DEJUNKING

I have a plan.

I’ve divided the house into 21 sections, each having its particular issues when it comes to keeping the area neat and tidy. Some sections are as small as the hall closet, others as large as the living room/foyer/dining room. You see, the small hall closet might actually require more attention than the huge living area, which is usually fairly organized, with maybe just some attention needed to making sure all the DVD’s are shelved properly. But in the closet, there’s all kinds of stuff just…stuffed in there. Smaller space…but bigger job.

My goal is to go through each section and give complete attention to bringing that area 100% into compliance with how I would like it to look — or, at least as close to 100% as I can get. Basically, I don’t want to leave that area thinking “Well, I’ll deal with that some time in the future.” No. The future is NOW. Now is the time to deal with it.

Ideally, I would start in one corner of the house, let’s say the master bathroom, and work my way through each area, step by step, so that it would be like a bulldonzer coming through, leaving no stone unturned. Eventually all the displaced items might just end up in the guest room at the front of the house, and sooner or later I’ll have to deal with what’s in there. But the good news is that, in the meantime, the rest of the house will have undergone a pretty major overhaul.

Then I had this idea today, a brainstorm about how to deal with the “stuff.” I don’t know about you, but very often I’ll acquire something, and for whatever reason, it just doesn’t work out. Clothes that don’t fit as comfortably as I’d like, kitchen gadgets that are more trouble to clean than they’re worth, health and beauty products that seemed great on the commercial, but just don’t really deliver.

Okay, let’s get real: Mistakes.

These items are mistakes. We all make mistakes. Sometimes it’s hard for me to admit I made a mistake, so instead of getting rid of the item that isn’t working out, I let it just keep hanging around—I guess hoping that someday it will magically be transformed into a useful and worthwhile item…or at least be worth the space it’s taking up in my house. It could happen…right? But in most cases, that magical day is never going to come.

So here’s my idea: Since it’s so hard to actually let go of some of these items, instead of putting them out on the curb or boxing them up for Goodwill….how about a “Limbo” solution of just boxing them up and putting them away somewhere, out of sight? At least for a short while. This could be a box that I revisit after a certain period of time….three months? six months? After six months, when I come to the box, I might look at this stuff and wonder why in the world I was ever hanging on to it in the first place, when my life has gone on perfectly fine without it.

On the other hand, I might say “Hey! Wait! I still might need or want this someday!” So back in the box it goes. For another six months. Each time I open the box, it’s likely at least something will come out to be disposed of. And eventually someday the whole box might be emptied.

I know it’s kind of a wimpy solution. I should be like those people on the hoarders shows who go through and clean out tons and tons of junk without ever looking back. But see, my situation is not desperate, I’m not motivated by the prospect of losing my kids, or being homeless. I just want everything to be more organized. I’m internally motivated, not externally. There are no pressing reasons to deal with any of this, other than the fact that I think if I could get this done, my life would be simpler and cleaner. And that would feel good.

So I’m going to give it a shot. And by the way, when I say “cleaner,” I’m not talking about actually cleaning anything as I go through this process. Cleaning is great! But that’s not what I’m trying to accomplish here, and if I stop to clean, it will just slow me down. Maybe after I’ve gone through and dejunked the whole house, I’ll start over from the beginning and follow the same path and do a good cleaning as well.

This is an ambitious plan. What I have working in my favor: Football Season is mostly over, so that frees up my Saturdays. What I have working against me: my own natural laziness, and a reluctance to make the tough decisions. I’m tryng to combat that reluctance with my “Put it in a box” idea, but not really sure what to do about the laziness. Well….I guess it’s not really “laziness,” it’s more like “lack of energy.” It’s not that I get home from work each day and veg in front ofthe TV all night long. Far from it! There’s plenty of other stuff to do each evening, but after that other stuff is done, I’m usually too tired to start a dejunking session, moving stuff about and making decisions. By that time, I’m ready for bed!

As I am now. It’s almost ten. I’ve been trying to write this post in between working on the podcast with Russ, and doing the dishes from dinner. It’s been another busy evening, now it’s time for bed, and maybe this weekend, I can get started on this new DeJunking Project!