{"id":107,"date":"2010-05-19T22:30:32","date_gmt":"2010-05-20T03:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/?p=107"},"modified":"2010-05-19T22:37:14","modified_gmt":"2010-05-20T03:37:14","slug":"preparing-to-purge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/preparing-to-purge\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing to Purge"},"content":{"rendered":"

As FlyLady<\/a> says, \u201cYou cannot organize clutter.\u201d\u00a0 I am sure many people wish this were not true.\u00a0 The very idea of having to go through stuff and make decisions about what to keep and what to let go causes many people to shudder.\u00a0 It can be so tedious and often emotional.\u00a0 Sorting and organizing can be a time consuming process.\u00a0 As organizers, we sometimes forget that this process can be foreign and unfamiliar to others.\u00a0 Therefore, I am breaking the process down and sharing the critical steps to embarking on the task of sorting and purging.<\/p>\n

The first thing you need to consider when beginning, this is to include in your time frame, any time you need to get it completely out of your possession.\u00a0 If you want to try to sell it on e-Bay, this takes time, so you need to make sure that you make the time to work on the process of it.\u00a0 Only you can judge whether you can be disciplined to take photos and create the listing.\u00a0 Until it is in the mail, you are not done.\u00a0 This applies just as much to donating it, so until it is out of your house, garage, and trunk, you are not finished.\u00a0 It is important to schedule the time for these things as you tackle purging your belongings.<\/p>\n

Unless you have boundless energy and never get overwhelmed, start small.\u00a0 You do not need to accomplish everything in one day.\u00a0 Set aside a small amount of time for working on this, even using a timer so that you have a clear stopping point.\u00a0 It is so easy to get overwhelmed.\u00a0 This can happen to anyone, whether there is a lot of stuff around or even if there is minimal clutter.\u00a0 Overwhelm happens and it is something to avoid if you can.\u00a0 When we get overwhelmed, we often dread working on that thing again.\u00a0 \u201cUgh, the last time I started doing that\u2026.\u201d FlyLady<\/a> also comments that things did not get that way overnight, and therefore cannot get fixed overnight.\u00a0 If you start and stay small, you can help yourself stay motivated and productive.<\/p>\n

It is important to decide on ONE area in which to focus.\u00a0 After you have chosen the area, have some containers to gather things in, you want to remain in that room until you are done working.\u00a0 If you want to donate items, you\u2019ll need a container for those things.\u00a0 A trash bag is also a useful thing as you are working and cannot get distracted by going into another room.\u00a0 You might want a container for the things that belong in other rooms, as the goal is to wait to return those items to their appropriate room until you have completed working in that space.\u00a0 I often will have two containers for misplaced things, one for the upstairs rooms and one for the downstairs rooms.\u00a0 If you have even more stuff, you can have a container for each room.<\/p>\n

In thinking about and planning to sort and purge your belongings, ideally you want to make time to regularly review and purge things again.\u00a0 By setting up some time to do this periodically, you can limit the burden and tedium for the future.\u00a0 You can adopt the approach of each time you bring something into the house, something else must leave.\u00a0 I find this somewhat extreme, though it certainly can be helpful.\u00a0 Find a time that makes sense to you to review things.\u00a0 If you rotate seasonal clothing, this is a great time to go through the past season\u2019s clothes and part with what you did not wear.\u00a0 The key is to make time to review things.<\/p>\n

These are the keys to getting you ready to sort and purge in the process of becoming more organized.\u00a0 It is important to consider these points before digging in and doing anything.\u00a0 Here is where you lay the groundwork that will help you succeed in the often tedious process of getting organized.\u00a0 You might notice that there is very little action at this level, yet without considering these points, it is easy to get distracted or overwhelmed.\u00a0 Both of these things can get in the way of making the progress you are aiming for, so it is helpful to factor these things into your plans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before you actually do anything physical to tackle your belongings, you need to consider laying the right groundwork so that your efforts are successful and rewarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,8,18,5,17],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organizing","tag-behavior","tag-discipline","tag-goals","tag-household","tag-spaces"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7p82c-1J","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}