The Clutter Fairy Weekly #93
One Day at a Time: Establishing Daily Decluttering Routines
For most people, a clutter problem doesn’t spring up overnight—it’s the result of long-term habits of delaying decisions, ignoring minor messes, and accumulating new stuff faster than you eliminate old stuff. In episode #93 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, talks about how to stem the flow of clutter at the source by incorporating key decluttering habits into every day.
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The Weekly Tittle is an exercise designed to focus your attention on a specific space, aspect, or challenge of decluttering and organizing your home. We assign a new tittle in each webcast/podcast, then check on your progress the following week.
Do Make a Habit of It
This week’s assignment is to establish—or build upon—a set of daily decluttering routines:
- Start by identifying two new decluttering habits that you’d like to add to your daily routine. Select one for the morning routine and one for the evening. The target habits should be quick, simple tasks with a fairly narrow focus.
- For each desired habit, identify an existing successful practice with which you can connect it. For instance, if you’d like to cultivate the habit of cleaning out your car, you might associate this action with putting your sunglasses and car keys in your purse.
- Set up reminders to help you as you’re establishing the new habit, such as a post-it note on the bathroom mirror or fridge. Or prepare an index card where you can check off each day that you’ve accomplished the new routine.
For the full discussion of this week’s tittle, watch the Weekly Tittle segment on YouTube.
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Wardrobe looking forward too…
Actually starting to look at my clothes differently and learning how to use a color wheel…
I’ve made a habit of keeping my car clean with a few personal rules.
1. All purchases go straight into my car’s trunk until I get home.
2. Before exiting my car – I take anything out that doesn’t belong.
3. When I fuel my car – I use my car duster to wipe down the surfaces.
4. Everything stored in my car has its own home.
– garage opener attached with Velcro inside the sunglasses holder in the roof – along with a pair of clip-on sunglasses.
– umbrellas and flashlight within reach in the door pocket.
– music CDs in CD wallets in my glove box
– tissue, reusable shopping bag, car duster, mints – in the center console compartment.
✔In my car’s trunk is a first aid kit and an emergency kit (jumper cables, reflective triangle, etc) -both attached to side walls with Velcro.
✔I also keep 2 pairs of sunglasses in my car for each of my parents. (Age 94.) One pair in center console and the other pair in a compartment in the dash.
✔️I keep a tool in the glove box. It serves as an extra handle assist for my parents and it can also be used to smash a window, cut a seatbelt and has a built in flash light.
✔️I keep a road map in the glove box – in case i travel into areas without cell coverage.
✔We keep a sticker on the upper left corner of the windshield with the date of the last oil change – and the mileage for the next oil change. When my odometer reading indicates I’m close – I plan an oil change.
✔I keep a note in my financial tracker to remind me when my car’s inspection/registration is due. (VIN and plate numbers recorded there also.)
Another habit I’ve created is handling purchases when I bring them in to my home. ✳️ Steps: Store the receipt in my receipt file. Remove items from the packaging. Decide where the item will live. Wash it if necessary to do so before use. Put the packaging in the recycling or trash bins.
✳️ I think of this as “completing the cycle”. I do this with many things.
• Come home. Change clothes. Decide if clothes will be worn again (hang in closet) or washed (put in laundry).
• Wash, dry, fold, put away. Complete the cycle.