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unclutter

Pack a Suitcase: mini-mission

by Courtney Carver

As you simplify your life, there is a big focus on getting rid of your stuff. I’ve done it, thought about it and written about it. I think it’s time to start focusing on what you want to keep. Perhaps that change in direction will give you a better understanding of how unessential everything else is. Think of it as upside down uncluttering.

Today’s mini-mission is to pack a suitcase. You might think this is crazy, but it will be really eye opening. Don’t worry about a specific number of things, but imagine that you are taking a trip and may never come back. Choose wisely, as you will have to carry the suitcase and its contents with you wherever you go. The size of the suitcase is up to you. Fill it with the personal items you don’t want to live without.

You aren’t moving to a desert island in this scenario, so don’t make this an emergency preparedness project. This is about what you own that you love and (at the moment), can’t imagine living without. This might take a few days, but it will be refreshing to think about the keepers and make giving away the stuff that didn’t make the cut, that much easier.

What are three things you know you will put in your suitcase?

For more experiments to simplify your life, read Mini-missions for Simplicity. It’s available on the Amazon Kindle store, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. Kindle books can also be read using the Free Kindle Reader App for your Web Browser, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android.

Creating a Minimalistic Sanctuary

by Courtney Carver

photo credit

If you have been working towards a simpler life, you may already be in the habit of clearing the clutter. While it is great to work on your entire home, it is important to mindfully approach certain areas. You can create beautiful, simple spaces in your home, especially after most of the clutter is gone.

Start with your nightstand and the area next to your bed.  This is typically the last thing you see just before you go to bed, as you reach over to turn off the light, and as soon as you wake up in the morning when you hit the snooze button. With that in mind, it should be an area of your house that is relaxing and calming.

While the drawers in my nightstand used to be filled with things I never used, they are now almost empty.  If your nightstand has drawers or shelves, I recommend following the method I posted earlier this week. Once you have the space cleared and clean, think about what you need or want there, if anything.

While you don’t need anything on your nightstand, or even the nightstand itself, if you do have one, make it a great space to be around. If you are simplifying with a family, it might be challenging to change your entire home, but you can transform this small corner of your life.

When creating this minimalistic santuary do not include:

  • anything work related
  • piles of books
  • clutter
  • cell phone
  • any phone
  • tv or needless electronics

Items that make sense for this space:

  • one book you might read before you fall asleep
  • chapstick
  • candle
  • lamp
  • alarm clock
  • pen and paper or journal

You might include some of these items, or none of them, depending on what works best for you. I always keep a glass of water on my nightstand before I go to bed. I rarely drink it, but if it’s not there, I wake up thirsty. Maybe I should explore that another time!

Creating a minimalistic sanctuary in your home, will inspire you to transform more of your space. The state of the space will also be a good reflection of how calm or crazy your life is. When books and papers start to pile up, it might be time to address what is piling up in other areas of your life.

What’s on your nightstand?

Less Stuff More Light

by Courtney Carver

Less Stuff. More Light.

It will take more than reading one blog post to realize how clutter is affecting your life and taking away from your freedom and creativity. It struck me as I walked into my kitchen the other day, that for the first time, instead of seeing a cluttered counter, I saw sunlight streaming in from the kitchen window. In that moment, I knew that I would never live with clutter again.

While a major overhaul of your “stuff” may be necessary, you don’t have to spend days and months uncluttering to enjoy the light. Start in a room where you love to spend time, and empty it out. Yes, all of it. Make the room as empty as it was the day you moved in (or emptier). This will mean cluttering up another adjacent room, but it is only temporary. This shift in stuff will help you to appreciate the space in the empty room, and the potential of how you will live with less in that space. Equally important, you will have full view of everything that has been cluttering up your space and time.

Assuming the room you take on is your kitchen, after you empty the space, take one of the following approaches to clear the clutter for good!

Fast Track

  1. Clean your kitchen from top to bottom. Get it all – cabinets, floor, counter tops, sink, windowsills, and windows.
  2. Clean the inside of your stove and refrigerator.
  3. Once the room is spotless, move in it. Walk around, sit down, stand up, and see how the clean, clear space feels. Do not move to the next step until you fully appreciate the emptiness of the space and how that allows you to think more clearly.
  4. Now it’s time to decide what “stuff” to bring back into the room. Don’t put anything on the  counter top unless you use it frequently. For instance, I used to keep a blender on the counter, but now it has it’s own place behind closed doors.
  5. Dump the stuff you never use. If you have  a George Foreman Grill stuffed in the back of a cabinet, but you don’t eat meat anymore, it’s time to let the grill go! (I bought a rice cooker that I was sure would revolutionize my life. Within a month, I was back to cooking rice in a pot and gave the rice cooker away.)
  6. Check your food too. Are there cans of soup you bought, but never use? Check the expiration date and donate to a local food bank.
  7. Box everything up that isn’t going back in the kitchen and donate it. (If it helps you to bring less into the kitchen, box everything up, seal it with packing tape and leave it in your garage or basement. If you don’t miss it after 30 days, give it away.)

Nice and Easy

  1. Follow steps 1-3 above.
  2. Do not bring anything into your kitchen until you need it. If you can live with the clutter in the other room for a week or longer, you will really “get” how little you actually need. If you haven’t brought something into the kitchen after 7-10 days, let it go.
  3. Box everything up that isn’t going back in the kitchen and donate it. (If it helps you to bring less into the kitchen, box everything up, seal it with packing tape and leave it in your garage or basement. If you don’t miss it after 30 days, give it away.)

You can apply these steps to any room in your house. It will be so important to physically remove the things that you don’t need, but think you want, for at least 30 days to see if you really do want them in the house. You will likely forget all about that vase that sat empty on your windowsill or the 3 extra whisks or wooden spoons.

Decide what you want more of, and make room for it. If open space and streaming rays of sun inspire you to be creative or help you live a better life, than keep working towards less stuff and more light.

What room will you tackle first?

One In Two Out: mini-mission

by Courtney Carver

photo credit

In the process of uncluttering and learning to live with less, you will inevitably need to buy something. This mini-mission will ensure that you never have more than you do right now. One in, two out: Each time you make a purchase and bring something new into your life, let two things go.

I don’t apply this process to food, but everything else counts. It doesn’t have to be the same exact thing, but it helps to keep it in the same category. For instance, if you buy a new shirt, give away two shirts, or a pair of shoes and a hat that you never wear. If you buy a new yoga mat, give away your old one and a set of hand weights.

If you combine this mini-mission with your regular uncluttering, at some point, you may want to change to a one in/one out approach. Buying something new, with the awareness of what you will be letting go, will result in fewer shopping trips and more mindful purchases.

For more experiments to simplify your life, read Mini-missions for Simplicity. It’s available on the Amazon Kindle store, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. Kindle books can also be read using the Free Kindle Reader App for your Web Browser, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android.

Sell Your Stuff to Pay Off Debt

by Courtney Carver

photo credit

The purpose of a yard sale is to make money selling your stuff. In my opinion, having a yard sale is a big pain in the ass, so do it one time and do it right, and only if you are in debt.

I generally recommend giving your stuff away as you unclutter your life. The only exception is if you carry any debt. This might be credit card debt, car debt, student loans, medical bills or even a mortgage. If you owe someone money, a yard sale is a great way to work on the debt. A yard sale will also speed up the process of simplifying because, believe me, you will only want to do this once.

Here are the three steps to ensure a successful yard sale.

  1. have a system
  2. commit to paying off debt with ALL profits
  3. immediately post high priced items that don’t sell, on craigslist.org, ebay or a local classified site and have a pick up service scheduled to come at the end of the yard sale to pick up the rest.

#2 and #3 is self explanatory, but you need a great system for the big day, and this is what I recommend.

Two weeks prior to your yard sale:

  • Divide & Conquer:  Start three piles in your garage or an area that won’t get in the way of your day to day living. Section One: Sell, Section Two: Save (you want to save this stuff but you don’t want it in your house) and Section Three: Toss (it’s no good for you, or anyone else.) Between today and two days before the yard sale, you are filling these sections with contents from your home, shed, garage, attic, car, yard…where ever you have stuff.
  • Check out clearing the clutter for more tips.

One week prior to your yard sale:

  • Shine it up – clean everything up that you plan to sell and group it according to category.
  • Dump everything that you don’t plan to sell or save.

Three days before:

  • Make your signs. These signs should be bright and well written. My parents just had a yard sale and a friend told them to use red and yellow signs with red and yellow balloons attached to the sign. The color scheme drove traffic to their sale!
  • Buy water and refreshments to sell or give away as a “gift with purchase”. (we ended up giving away drinks at our yard sale, but in the proper setting, you could sell them.)
  • Make change at the bank. Be prepared for customers to pay for $1.00 items with a $20.00 bill. I recommend at least $80 in singles and $40 in fives.
  • Borrow tables.
  • Make pricing signs for each category. For instance, if you are selling clothing, “$1.00 Each or 7 for $5.00”. Encourage people to buy multiple items by offering a discount.

Day before:

  • Post yard sale announcements on free local websites.
  • Get a good night of sleep.

Day of:

  • Post signs in good locations.
  • Make lemonade or fill cooler with refreshments (for sale!)
  • Display your “stuff”. Take pride in merchandising items or style areas that look like rooms if you are selling furniture. Have sections to make it easier to shop, like children’s, kitchen, outdoor, exercise.
  • Work it! Be friendly and let customers know you are there to help.
  • Be more flexible with pricing after 12:00pm. Most of your business will be done by noon. People like to shop yard sales early!
  • That evening, say good bye to everything that did not sell and do not bring it back in the house. Hopefully, you have a pick up service coming for the leftovers asap!
  • Count your money and apply to debt.

We had our last yard sale in 2010 and it was our last yard sale ever. The feeling of seeing our stuff go, was far greater than the cash reward, but it did put a hefty dent in the car loan we had at the time.

Shoot your Stuff

by Courtney Carver

photo credit: click here

If you are holding onto something for any of the following reasons, I suggest you take me up on this shoot your stuff mini-mission.

  1. I keep my _____________ because it brings back certain memories.
  2. I can’t get rid of this because ___________ gave it to me, and I don’t want to hurt her/his feelings.
  3. I’m not going to let go of ____________ because it might be worth something some day.

As you are in your clearing the clutter process, the toughest items to clear are often the ones that fit into the above statements.It’s likely, that the things that mean something to you, are stored in a box, where you can’t see them. They might be in your home, but behind glass or put on a shelf, collecting dust. What if there was a better way to preserve your memories, without cluttering your home?

The gifts you’ve received, that didn’t fit into your lifestyle, are in your garage, a box,  or somewhere else not being useful or enjoyed.  As far as your stuff being worth something some day, the immediate value you will get by making space and time for yourself today, far outweighs any monetary gain in the future.

Here’s your mini-mission – Shoot your stuff. Every time you find something that seems hard to let go of, shoot it. Take a digital image and store it in a folder on your computer, or an external hard drive. Then, donate or sell the item. If you aren’t quite ready to let it go, put all the items that you photographed together in a box and tape it shut. I’ll let you know what to next in an upcoming post. This idea will let you better appreciate the memories without the clutter.

Learn more about mini-missions here.

For more experiments to simplify your life, read Mini-missions for Simplicity. It’s available on the Amazon Kindle store, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. Kindle books can also be read using the Free Kindle Reader App for your Web Browser, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android.

Clearing the Clutter You Can’t See

by Courtney Carver

Clearing the clutter is essential to be more with less. Just because you don’t see your clutter, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. That sounds like an obvious statement, but until I prepared for the yard sale of the century (and the last yard sale I will ever have), I didn’t know what I was up against. When emptying the clutter from a storage area in our garage and a big shed on the side of our house, I thought I might be recruited for an episode of “Hoarders”. I’ve never seen the show, but I have seen sneak peak previews and it’s not pretty.

As a family of three, we are pretty tidy, even our garage “looks” pretty good. Or should I say, “looked” pretty good. Now that we have consolidated the hidden clutter in our two car garage, we can’t even fit one car inside. As I walk through my garage now, two questions come to mind. 1. Why did I think I could afford to buy all of this stuff? 2. Why did I hold onto it for so long? The actual answers to the questions don’t matter as much as the fast that I think and act differently today.

We set up a good system for clearing the clutter. The garage is divided into three rows.

  • Row #1 Sell It

  • Row #2 Trash It

  • Row #3 Save It

So far, the “Sell It” row is much bigger than the rest, and after we finish sorting through boxes, we are going to take a really hard look at the “Save It” row and make sure we are saving  for the right reasons. The initial sort has been quick and obvious, but the next step is going to be some be more with less soul searching and really clearing the clutter!

5 Lessons I’ve Learned from Clearing the Clutter

Evolution – If you can let go of the same stuff you’ve held onto for years, even though you moved it from state to state or house to house,  and never took it out of the box, you are starting to understand that your stuff doesn’t define you, and that you have enough.

Hidden meaning – Look at what’s in your “Save It” row. Are there hobbies or passions, things you haven’t taken time for, waiting for you? This collection of goods that you cannot part with, tells you something about your life.

Kids don’t want the clutter either – Now is time to drop the, “I’m saving this for my children” excuse. My 14 year old daughter has been an integral part of this process and she didn’t want to keep her 84 stuffed animals, baby clothes or other items that I was “saving for her”. It was fun to take a walk down memory lane, but getting rid of the stuff, does not get rid of her childhood.

Clutter attracts clutter – As you start clearing the clutter, you will feel compelled to go through your house and get rid of more. Likewise, if you bring more clutter into your home, it will multiply.

Don’t wait – Clearing the clutter doesn’t have to wait until you move. In fact, attempting to shed your stuff during something like a move, might be counter productive. Your focus may be on the actual move, new location, or selling your home, instead of actually clearing the clutter.

Where is your clutter hiding?

  • Spare bedroom?
  • Garage?
  • Attic?
  • Shed?
  • Trunk of your car?
  • Storage rental?
  • Closets?
  • A friend’s house?

Clearing the clutter that you don’t see every day will be nothing less than liberating! All of that stuff that you have hidden away weighs you down and holds you back. Let it go, and make room for good stuff, which usually isn’t stuff at all.

Small Challenges to Change Your Life

by Courtney Carver

photo credit: click here

If you have made the decision to be more with less, you have a lot of work to do. Working towards:

  • no debt and more savings

  • less stress and more health

  • less stuff and more time

  • less obligation and more joy…

will take time. If this is truly going to be a lifestyle change, it needs to be approached with purpose. While the process may be slow, the reward is great. Mini-Missions are assignments or challenges that you can implement immediately, so you can enjoy some immediate gratification during this adventure.

Mini-missions are often one step things that you can do to improve your health, bank account or wardrobe. I am going to add a special page just for mini-missions so you can add them as needed or if it seems like you aren’t making much progress to be more with less, you can go to the mini-mission page and make immediate change.

Last week your Mini-Mission was to drink water. Today….

Five in Ten

Earlier this week, I posted about How to Simplify your Closet. If you haven’t started yet, then start with the Five in Ten Mini-Mission. This task will take less than ten minutes. Go to your closet and pull five items that you haven’t worn in the past six months to a year. Put the items in a bag and put them in the back of your car or by the door so you will will take them on your way out. Drop the bag at a local clothing drop center for donation.

Letting go of 5 items in 10 minutes is exhilarating. This simple step will help you gain enough momentum to Simplify your Closet.

You can apply this 5 in 10 Mini-Mission to any drawer or clutter filled area. Let me know how it goes! I think you will feel challenged to stop at five.

For more experiments to simplify your life, read Mini-missions for Simplicity. It’s available on the Amazon Kindle store, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. Kindle books can also be read using the Free Kindle Reader App for your Web Browser, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android.