens, etc. and cut a living room, bedroom, bathroom picture out that closely resembles what you image and look at that

Third thing is to make a promise to your self that 1/3 or ¼ or even ½ of the room or area you picked will be done by such and such time. Like “I want to clean up the desk and its drawers and the book shelves by the time the kids come home from school”

Fourth thing is MUSIC! Everyone works better with music, it brightens the soul, gets your feet moving and keeps you company. Get some favorite cds together or favorite radio station or your ipod and listen and work. For me the best music was pumped up songs from oldies, like Beatles, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Bob Seger, etc.

Fifth thing is to take action – I have found that if I start on one side of room, near the entrance and work my way around back to the beginning I can accomplished more in a more organized path. I’m not bouncing back and forth between what ever item catches my eye at any given moment. I do what ever comes next down that path I started.

In part 3 we’ll talked about how to sort and how to part away with things during the action stage…

Of course you're going to have to eat too, so here's something for all to enjoy;

Broccoli & Cheese Soup

2 c. cooked noodles of any kind
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped broccoli,thawed or as usual use fresh
3 tbsp. chopped onions
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. flour
2 cups shredded American cheese
Salt to taste
5 1/2 c. milk
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Stir well. Cook on low for 4
hours.
8 servings.

Live - Simple my friends, Live - Simple...

Knobby