If I Ignore It, It will Go Away or Nah...

Day 1 - April 1, 2015

Thank you for joining me on my 

40 Day Journey to a Clutter Free Life.  

I am so excited about this mission I am embarking on and even more excited that you decided to follow along with me as I attempt to let some of this stuff GO!!
*Don't Judge*

What I did:

I decided to start with the small closet in my bedroom.  For the last few months, the clothes have been attempting to escape their shelter.  I gave up on trying to close the doors and just decided to leave them open (all the time).  I am keeping it 100 (being totally honest) when I say that I have not TOUCHED anything at the bottom of this closet for over a year… But a funny thing happened when I started going through THE PILE.  I found things:  that other sock, my "dang, I can't believe I have to leave the house this early on a Saturday" hoodie, about 5 entries for the Tshirt quilt (we'll talk more about that later), and most importantly - enough unwanted items to fill my first 30 gallon black trash bag of donations since the start of the challenge.

As you can see, I do own a dresser. It is actually pretty nice (and good as new).  Why?  Because there is nothing in it.  This is how the drawers looked when I started working on the closet.

So, the clothes have been separated into three general piles. The things I am keeping, which is not much, what I am giving away, and what I may or may not sell.  If I get too lazy to sell, they will quickly move to a donation bag.  I also moved some items to my other closet.  I figure after I tackle the laundry room, I'll have a better idea on what exactly needs to go where.

How I felt:

When I dropped my first big black plastic bag at Goodwill today, it felt GOOD.  I am so proud of myself for getting started.  It is so easy to become blind to the things that are around us everyday, but when I saw that first glimpse of carpet in the closet, I KNEW "there is a Gawd". LOL!!! Well, I knew I could do it and I am committed to getting this place in order.  In enough order that I don't have to clean up BEFORE the randomly scheduled cleaning lady comes. (yes, I do that) or tell her, "oh, don't touch that area, I'm working on that." 

What helped me:

TIMER  Knowing that I had a few other things to do in the evening, I set a timer for one hour.  I worked on clearing the closet without interruption until the timer went off.  I got to the point of separating the clothes into piles to make them more manageable.  For a multi-tasker like myself, the main point of the timer is to work on ONE THING uninterrupted for that time period.  It actually works and helps me to maintain focus.

MUSIC  My cable package, like most these days, has a selection of music channels.  Well, I pumped up the Throwback Jamz station and got to work!  Something about MC Hammer blasting in the background just makes it easy to get things done.  Can't Touch This!!

I put aside some time on Day 2 (April 2) to finish up yesterday's project and here is the final result!!

I am shutting the door on this project!!!

What will be in store for Day 3?  It's a toss up between the Laundry Room and Guest Room Closet…

Check the next post to find out!