Wow – we’ve done it!
We’ve completed 30 days of power decluttering, organizing, and mindset-shifting! Woo-freakin-hoo!
I have one final, bonus 5-minute task I’d like to ask of you.
Bonus Task: Acknowledge Your Accomplishments
Step 1: Get a pen and notebook, or open a new document on your computer.
Step 2: Write for 5 minutes about the gains you’ve made in your home over the past month. Include:
- The ways things look
- The time you save when looking for things
- Your feelings – perhaps clarity or freshness
- The influence on the kids
- The impression on your spouse
- Anything you’ve learned about yourself
- Any new habits you’re committing to.
Step 3: Make a note in your diary to re-read what you’ve written in a month’s time. It will remind you of your achievements and motivate you to maintain the benefits.
And you’re done!
Got an Extra 5 Minutes?
- Get your camera or phone and take some snaps of the areas you’re most pleased with.
- If you have a blog, consider uploading your photos and sharing your accomplishment.
- Share your photos and/or story with other Organize-athon participants on my Facebook page. I bet they’d love to read about your success and discoveries – I know I sure would!
Now how wonderful does that feel!
Organize-athon FAQs
I’ve put together a special 30-Day Organize-athon | Getting And Staying Organized Q & A post.
Thank You!
Thank you so much for participating in the 30-Day Organize-athon with me! It’s been a joy to read your comments and share your journey. Perhaps we’ll do it again next year!
Meanwhile, be happy & organized,
[Image by Furryscaly]
Done.
Another task done! Thank you so much Michelle!
Loved the challenge! Now, I’m off to celebrate my birthday! 🙂
I’ve been decluttering on and off for years, and I considered the house to be about 90-95% decluttered. So close, but I didn’t have the motivation to finish. When I started decluttering again in January, I made great strides, but lost interest again even though I hadn’t achieved my goal, which was everything in the house must be used, have a purpose (such as keeping tax records) or loved.
I knew there was still clutter because I would occasionally come across something wondering why I had kept it for so long. Then I got your email about the challenge. It seemed easy and fun and I was excited about the house being more organized. Well, surprise, surprise. I ended up making 2 trips to the charity shop, and I still have one more trip to make. Plus I need one of the shops pick up a big dresser that used to store my craft and sewing supplies. Here’s what happened. We have what we call the office/den. We don’t use it for a den, just the home office space. I did such a good job decluttering the files that I had an empty cabinet. That, lead to moving my sewing room into the den, rearranging some furniture in the living room. I love my new work space for sewing. I have already nearly finished a project. The dogs are happier because they didn’t like it when I was upstairs sewing, I didn’t either, really. The most exciting change was I found a way to store our big window air conditioner. It spent all winter on the floor in the den because it’s so heavy that bringing in the basement for winter, and bringing it back upstairs in summer was too dangerous. My husband and son could barely get it down the year before. Anyway, my husband is redoing one of the work surfaces, so that the air conditioner can hide underneath it in the winter. I’ll skirt the table with fabric when the top is finished.
This is so long already, sorry, but the changes have been so exciting.
Around the end of the second week of the challenge, my husband was doing something, I can’t remember what, but he said, “I’m going to take care of this now because you have been doing so much work around here, the house looks great and I want to help you keep it that way. Around the same time, my son, who had been slooowly working on his room, finished straightening it up and he even dusted the furniture swept the floor! I was stunned. He did such a great job. The only thing he didn’t take care of was a small box of small decorative things that used to sit on his desk. Everything in the box was neatly place, and the box was tucked into an out of the way place. I think he’ll eventually toss that stuff.
The now empty sewing room is going to be for the staging of my son’s things that he will take with him when he moves out in July. I can’t get into my walk-in attic and the walk-in closet looks cluttery with the extra stuff.
The house feels so good. We seem to be picking up after ourselves more often, and I’m making a point to make that my new habit. I’m going to continue to make the sewing room attractive, and work on my projects, and will not get supplies for new projects until everything else is completed.
To continue with the progress I have made, I’m going to make daily challenges for myself. I have a mental list, but I’m going to put it on paper very soon. There are areas in my house that weren’t addressed during the challenge or the job was too big to finish in the time that I had, so each area will eventually be decluttered, cleaned and organized.
A thousand thanks for the motivation, Michele. Maybe all the changes would have eventually happened without the challenge, I don’t know, but it sure pulled me out of a rut, and I am so close to my goal now that there just is no stopping me. All the changes in such a short amount of time makes me feel as if I’m living in a new place, one that is tidy, restful and energizing.
love it!!
YAY ! And I start all over again May 1st ….. 8-D
All done! It’s nice to spend more time with my kids then having to worry about what areas of the house need to be cleaned and organized! Thanks so much!
I love being able to actually find what I’m looking for!
Thank you so much for doing this. I feel great and have done all the tasks 🙂
ta da! I need to do these every 30 days!
improved quality of life in so many ways
Done! Took longer than I thought!! thanks for the extra day. Now I can keepdoing this until the house is “perfect!!”
Thanks soooo much for this it was manageable and now there is hope I’my house!!!!
Blessings!
Thanks! this has helped me realize that I really can get things done with only a little effort and time.
I think I’ll miss these day by day hints! Thank you, it’s done!
Bonus Task is finished!! Thank you again
Again – your wisdom has helped me a great deal!! thanks for providing all the tasks!!
Task #31 done!
Thanks so much, I really enjoyed and needed the steps to do this 🙂
Task 31 DONE!
This will be great as a progress map. Being able to see where I was and where I am/will be. Adding pics sure will help.
I have enjoyed waking up and actually getting out of bed before the rest of my household instead of wishing I could sleep for another hour atleast. Maybe that is because I wasn’t getting up to the clutter/mess every day. I LOVE getting a call from someone saying that they will be here in 5 minutes and not panicking that I don’t have enough cupboards to shove the mess into before they get here LOL
Love this task, may have to have a decluttering reflective diary as well as a study one ♥
I love not tripping over toys, I love knowing where my keys are, I love finding the right clothes clean and fresh in my wardrobe, I love being able to put things away easily in the cupboard.
YEAH