Reset your rooms and simplify your life
Posted
Oct 07 2008, 07:56 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
By nature, I accumulate stuff.
Three years ago, my office was pristine. Everything was organized, everything had its place, there were no papers strewn about, and there was order in the world (with world peace and the abolishment of hunger mere moments away).
But, as the weeks passed and entropy worked its magic, my office became more and more chaotic. I never lost anything, but anyone walking into it would be amazed that I could ever find anything. It was organized chaos.
Then I stumbled upon this idea: The easiest way to de-clutter and reorganize a room is to wipe the slate clean and start over. Want to do it? It's easy.
Take everything out of the room. Now put it back. My wife and I discovered this little trick after repainting my office last weekend. Earlier this year, we discovered our roof was leaking during an especially hard rain. The water made its way into the insulation and drywall in my office, and we had to rip out a pretty sizable piece of it. We replaced that drywall this weekend and began painting the entire room. To facilitate that, we moved everything out of my office and into the hallway.
In doing so, I fully grasped how much stuff I had accumulated in that one room.
Why this works
When you move everything out of a room, you're wiping the slate clean. (It also gives you a chance to vacuum or mop your office and get into those corners normally occupied with stuff.)
You put your hands on every single item in the room twice, once to move it out and once more to move it back in. Each time you touch it, you're confronted with the decision of whether the item is truly worth keeping or there simply because you left it there. In the last few days, I've recycled a considerable number of boxes and papers I once thought were important. They weren't, or weren't anymore.
The only downside is that this plan isn't quick. Moving all your stuff out and putting it back in is going to take quite some time, even if it's the smallest of rooms. However, if you put in the time investment, you will be handsomely rewarded. My room feels larger already.
Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
How to get independent health insurance
6 money lessons from 'Entourage'
2009 federal income tax brackets (projected)
