I’m Throwing Out Fifty Things – Care To Join Me?

Hi friends! I’ve been reading an inspiring book lately, it’s called Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke – have you heard of it? It strikes me as smarter than the average home organizing book, one that even those of you who think you’re not into this sort of thing might get into. The basic concept of the book is that once you have thrown out 50 things – both physical clutter and emotional garbage – you will be on such a roll that you will simply keep going and nothing will be able to stop you! Gail likens her approach to life coaching/clutter clearing to that of Michelangelo, chiseling away the marble to reveal the sculpture hiding within. Sounds good to me. Yesterday I decided to dive in, and as I was reaching for more crap-ola at the back of my closet I realized some of you might want to join me. Because digging weird stuff out of your drawers and closets is totally fun and worth comparing notes on, right? ;)

So, here is what I am thinking. We will take on this challenge as laid out in the book (no need to purchase it, I’ll be sure to outline enough to follow along), beginning with the physical junk in our homes, moving on to the clutter (both physical and emotional) in our professional life/office, ending by refining our vision of ourselves.

The Method:

• A group of similar items only counts as one thing, so those 200 back issues of Martha Stewart Living you finally decided to chuck (wait! why would you do that??) only count as 1 item.
• If the thing in question weighs you down or makes you feel bad about yourself, throw it out, give it away, sell it, let it go.
• If you are agonizing over whether to keep or get rid of something, stop. Throw it out.
• Be brave! This is your life, and you get to decide what you surround yourself with. Be intentional about what you are keeping and why. Don’t put off that decision by shoving it to the back of the closet one more time. Do it now and you’ll be so, so happy you did.

The Schedule:

• Week One, April 7 – 13: We tackle the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen.
• Week Two, April 14 – 20: Time to move on to the dining room, living room, and attic/basement.
• Week Three, April 21 – 27: Garage/storage, office.
• Week Four, April 28 – May 4: Clearing the mental mess; making a vision for the future.

For each area we tackle, keep a running scorecard of exactly what you are throwing out. You can share your list and/or photos of your items or space on your own blog/flickr/etc. and link to it, or simply share your progress in the comments section each week.

I’m excited! Are you excited? I do hope you will join me. If you do, you can rest assured that in one month’s time your home will be finally cleared of clutter, your personal “brand” refined, and you will be armed with a fresh sense of purpose and vision for your future. I will check in this coming week with a few tips and words of encouragement for tackling the week 1 areas (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen) as well as sharing some of my own progress in words and pictures.

Okay, I’ve got to go now because there is a junk drawer over there with my name on it.

xoxo Laura

*** Update: Find my progress here: Week 1, Week 2

(images: Better Homes and Gardens; ideas adapted from Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke)

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Tagged as: clutter, organizing, throw out 50 things, throw out fifty things