I am re-posting this, since we have a bunch of new people and as a refresher.
OK, stretching the comfort zone here. I am putting up my first video (about 2.5 minutes) on a really bad hair day.
In the video I share a few tips on using the declutter calendar (you can find it in the sidebar) and ask you for your declutter calendar tips which you can post below.
I love your website! 🙂 Plus, I love the calendar. I three-hole punched it and put it in my binder that I use for a lot of things like organizing and my goal-setting planner. Each day I “X” off what I’ve done right after I mark off my exercise and other items I’m tracking in 2012.
Sometimes it’s SO hard to *just* do the little bit of clean-up, but slow and study wins the race.
I am fairly new to your site, I have not started the calendar yet. I decided to make it best work for me I am using January to do a MAJOR declutter, I did the whole first floor this weekend, next weekend the upstairs and finally the basement on the third weekend. In Feb. I plan to start with the Feb calendar and use it to help me stay on top of the big job already done so it doesn’t get that way again. I can’t see myself using the calendar every day so I plan to write each week on one piece of paper and tackle as many as I can each week! I love the concept…just working to tailor to it to my life….
I have January printed and posted on my bulletin board and I check off what I have completed. I also have it loaded onto my iCal. Sweet! Great to look at when you are “waiting” on something. I don’t necessarily complete the tasks in order and sometimes I do more than one thing in a day! Some days I don’t do any! It’s a great way to keep on task and to do things I normally ignore. Cleaning the top of cabinets? – it only took me 1hr and it SO needed it! The tasks can also lead to bigger projects. I LOVE my Declutter calendar! Thanks so much Beth!
I shall do it a couple of times a week – following the tasks for that week. I doubt I’ll do them every day. But I’ll try!
Hi Beth! I found your site through Pinterest a few weeks ago and I was so happy! I appreciate your calendar and have been working on it each day as I can. I appreciate your weekly newsletter as well because I have taken something interesting away each time! Thank you!
I have my declutter calendar posted on the fridge and have used a highlighter to highlight the days I have completed so that I can see how much I have accomplished. I am loving it…. Last week, i even had my 4 year old help me declutter my spices. She was thrilled to have a job, and to score some empty tea tins and spice containers for her kitchen. Win win!
Thank you also for the Declutter Calendar. I hope to also get more into full swing in February, but am decluttering a particular room right now which really needs the jump-start. Having health issues, I really appreciate the thoughts about not doing too much, and not stressing about having to go back and do missed days, etc. Also, I appreciate your video. I hope you will do more videos in the future about certain topics perhaps?
A friend of mine brought to my attention the Declutter Calendar and I started using it January 3rd. I highlight each day after I complete the task, sometimes looking ahead if another’s days project better fits my time frame for the day. I’m also reading “Addicted to Stuff”, a wonderful inspirational and motivational booklet that has opened my eyes to living more simpler. It will definitely fuel your decluttering efforts … it has mine tenfold!
I’ve been using the calendar. My daughter helps me on the task for that day right before we head out to school. She got a little crazy one day and before I knew it we had cleaned out a whole wall of cabinets! I’ve also been posting our progress on my status each day (I did link back so people could get their own calendar). I post little anecdotes about how the process is working or memories it evoked. I have several friends now following along and organizing each day. They have told me how inspiring it is. I love that it’s do-able in the 15 free minutes before going to school each day. I also love that Sundays are reflection. Thank you for a great tool!
I made my own “declutter calender”, inspired by yours Beth! I live in an apartment with four rooms, kitchen, bathroom, two smaller storage rooms and a small balcony. I made a list for each of these “rooms”, listing all parts of the room, parts small enough to be decluttered without too much effort. It can be one shelf of a wardrobe, my bedside table, one drawer, a specific binder, the window shelf, one row in the bookshelf, the shoes in the hallway, my pile with saved but not used recipes etc etc. Some rooms end up with only a few “posts” – like our bathroom, less then ten – while others are “divided” into up to 40 parts or more. I don´t have a date for a specific thing to do, instead I look at the lists and do something that tempt me that day and hour! Yesterday I decluttered (or rather cleaned – there wasn´t much to get rid of) 2 shelves in the bathroom while at the same time spending time with my daughter who had a bubble bath. After she went to bed I successfully decluttered one binder! Best regards, and thanks for an inspiring blog and calender! /Anna, Sweden
My calendar is downloaded to iCal as a daily reminder. I also keep a printed copy in a working pocket folder with other useful papers such as a fitness plan I am following as well. By day’s end I review my progress. The declutter calendar is my guide, and I don’t beat myself up if I am unable to do it perfectly. For example, I don’t have a nightstand drawer to clean out so I sorted my sweater drawer to decide which ones keep or give away. I write down any alternative declutter task for the day that encourages me to see the tasks I have accomplished. I also list long term goals along the bottom of the calendar as they come to mind to help me plan for future decluttering. (such as attic, garage, bookshelves….when the weather improves and I have more time to devote to larger decluttering!)
Beth,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I found you on Pinterest, and am so excited to get started. I have signed up for you email as well. Looks like I will have to have to double up for a few days but it will be well worth it.
We live in a 16 x 56 Trailer… that’s under 900 sq. feet folks… and I should be doing this all the time. However, sadly I get the bulk of my “to do’s” done on my day off since I work 10-12 hour days, and ignore the obvious.
So, I am excited to find you, and determined to make this work. Thanks again!
The Procrastinator Queen
Connie
p.s. I featured you on my blog as well.
I gave a copy to my boss at work and we are going to try to keep our offices a little more tidy this year by following your calendar.
Way to work together Ann. I love it. You all have submitting some great ideas for using the calendar. Thanks!
Thanks Connie!
I LOOOVE the declutter calendar!! It makes this process so much easier! I was so overwhelmed with decluttering before that I just didn’t do it at all! I have a 2 year old and a newborn so I don’t have a ton of free time. I love that each day is only one task and very manageable. I cross off each day as I go and if I get on a roll or know I am going to be really busy later in the week I work ahead so sometimes I am able to cross off a few days at a time! We moved into my grandmothers old house and one thing I had never cleaned out was the spice cabinet-I found a container of celery salt that expired in 1980!!!!!! That task was long overdue!!
Beth,
Thank you so much for making this 2012 declutter calendar free!!! I have pinned it on pintrest as well and have a lot of followers and have gotten a LOT of hits so far.
I am not a hoarder, so clutter isn’t “taking me over”… but it’s bad enough to where it gets overwhelming when I think of all I have to do. And then before I can do that, I have to do this, and before that, this… on and on… Your calander breaks things down task at a time.
I use the Task system on my ms outlook. I set up a weeks worth of tasks on Sunday, then as I get them done, I mark them “complete”… That way I can see progress as well as things left to do. having only one week at a time isn’t as overwhelming as having a months’ worth of tasks facing me.
We have a lot of dr appts we go to, so I can’t always do today’s task. So if it’s still on the task list, I can do it sometime yet this week.
I just started so I’m not going to say how successful it is yet… but that’s how I’m doing it.
Thanks again!
Beth,
I absolultely love the declutter calendar!!!!! I too found it on pinterest. I needed something to get me motivated and this was it. I have challenged myself to stay a bit ahead so that I don’t fall behind. I’m so very bad at starting something and not finishing it, but this will help keep me going. I have it pinned on my bulletin board as I walk in my door so I’ll have it as my daily reminder.
Thanks so much!!
Sonya
Great calendar, I have organized for many people and offices in the past. There is nothing mor frustrating as to when they call in a year or two and they have the same mess! I have given 3 of them this calendar for a gift to continue de-cluttering. I feel with the bite size segiments they are soooo managable. Also – those who have children, don’t forget how much man power you have at your finger tips.
I downloaded your Declutter Calender a few days ago. Through iCal all tasks are shown up in the task management software I use (OmniFocus). I just love my daily reminders.
Hi Beth,
I found out about you & the declutter calender through Twitter. I printed it and was going to bind it at work so went to the front desk and when I asked for the machine the nice front desk assistant told me she would take care of it and it came back to me all ready to use! It reminded me that sometimes we should just ask for help because some people are really willing to give it to you! That was a motivator in itself. It was such a nice gesture.
But so far I haven’t really used the calendar yet bc I spent a good part of 2011 decluttering my apartment already! I like to do it by items, or shelf like you recommend. I’ve gone through shoes, purses, clothes, certain kitchen cupboards. I actually enjoy decluttering but I have to be in the mood. I tend to go through decluttering “binges” if I can say! 😉 At some point I’ll just go through a phase where I want to sort out and throw a lot of things. Those are great obviously.
Since I got rid of a lot of things last year I decided to use your calendar to help me with the details now and areas I might have missed or not thought about. Also I feel that finishing up is harder because when you start decluttering, it’s easy to get rid of a lot of stuff, there is so much! But the less you have, the more you have to decide what you really want to keep and what you want to get rid of. And that’s where the challenge lies for me.
Thank you for your help! I look forward to using your calendar all year-round and following you.
You can follow me too if you wish on Twitter at @MyKimsChi
Bye, Kim
Oh goodness, I just saw this video today. I don’t have any tips for using the declutter calendar yet. I haven’t quite mastered it yet. I find that it takes me a long time to change my habits. I wasn’t very successful this past year, but I intend to try again. I have been incorporating some concepts you talk about in your emails and feel like I am moving forward in my quest to be less cluttered.
So glad to hear that Toni. I am reading a book right now on creating habits, so I’m sure I’ll be giving out more information on how to make habits stick in the near future.