There’s nothing like the first spring sneeze to get me in the mood to pull every item I own out of every closet, cabinet, nook and cranny and PURGE, PURGE, PURGE. Since I don’t have days on end to complete this annual task, I have to work smarter so I don’t have to work harder. I’m a good starter, but not so good of a finisher, so I need help in organizing my organizing. My attention span is nowhere close to lasting through every room in my house!
A couple years ago, I came across Emily Ley. She’s the mastermind behind the Simplified Planner line and she wrote the book {literally} on living a more organized life. One of my favorite programs that she created is the Ruthless Decluttering Challenge.
{I’ll call it the RDC since that’s a lot to say!}. The backbone of the RDC are three simple words: BEST, FAVORITE, NECESSARY. Emily doesn’t advocate for getting rid of ‘things’ you love so you have fewer ‘things’ in your home. Keep the best, keep your favorite and keep the necessary. I’m a just-in-case-keeper type of person, so my personality really jives with her approach. It’s a great way to tackle HUGE projects without getting overwhelmed and throwing in the towel too soon.
This year’s RDC started March 11th, which didn’t jive with the Knox County spring break schedule, so I’m bumping it into April and following along with the four week plan. For those of you with more time on your hands, there’s also a one week plan…but you know, work…baseball…gymnastics…primetime TV.
Anyone care to join me? Here’s the schedule:
Week 1: Kitchen and Laundry
Week 2: Bedrooms and Closets
Week 3: Living and Bath Spaces
Week 4: Garage and Other
The plan is easy to follow and gives you fantastic tips if you get stuck. You do a little at a time so you can see progress as you go, but not so overwhelmed that you quit. For me, week two is going to be a DOOZY.
Have you ever done the Ruthless Declutter Challenge? Something similar? What worked and what didn’t?
