I have recently embarked on a new quest: unstuffing my life, and getting rid of clutter that is ultimately weighing me down. My initial project was the kitchen. It took more than a week to par down and organize the "stuff." in my kitchen. This mini-project of mine reminded me just how obsessive compulsive I really am. I remember back in my college days taking pictures of my cupboards and taping them inside the doors so my roommates could see how the items should be stored. Frankly, if I had listened to Andrew Mellen's book back then, I may not have acquired so much stuff that required a road map to putting things away in the first place.
Mellen's book,
Unstuff Your Life, is a simple, yet straightforward way to harness the chaos that encroaches on your life. He breaks the book down into manageable tasks that allow you to set things in order one space at a time in your home. The guiding principals are "everything has a home," and "like with like" help simplicity remain in the forefront of the process. Once I was able to see the most logical place for things, it became apparent what needed to stay, and what needed to go. After all, "I was not my stuff."
Keeping up with my new system has been a lot easier than maintaining "clean" anytime before...mainly because everything has a definite home...not just an approximate space. Last night, I was able to prepare, cook, and clean up dinner all before 6pm. This is monumental because I would normally not cook or clean because the kitchen was such a disaster. Cleaning is now becoming more of a habit rather than a chore that is done (if I was lucky) once a week.
