For this Throw it Out Thursday I want to visit the ongoing
challenges that I always see online year after year encouraging
us to dejunk and get rid of the excess clutter in our lives.
If I recall correctly it always has to do with some kind of countdown
of days, and a “fill a bag” or an item count for a specific amount
of time.
I often have thought that OG (Organizationally Gifted) people
were presenting those challenges, because I am always a bit taken
aback when I see some of the ‘forms’ that are suggested for those
participants to print and fill out so they can keep track of their
de-cluttering progress.
The forms are kinda complicated, and since a complicated
form to fill out feels daunting to us, I thought that OGP
(Organizationally Gifted People) had to set up those challenges.
Yes we like plans and we love to report. But there is a line drawn
when things get to be WORK because if is isn’t fun, we don’t
want to do it.
Now, I do know that Flylady has done a trash bag count type
challenge or two, and she is as I am, a self proclaimed reformed
slob. So that blows that theory out of the water (for the record:
she doesn’t offer a complicated form to fill out while doing it).
Something else… decluttering challenges aren’t always done by
organizing gurus either, and I know that, because that is what
prompted me to chose this subject for this Throw it Out Thursday.
It was a post, that a darling Tidy Tutor University grad put up
on our members-only Facebook page, a challenge she found from
a website she frequented called “TheMinimalists”.
Their challenge was to get rid of stuff in a particularly fun way.
The Minimalists do not offer help for the OC, their niche is that of
finding happiness by living simply and with purpose. Their followers
are not Organizationally Challenged People and they don’t have the
issues that we do (although some may, but that is not why people
gravitate to the Minimalists website).
They are people who most likely have it all together, but find that
what they thought would make them happy; more money, more
stuff & more “brand” prestige actually didn’t.
(See: http://www.theminimalists.com/)
Well, now that I’ve given the background as to why I have chosen
this topic, I will let you know what I think about challenges to
de-junk, and what I have found regarding them.
It does prove to be a great boost to help people get rid of stuff, It
can be a catapult for many, especially those among us
organizationally challenged types, because knowing where to
start can be our biggest hurdle. Having a challenge that is
spelled out for us can get many moving who wouldn’t have otherwise.
And having a crowd of people to work with also is encouraging.
What do they say? Misery loves company? Well, I don’t know about
that, but I do know that sometimes when things feel futile, knowing
that others are doing it can lift that futile feeling and bring someone
to a different place to give it a try.
In my course Tidy Tutor University, I let my students know that our
number one obstacle is too much stuff, and that it is impossible to
live an organized life or maintain the home we dream of if we
have more than we need.
So dejunking is a very big part of our program, it is taught in a way
that does not overwhelm and it guarantees that we cannot pull out
more than we can put back.
Often us OC’s make more of a mess trying to clean up than what
we started with.
I have found that a small percentage of students in TTU who have
not been able to embrace a regular routine to get rid of the excess
things in their lives, can do it when it is attached to a challenge.
Personally I think challenges are great. Whatever works! And
because of this discovery, I have a challenge coming up for those
in my Tidy Tutor Group (Which you could be a part of)
BUT… and you probably knew there would be a but.
Challenges can NOT be the norm. Challenges to declutter should
be for when we are just getting started, when you want to excelavate
the process, when tackling an area you have not worked on such
as a storage room or a garage, or maybe when you’r moving.
You see the goal is not to be living a life as if on a treadmill or a
merry-go-round, or worse yet a roller coaster, constantly getting
rid of things, or getting rid of things a few times a year.
If we want REAL CHANGE, we have to have a real plan, if we want
lasting change, we have to make it a way of life.
I see perpetual challenges without learning the skill of order, the
same as getting a 2nd job delivering pizza’s at night to make ends
meet.
It is a great idea to do while you are figuring things out, building a
business, or going to college or learning a marketable skill. But
delivering pizza to provide an added income will only take care of
the initial need, and you will always have to deliver pizza, nothing
will change, without a plan of action.
Do you see how dejunking as a challenge all the time is the same
thing as delivering pizza to supplement income?
What is the goal? What do you want? If it is a “June Cleaver” life
style,
challenges won’t get you there,
just as delivering pizzas is not
the long term solution to financial
security.
So for anyone who has taken TTU,
or anyone who has just registered,
or for those who will right now, I
really want to drive this point home.
It’s important to know what our goal is.
It is to live a life free of clutter and chaos at home. It is to live an
organized life?
To know what to do, and when to do it, and how to do it all is
what we really want.
It can happen, just like it can happen to play the piano if you
never have, or to speak a language you don’t know how to speak.
It takes lessons, effort and consistency, working with a proven
method that teaches what you want to know.
A few jaunts playing will not make you a piano player, just like a
few challenges getting rid of the excess stuff will not bring you to
a place where you are happily & joyfully, in a peaceful clean
home that you have always dreamed of living in.
So, go ahead and challenge all you want, it can be a good thing,
with the right perspective and with the right plan. CLICK HERE
AND ENROLL IN TTU AND BE A PART OF A CHALLENGE
THAT WILL MAKE LASTING CHANGE.
See it as you’re delivering pizza’s, while you are taking a course,
and the day will come when you can stay home at night and
cuddle with your babies, your lover or your good book, instead
of ringing door bells and collecting tips (or instead of challenging).
I offer this “challenge,” to anyone who hasn’t taken Tidy Tutor
University. Stop going for the quick fix that leaves you still
wishing and wanting…
CLICK ON THIS LINK and Enroll. you can begin today,
TRY TTU FOR ONLY $1… join those of us who have learned
how, and are realizing the dream, to live FREE from the grips
of the clutter and confusion.
Much Love to You!
Kathy
The Tidy Tutor