Doland - Never too busy to cure clutter: simplify your life one minute at a time

For Dana and Mike Rooney

THANK YOU

Contents

Are you busy? Of course you are! This is an exciting time to be alive, with an unlimited number of things to see and do. Since youre pressed for time, lets dive right into how this book is going to help your home life be less chaotic.

This book has a simple premise: Being organized allows you to make space in your home and life for what really matters to you. When youre able to clear the distractions that are cluttering up your time and space, you can eliminate stress and burdens and focus on your priorities.

Think of Never Too Busy to Cure Clutter as an organizing daily devotional with more than 450 tips and fifteen weekend projects to help you accomplish your cleaning, organizing, and uncluttering goals. The majority of the information in this book is presented by room and then broken down by time commitment, so you can devote exactly the time you have available to the space you want to addresswhether you have only thirty seconds or a full weekend free.

Right now, you are likely feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff and responsibilities in your home and life, and wondering how you can stay afloat. Some of the stuff cluttering up your life might not even be yours! This book is full of advice that has been extensively tried and tested that will help you regain your sanity and find some peace of mind. Theres even advice for how to pass along cleaning, uncluttering, and organizing skills to the other members of your familyincluding kids (so you wont have to spend eighteen years picking up their messes).

But wait! Theres more!

In addition to the weekend projects and thirty-second, one-minute, five-minute, and fifteen-minute uncluttering, cleaning, and organizing tasks, this book has fun sections like quizzes, motivation and encouragement from people who are pros at solving clutter problems, and action plans for facing some of lifes surprise situations that require uncluttering. Ill even walk you through establishing maintenance routines that will save you time each day with household chores.

I was once in a similar position to yoursquite possibly even more cluttered and more frazzled, if you can believe it. I spent decades living amid so much stuff that there were pathways in my apartment (professional organizers call them goat trails) between waist-high piles of boxes. After an inspiring conversation with my husband, I decided to change my ways and learn the skills necessary to have an uncluttered and organized life. I still struggle with wanting to save sentimental objects (my kids draw adorable pictures) and falling behind on chores (laundry is my Achilles heel), but my days of being a poster child for clutter bugs are ten years in my past. Now I thrive off living my uncluttered life, and you too can find that same calm and order by carrying out the actions in the following pages. You can streamline your life, simplify your daily activities, and make room for what you believe is truly important.

If I do my job well, this book will be a trusty resource that you can rely upon for straightforward, inspiring advice and tips that you can return to time and time again. You also can use this book as a workbook, completing the tasks and working through them repeatedly. My hope is that this isnt a book you read once and forget aboutits a friend you can reference daily.

Yes, youre busy, but youre never too busy to cure clutter.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the modern English word organizer comes from the fourteenth-century Middle French word organiser. In this early form, it meant to give an organic structure to something. When organizing objects in your home, think back to this early usage of the word and try to create systems that feel as natural as possible. Steer clear of any convoluted system that feels like it includes too many steps or would make it difficult for you to find things or put them away. Know yourself and be honest about your needs and what you will effectively use over the years.

Introduction

Its time to tackle your clutter! Taking the first step of a project can feel intimidating, but there is no need to be nervous about the activities in the following chapters. You can choose simple tasks that can be completed in mere seconds, and be on your way to a less cluttered life without breaking a sweat. Instead of looking at the following actions as an enormous and overwhelming to-do list, try to envision them as encouraging suggestions a good friend might give you while enjoying a cup of coffeetry out the ones you think might work for you and ignore the ones you know wont solve your issues.

There are four parts to the Cure Clutter One Room at a Time step of this book, and each is full of solutions to help you kick chaos to the curb. The first part covers the highest-traffic areas in your homesuch as your living room and kitchen. These busy rooms are the foundation for your uncluttered space, so you may want to start in this part. The second part addresses those areas of your home that visitors dont usually see but whose orderliness is still important to making your life easierlike your bedroom and kitchen pantry. The third part is for those areas of the house that you would probably like to forget exist but that need to be kept organized so they dont cause you unnecessary frustration and troubleIm talking about your utility areas and storage spaces. Finally, the fourth part covers your important possessionsincluding your passwords and papersand how to keep them stored safely and organized.

This entire section provides uncluttering, cleaning, and organizing activities that fit the time you have available. Are you on hold with the pharmacy trying to refill a prescription? Find a thirty-second task you can easily complete while you wait. Have a few hours on a weekend? Take on a larger project that will make the following week easier and even inspire you to do some more simple tasks during the week. Have a teenager who is pleading boredom? A fifteen-minute task might be perfect for him while he brainstorms something else hed like to do. Watching a live television show and not interested in paying attention to the commercials? A few one-minute tasks can be completed during each break.

Use this book as it meets your needsbeing busy doesnt mean you have to live with clutter or disorganization.

Geralin Thomas, professional organizer with Metropolitan Organizing and A&Es Hoarders, on the benefits of being organized:

Uncluttering, discarding, donating, sorting, categorizing, rearranging, and organizing the stuff in my life makes me feel satisfied and content. When I start noticing too many things in my life that begin with