The Method
Remove 3 items every day. Removed items add up, your Clutter Counts Down! Three items a day seems insignificant, but in ten days, you’ll have removed 30 items. In just two months, you’ll have already removed 180 items.
As your Clutter Counts Down, your open space adds up!
PAPERS: 5 minutes spent going through papers counts as 1 Item!
15 minutes working though papers counts as your 3 Items for that day. Combine 1 or 2 physical items with 5 minutes blocks of going through papers to get your 3 Items for the day!
TIP
Take a photo of sentimental or other items you want to remember. Include a note if you’d like to record what memory this item evokes and/or why this item is important.
Keep the photo, keep the memory, declutter the Item!
Completely remove selected items each day if possible. It’s highly likely you’ll start shopping from a lingering ‘Donation Box’ and take items back out!
TIPS
PAPERS: File or dispose of papers right away so the papers don’t creep back to their beloved Paper Pile*.
Protect your privacy by shredding paper items and/or blacking out personal information.
*Paper Pile? You know you have one!
Tally your 3 removed items (or more) each day. Your increasing total will reassure you that your Clutter is Counting Down!
TIP
If you know you’ll be gone from your space for a day or more, start removing 3 additional clutter items for each day you’ll be gone. It feels good to remove these items ahead of time and you know catching up after you return is more daunting and far less likely!
How to choose 3 clutter items:
Choosing 3 clutter items each day is important, but the type of item doesn’t matter. As you look around your space, you’ll know if you’ve been holding on to an item unnecessarily…a thing you’re keeping for an occasion that never seems to arrive. Don’t judge yourself, just choose something.
For example, it may seem to someone else that a rubber band is too trivial to count as a Clutter Countdown item. Why would a rubber band be hard to get rid of? There’s a random rubber band in this drawer and one on that shelf and a bunch on that doorknob…but wait, a feeling begins to grow that those rubber bands might be important someday. What if you suddenly need a rubber band and don’t have one? What if hole in the universe comes to swallow you up and the only way to save yourself and all humanity is a rubber band? Keep the rubber bands your brain says! But today is a Clutter Countdown day. Today it is okay to get let go of one rubber band. How about an old crunchy one?
Some days you may get in a good groove and remove more than 3 items. Your Clutter Countdown Total gets a bonus increase! Keep going and enjoy small victories that add up and count your clutter down!
Check out our Resources page for general information about recycling centers, organizations that accept donations, “Do Not Mail” postal junk-mail reduction sites, etc.
We also list general information for mental health organizations that may be helpful for processing stress, trauma, grief and other emotions during your Clutter Countdown process.
We update this general list as we learn about resources and do our best to include only legitimate organizations.
